Barking boxer puppy

Question
We have a 14 week old boxer puppy.  She is a great dog, but likes to bark a lot inside.  This is a problem because we live in a duplex, and want to respect our neighbors.  She never barks at people, other animals, or any noise outside.  She is RARELY alone, because we work opposite shifts.  She doesn't respond to any commands we have tried.  She gets a lot of attention and daily exercise.  We just can't have her barking all the time inside.  What can we do to stop this behavior?

Answer
Hi Lindsey,

The way to stop the barking will depend on why she is barking. Dogs bark for the many reasons, to guard, to warn of danger or intruders, to communicate they need help(like water bowl filled), to invite play and because they are bored are the main reasons. Is this puppy bowing down when she barks ? If so she is inviting you to play. I suspect this is what she is doing by her age. The best way to curb the barking is to ignore her, the more you try to correct her, the more she thinks you are joining her in this game so hence you are unknowingly enforcing the behavior.You may elect to turn around and walk away from her when she starts barking, ignore her totally. She will get the message.When she is being quite on her own periodically praise her for being quite by saying "good quite" and give her a treat or petting. This is re-enforcing the behavior you want her to do.

At 14 weeks old her attention span isn't very long and you want get her to respond to commands without starting out slow, its best to start with the sit command using treats. This is the easiest way to train boxers, they have to have a good reason to do what you want and can't resist treats. No yelling, no hitting and never correct when angry. Pack leaders are calm and cool and dogs are keen to your body language and tone of voice,dogs don't follow unstable leaders. You need to be firm and mean what you say but never harsh as this will cause her to distrust you.

Start the sit command training with treats daily for 10 minutes at a time, several times a day. As soon as she sits give the treat, the timing is very important, as soon as you see her bottom going to the floor, praise her "good sit" and give her the treat.( Remember this tip to get her to sit:let her smell the treat in your hand or give her a small sample, now move forward toward her, have the treat in your hand, move your hand over her head as you do this she will be looking at your hand and will follow your hand and will go into a sitting position automatically)Give the treat immediately and say good sit.

Now keep this up and use this command as a start, after she has this command down, whenever she barks tell her to sit, this will cause her to stop barking by diverting her attention to the coming treat and command, next whenever the puppy is quite without you telling her to be quite, praise her "good quite" and give her a treat or praise her with petting, you are now re-enforcing the good behavior and command. If your boxer is barking while crated then get her a Kong toy and fill it with peanut butter and this can occupy her while left alone and relieve anxiety from being away from the pack or relieve boredom. I'll be glad to help you more as you progress with this training, feel free to ask questions or contact me for more advice.

Angela Donald
Canine Behavior Consultant
http:www.hitowerboxers.com