Alert Barking in Apartment
Hi all,
Looking for some advice on my new(ish) pup. 10 months old, shepherd mix, adopted her about a month ago. Absolute sweetheart, I love her to pieces, but definitely a lot of less-than-ideal behaviors we’ve been working on. The biggest thing right now is her alert barking. While I’m not sure this is a factor, it might be worth mentioning that she’s very fearful of other people (dogs, she loves. Strangers, not so much. We’re working on it!) I live in a high-rise with extremely thin walls and neighbors that come and go often. My pup does not like this. For the first week or so, before the apartment felt like home to her, I thought I lucked out with how quiet she was! However after starting to settle and learning that this place was now home, she seemed to get pretty protective/territorial. For a couple weeks it wasn’t anything crazy, maybe 5-10 barking bouts a day lasting no longer than a minute each time. However, over the weekend, something seemed to change and it has been relentless. 20 minutes haven’t gone by without a barking fit other than when she’s asleep at night or in a deep sleep nap. She gets herself extremely worked up to the point of panting and then continues to bark even when the halls are quiet.
So what have I tried? My previous strategy was a place command: bark, go to your place, down, treat. Each time. But these last couple days she’s been getting too worked up for that to settle her (she’ll go to her place but isn’t actively listening/paying attention to me and runs back to the door to bark immediately after treat). Music/white noise in the background doesn’t make a difference. She’s getting plenty of physical exercise (at least 4x 30 minute walks per day plus multiple structured play sessions and some sprints) and mental stimulation (puzzle toys, meals in snuffle mat, training, frozen kongs). I’m just feeling a little frustrated because she seems to be regressing and keeping her focus during training has become a struggle. What could I be doing wrong/what can I try next? Higher value treats? Scheduled crate naps? Any advice would be so greatly appreciated :)