Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast E466: Irith Bloom - "Dealing with Your Dog's Demand Barking"
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Jun 26, 2026 Irith Bloom, animal behavior specialist and trainer who teaches behavior-science approaches. She defines demand barking and contrasts it with other bark types. She explains why 'just ignore it' often fails and compares barking to gambling. Practical tactics and a long-term plan are discussed, including shaping quieter precursors, a 'not now' cue, and environment fixes.
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What Demand Barking Actually Means
- Demand barking is when a dog vocalizes to get another animal (often a human) to do something for them, not to make something go away.
- Irith Bloom distinguishes it from distance-increasing barking and gives examples like wanting a ball, food, or access to the yard.
Five Functional Types Of Barking
- Irith divides barking into categories: distance-increasing, anxious, alert, demand, and play/joyful vocalizations.
- Alert barking often ties to a discrete event and is easier to distinguish than demand or anxious barking.
How Demand Barking Develops
- Demand barking often emerges when a vocal-prone dog accidentally discovers barking gets them rewards, then generalizes it to other contexts.
- Breed, individual vocal tendency and stress-reactivity make some dogs more likely to develop it.