Training Problem Finder: Two Questions, One Plan
Tell us your dog's stage and what you're working on. You'll get the cognitive reason the problem happens, a practice routine you can run today, and the guides and games that actually apply.
1Which stage is your dog in?
2What are you working on?
Your plan
Puppy barking: find the function before the fix
Puppy barking is almost always demand or frustration, and it's reinforced within a single repetition. Identifying what the bark produces matters more than any technique.
Lead dimension: Cunning
Routine: Three-day bark audit, then reward the pause
Log for 3 days, then 5 short reps a day
- For three days, note what happened immediately before and immediately after each barking episode.
- Remove the payoff entirely: no eye contact, no talking, no door opening during the noise.
- Mark and pay the first half-second of silence, fast — this is the behaviour you're actually teaching.
- Pre-empt predictable triggers by paying a settle before the doorbell, meal, or departure.
- Add one problem-solving activity a day; frustrated puppies bark more than tired ones.
Know when to progress: Barking episodes shorten before they become less frequent. Shorter bursts are the first real win.
Read next
Games that support this routine
Train the dog in front of you
These routines assume a typical profile. Dognition's assessment shows where your dog actually sits across the five cognitive dimensions, so you can pick the method that lands first time.
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