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We have a baby gate and most of the time don't let Oona upstairs when one of us goes up to get dressed or whatever, except when I let her come to hang out with me in the office while I work, or sometimes she'll get to come up to wake someone up, or when she needs a bath. Here's the thing.
She seems to get really activated and barks nearly every time my husband or daughter goes upstairs, but is quiet when I go up. (I did work with her for quiet after she barked a few times, plus I go up and down a lot more when I'm working in the office, so I thought that was why and that they just needed to work on it more with her). When I go up without her, she usually waits for me at the bottom for me to come back down. When one of them goes up, she can stay quiet if I focus her first and ask her to sit or lie down and reward her for quiet, but if I can't intervene and my daughter goes up to get ready in the morning, she barks and jumps and makes as if she would like to chase her. She does the same with my husband. Both of them have had some success asking her to sit themselves and to stay quiet and toss her a kibble once they go up a few steps, but they don't do this each time. I chalked it up to something we need to work on as a family and that I can help with when one of them goes up.
BUT. THEN. Today I went out to the barn for a couple hours and my husband and daughter did some house tidying which entailed many trips up and down the stairs (leaving Oona on the main floor). My husband tells me that when I was gone, they were able to go up the stairs many times and she didn't bark at all.
So, me being there is part of the problem and it's not just that she "knows to be quiet" when she's listening to me. It could be:
1. That she wants something from me (ie, attention, yelling "Oona no!" when I can't get to her in time?) or,
2. she's doing it FOR me, as a kind of warning/alert. What do you all think?
3. Something else?
How should we go about figuring it out, and how should the answer (if I figure it out) affect our strategy to deal with the behavior?
She seems to get really activated and barks nearly every time my husband or daughter goes upstairs, but is quiet when I go up. (I did work with her for quiet after she barked a few times, plus I go up and down a lot more when I'm working in the office, so I thought that was why and that they just needed to work on it more with her). When I go up without her, she usually waits for me at the bottom for me to come back down. When one of them goes up, she can stay quiet if I focus her first and ask her to sit or lie down and reward her for quiet, but if I can't intervene and my daughter goes up to get ready in the morning, she barks and jumps and makes as if she would like to chase her. She does the same with my husband. Both of them have had some success asking her to sit themselves and to stay quiet and toss her a kibble once they go up a few steps, but they don't do this each time. I chalked it up to something we need to work on as a family and that I can help with when one of them goes up.
BUT. THEN. Today I went out to the barn for a couple hours and my husband and daughter did some house tidying which entailed many trips up and down the stairs (leaving Oona on the main floor). My husband tells me that when I was gone, they were able to go up the stairs many times and she didn't bark at all.
So, me being there is part of the problem and it's not just that she "knows to be quiet" when she's listening to me. It could be:
1. That she wants something from me (ie, attention, yelling "Oona no!" when I can't get to her in time?) or,
2. she's doing it FOR me, as a kind of warning/alert. What do you all think?
3. Something else?
How should we go about figuring it out, and how should the answer (if I figure it out) affect our strategy to deal with the behavior?
