"A lot of advice is available on how to properly soundproof your daycare, and while acoustical measures like using sound-absorbing materials are important to undertake, using behaviour modification techniques to keep your canine clients happy and quiet can have a far greater effect on the sound."

Dog daycares have a reputation of being notoriously loud places, but the truth is, with proper management, daycares don't necessarily have to be deafening.  In fact, they can be quite! Keeping your daycare quiet is better for you and your employees, as well as the dogs that spend all day with you. A loud daycare is not only stressful, it can cause workplace hazards for your employees that can open you up to costly litigation and worker's compensation claims.

A lot of advice is available on how to properly soundproof your daycare, and while acoustical measures like using sound-absorbing materials are important to undertake, using behaviour modification techniques to keep your canine clients happy and quiet can have a far greater effect on the sound.

Dogs bark in daycares for several reasons.  First and foremost, daycare is often very arousing for many dogs, and aroused dogs bark. Rough, play, constant movement, and games of fetch or chase can induce rounds of non-stop barking. Dogs entering and exiting the facility can also cause an elevation in arousal levels as well, leading not only to barking but rushing the gate, and potentially even scuffles around the gate area.

Visual stimuli, such as owners arriving for pickup or taking tours, also causes issues, as do dogs walking by on their way to kennels or in and out of the building.  Finally, boredom barkers - those dogs that bark for what appears to be no reason whatsoever - can be a real problem for daycares.

First and foremost, barking caused by visual stimuli can be corrected by removing those things which are causing an outbreak of barking. For example, if you have a large window through which clients can see their dogs, consider blocking some or all of it off if it is a constant source of barking. Many daycares use some kind of intercom system to reduce the amount of foot traffic both in and out of the facility.

Barking that is caused by high arousal can be addressed by implementing some arousal control protocol.  Setting gate standards - behaviours that are acceptable in and around the gate area - can drastically reduce the excitement level.  Dogs entering or exiting the facility should not be allowed to jump, lung, or bark.  If they do, the gate should remain closed until they behave.  Additionally, allowing for some area around the gate - perhaps 3 to 4 feet - where dogs are not permitted, is important. 

How do you accomplish this? When a dog arrives for daycare, you should not allow him inside the play area, no matter how excited he is, until he is quiet and calm. Similarly, the dogs that are rushing the gate to greet the new guy should be calm almost to the point of boredom when you let the new dog in. If your daycare gets a lot of traffic at one time or another (morning drop-offs, for example) you can keep a portable crate nearby to stash a dog while you are waiting for the arousal level to drop. Calm entrances and exits are critical to an anti-bark program.

Keeping arousal levels low during the day is another important component.  If your daycare does not use naps, you may find that a mandatory rest period during the day will have an enormous effect on arousal levels, squabbles, and general anxiety. Similarly, any dog that is getting too excited and barking should be timed out in a crate, preferably one with a cover.

When addressing behaviour problems in a daycare setting, it is important to realise that dogs repeat behaviours that accomplish goals, while they avoid behaviours that don't fulfil goals, or that startle them or make them feel uncomfortable. Some of the anti-barking products on the market use startle techniques, such as citronella spray, to punish barking. However, in a daycare setting, citronella spray collars are largely ineffective and can also inadvertently punish a non-barking dog.  The same holds true for rattle cans.  Rather, addressing barking by reinforcing good (quiet) behaviour, and timing the dog out for barking, can quickly teach the dog that barking is a behaviour that does not accomplish a goal (staying out and playing) while being quiet does.

To use the crate technique to teach quiet behaviour, give the dog a warning when it starts to bark, such as "Buddy, quite!" If Buddy continues to bark, he should get timed out in a crate for a few minutes. Only when he is quiet does he get to go out in the group again. A visual barrier between the barking dog and the excitement can help calm the dog quicker, but eventually, he should learn to use self control to stay quiet in the crate. Dogs that are constant boredom barkers respond very well to this kind of behaviour modification.

This technique can also work when you let dogs out of their kennels or crates in the morning, or after naptime. During the first few days, this will be difficult and take a very long time. However, dogs will pick up quickly on the fact that when they are quiet, good things happen and they're allowed out.  There is a very steep learning curve with this kind of training and once the dogs get it, they quickly change their tactics.

For any behaviour modification program to be effective, it is important to make sure that all of your staff members are on board and understand completely how the program works, and what to do. Protocol must be followed every time a dog barks for the techniques to work properly. Although initially implementing an anti-bark program will increase the amount of work your employees must do, after a week or so you should notice a drastic difference in not only the noise in your daycare but the quality of interactions between dogs. Quiet dogs are calmer and less likely to fight, and a quiet daycare is far more pleasant place to work.

Source: By Jan Van Wye Pet Services Journal January/February 2009