Turn your back!!! what??

[GSDolch]

Ok, so, I was told, that when a dog barks at you, you are suppose to turn your back to show the dog that that behavior is not wanted.

Anyone ever heard of this?

[Powell]

Shunning....it's a form of "ejecting from the pack" and canines hate being shunned.

[Rerun]

Personally I'd rather (and do, successfully) just tell them to knock it off but different strokes for different folks....

[Tbarrios333]

It's basically just ignoring the dog for doing something you don't want him to do. The new pup is a barker and when she first got here, she would bark ALL the time for nothing! Just very talkative. I do both, the ignore/turn your back and telling her to shush it. It has gotten way better and now she just does weird growly noises. We call her "the gremlin."

[GSDolch]

haha, thats cute T..the gremlin.

I guess I could see how it works for some situations. What about for dogs that are not in the pack? IE: a strange dog you do not know?

I'm honestly not sure if this person was speaking of all dogs in general or from those in your pack/family.

[Tbarrios333]

Hmm, good question. I guess it would depend because I never try to correct a dog I don't know or don't own. Mostly because if it's a friend's dog, any training I do will just get undone by them, so it's pointless. If it's a strange dog that I'm petting and they start barking excitedly, I would probably stop and ignore them as well, but just because they would be exploding my ears.
If it's a dog running at me and barking well I wouldn't turn my back on that! I would probably be screaming at it to get away.

[Cassidy's Mom]

If you're talking about attention barking, then yes - turning your back and ignoring the dog can be very effective because you will not be reinforcing the behavior in any way. Looking at the dog, talking to the dog, and interacting with the dog is reinforcing. Behavior that is not reinforced will extinguish, especially if you DO reinforce the behavior you want instead. So the dog gets lots of attention and reinforcment when he's NOT barking, but the second he starts up again, all that stops.

I saw this work like magic at a Suzanne Clothier seminar a few years ago with a very determined attention barker. It was amazing how quickly the dog learned that barking no longer worked to get him what he wanted. As I said though, it is important to teach the dog what new behavior will work to get what he wants, you don't want to just ignore him all the time.

If you're just talking about occasional barking rather than a dog who is using their bark to demand attention, I'd just tell them to knock it off too.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by GSDolch

What about for dogs that are not in the pack? IE: a strange dog you do not know?

I'm honestly not sure if this person was speaking of all dogs in general or from those in your pack/family.

I don't know why you'd be training someone else's dog not to bark, that would be its owners problem! It's also not going to work instantly, so what would be the point of even trying it? So I'd say this is something that I might use in my own pack, not some strange dog.

[DFrost]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Personally I'd rather (and do, successfully) just tell them to knock it off but different strokes for different folks....

I agree, I don't want to prevent the dog from barking. I do want him to shut up when I tell him.

DFrost

[cta]

i've done this with my dog. i don't have to anymore because he doesn't really ever bark for attention, but when he was younger he was definitely obnoxious. unfortunately, turning my back wasn't enough sometimes...so i started to walk away too when he would act up. well, he didn't like that either so he used to follow behind me and bite my butt as if to say, hey wait woman where are you going? i'm not done with you! yeah...he was a tough guy for sure . luckily he has since learned that his punky ways get him NOWHERE so he doesn't torment me anymore.