# How do I stop "demand barking"



## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

It seems to me you already know what you're doing wrong and how to go about fixing it. I wouldn't feed them when they are "demand barking" but I don't think punishing them is necessarily going to fix the issue either. Putting them in a crate is just going to ramp up the frustration level. I think your best bet is to tire them out and keep them from napping. Also, if they are getting really hungry at 5:00 AM maybe you can up their food intake just a dab or put in some filler to tide them over.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I have 7 goldens... one is an excitable dog who barks when she is over the top. She has herself a citronella collar for special occasions.

My kids now 18 and 16 years have always been able to sleep thru barking dogs. heck I vacuumed under their cribs when they were sleeping. If you tip toe around and turn the phone off etc, your future kids will be frustrating to live with.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

1) Waiting and waiting and waiting and then feeding is worse than feeding right away when they bark... but waiting through it...you're teaching them to bark longer.
2) Get rid of the food bowls. Feed them through enrichment toys or training only.
3) Teach them appropriate ways to get attention and reinforce this FREQUENTLY throughout the day. "Oh, you're chewing a bone. a small handful of kibble to you." "Great, you're watching quietly, Some kibble".
4) If the barking starts get up and go in another room... your movement may stop the barking, and while it would be better to entirely ignroe it, you have taught them inadvertently, to bark longer and we don't know that we could get that to stop....
5) Vary the feeding times.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm hugging our quiet dog over here, because um... we were right there in your position with our previous two goldens. They wouldn't bark about food so much, because we did not feed them on a set schedule. They'd bark because they would get bored of sleeping and wanted to be awake. 

And they'd start barking and jumping around the instant we opened our eyes in the morning. No matter what time it was. 

They did mellow in a couple years and enjoyed sleeping in more... 

I assume you feed your dogs at 5AM during the week because of work schedules?


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