dealing with puppy's obsessive barking

[beezie]

We have a 16-week-old female Golden Retriever/Lab cross (Bea) who has a habit of crazy frantic barking. Not all the time, but when she does it, it's very insistent and upsetting! It usually happens when we have to separate her from us but she can still hear us in another room. Like if I put her in the kitchen with the baby gate up for 15 minutes so I can take a shower, she'll usually bark continuously the entire time I'm out of view. She doesn't do it when we actually leave the house and she knows we're gone -- then, she just finds a toy or goes to sleep.

She also sometimes barks RIGHT IN MY FACE for attention even when I'm right there. This is usually accompanied by lunging and mouthing. Asking her to "sit" sometimes gets her to stop, sometimes not. Should I get up and play with her, since that seems to be what she wants? Or is that only encouraging her to bark at me more?

I've heard all the standard advice, from penny cans and spray bottles to Binaca, "teach her to speak," and "just ignore it." They all seem sort of unkind. So far I mostly just try to prevent the opportunity from happening, by making sure she's well exercised and has a toy and/or a treat puzzle whenever I need to leave her alone for awhile.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to any insight you might have to share!

[Sang]

Hey beezie, any progress with your pup?

Sounds like she's just looking for a place to channel her drive and make prey. Do you have a place outside where she gets to safely explore her world and do whatever she wants, like chasing leaves or bugs, biting things, chewing on sticks, running around like a puppy?

I wouldn't ask any obedience stuff from her at this age. It's just going to interrupt her flow and put a kink in her emotional system that you'll have to work out later.

One thing you can do with her is work on her settle. Get a tall box, or just find a raised surface outside, have her get up on it, and feed her when she's on it. I'm attaching a link to a video that shows you what I mean.

Kevin Training Hero The Official Natural Dog Training Website: News, Discussions, Advice, Training Tips and Techniques from Kevin Behan

This is the way she should be fed for now. What it does is it teaches her to be calm on her own, and that by feeling calm she gets what she desires. You won't be teaching it to her, she'll be teaching herself. This will help her learn to be more relaxed in general.

Hope that helps