Not barking but yelping

Hello! Hoping for some suggestions here. I have a wonderful work place where I can bring my pup to work with me. Oni is 4 months old and just learning all the rules. My most immediate issue is that I can't bring her if she is not a quiet girl. Meetings are going on and one of the understandable rules is dogs must not be disruptive to the workplace.

Being 4 months old, she's taken to learning how to be vocal. Some times at dog parks she will bark at other dogs to entice them to play with her or when two dogs are playing, she'll run alongside and bark. We try to stop this but approaching her and firmly but calmly telling her no and move her focus to something else. She will sometimes do this at home in the back yard at us too.

At work she will unexpectedly start to do a high pitched "yelp bark". I suspect mostly to tell me she's bored or wants me to do something with her. I tell her firmly in a low voice, "No" and when she is quiet for a few secs I give her a treat. Unfortunately this is affecting my productivity and focus plus I'm worried about leaving her in the office when I have to step out for a meeting.

Any suggestions would be welcome! BTW - she has lots of rotating toys I put out to stimulate her with while she's in my office with me.

Thanks!

With a young pup, my first reaction would be to leave her in the care of a dogsitter, trusted friend, or crate (with a few trips back home for checkups/play/bathroom breaks) rather than take her to work immediately.

What is sounds like is that the poor girl has a little seperation anxiety/communal anxiety of not being the focus of all your attention, or being around a lot of strange things in a new area.

As for the barking/yelping, a lot of pups just do this naturally. It's there way of letting you know something important is happening, and they need attention immediatly.

I believe at this stage of life, you're doing the right thing. When she barks, interrupt her. Reward her for being quiet. This way she'll learn acceptable standards of when and where to bark.

But as she's a puppy, this could take weeks, or even months, to master her noise level. Until then, as said, it might be benefitially to you and your co-workers to leave her at home until this is manageable.

Or, take her for 1/2 days in the morning (have a good play with her so she's on the sleepy side before work), that way she'll be calmer and less liekly to bark due to being antsy or excited, then take her home at lunch, so that as her motivation to do something builds, she's in the proper place to let those yelps fly, and not at work.

Kerrby wrote:Or, take her for 1/2 days in the morning (have a good play with her so she's on the sleepy side before work), that way she'll be calmer and less liekly to bark due to being antsy or excited, then take her home at lunch, so that as her motivation to do something builds, she's in the proper place to let those yelps fly, and not at work.

That sounds a good idea. Just for half a day to start with would be better at that age if you can manage it.

Dempsey comes to work with me & has done since he was 5 months old. He has his own soft crate with a nylabone and a kong or some other toy. It's a little different for me, cause I work on my own in the office, although lots of people come in. He pretty much sleeps through the morning, and he gets a good walk in a nearby park before work & lunchtime, or sometimes he plays with my boss's dog in his garden.

Dempsey's a barker, and I have had to stop him from barking at some people who come in, but he picked it up pretty quickly for a thicko!

Thanks for the tips and ideas.

Regarding Dempsey having been a barker..how did you stop him from barking at some people who come in?

Oni is just a real vocal pup. She gurgles, rumbles, barks, talks etc etc...she has pretty much been this way from the week we brought her home! I think it can be adorable but for now just want to curb it and teach her when it is ok to "talk" and when it is not.

Mainly by repetition, just as you do now. But I wasn't under any pressure, because, as I say, I'm pretty much on my own in the office - I see my boss once, maybe twice a day, I can even go a week or more without him being there. And the people who come in are mainly ok. One or two are scared of dogs, but even they will come in and say hello to Dempsey now - although one still won't touch him.

Unfortunately there are no short cuts, and patience will be the key here. You may need to explain to everybody that you're working on it, and it'll improve with time. That's what I did, as well as correcting him. Most people are ok as long as they can see you're doing something to stop it.

Ok thanks for the ideas. She's not that bad actually. I would say maybe a yelp/bark once or twice an hour so being 4 months old I'll give her a chance to grow out of it.

I'll keep at it. Cheers!

Most staffs tend to become quieter as they get older. Dempsey (Bull Terrier) has barked more in his two years than our last dog (staffy) did in his whole 14 years!

Caryll wrote:

Dempsey's a barker, and I have had to stop him from barking at some people who come in, but he picked it up pretty quickly for a thicko!

Awww, poor Dempsey......don't you listen to your Mummy calling you a Thicko

agibson23 wrote:Thanks for the tips and ideas.

Regarding Dempsey having been a barker..how did you stop him from barking at some people who come in?

Oni is just a real vocal pup. She gurgles, rumbles, barks, talks etc etc...she has pretty much been this way from the week we brought her home! I think it can be adorable but for now just want to curb it and teach her when it is ok to "talk" and when it is not.

You pretty much just said it yourself when it comes to very vocal dogs, teaching them the command talk/speak can stop them from doing it when it pleases them and only do it when you give the command.
I would suggest only taking her for half days also. teach her the speak command, so when you are at home and she and start completly ignore her, if she does it around you move her away from you this will tell her that your not accepting that behaviour around you. she wants to be around you so this would be a good lesson for her to learn, when you ask her to speak and she does lots affectiona and treats she will soon get the hang of it.

Thanks all for the advise. We'll keep at it. She just impresses us so much with how smart she is everyday.

Poor pup is teething like crazy and so that may add to her agitation.

agibson23 wrote:Poor pup is teething like crazy and so that may add to her agitation.

2 words: Frozen banana.

Kerrby wrote:

agibson23 wrote:Poor pup is teething like crazy and so that may add to her agitation.

2 words: Frozen banana.

Same to you!

Seriously, they're really good for teething pups!