A lot of the barking that Kody does now seems to be just out of excitement. His tail is wagging, his hackles aren't raised. I know those don't always mean everything's OK, but he seems to get over it pretty quick or just bark a couple of times.
Today we went outside and they were resurfacing a parking lot at the senior center in our neighborhood. This is a pretty good distance away, but we could here some sort of metal pounding against the pavement. It wasn't a jackhammer, it was something bigger. It was pretty quiet at our distance, but there was a large bass component to it so maybe it was shaking the ground a bit. Kody was very unsure of this, it seemed to concern him. I don't think he barked though.
We walked just a short way to a tree and something set him off. It was not something I could see, but he was barking and what was unusual was that his tail was between his legs. He was really scared. I just let him bark and remained calm. I'm experimenting with letting him take care of his own needs. Also, really, I had no idea what to do, but there was no imminent danger so I let him get over it on his own, which he eventually did. My hope is that calmly giving him this opportunity in situations that are truly non-threatening will help him to deal with situations better in the future.
When he calmed down, we started walking again. But he must have been in a really bad mood. He saw a crow across the street and than set him off on a good barking fit. Again, his tail was between his legs and he was skittish about any motion nearby. I don't think I've ever seen this before. He barks a lot, but not with his tail between his legs like this.
I felt bad for him, but again, there was no imminent danger, and the crow wasn't doing anything to taunt him, so I let him adjust and calm down on his own.
At this point, I know he's upset in general, so I just plan on going around the block, and we're already half way there. At this point he still needed to take care of both kinds of potty needs, which he eventually did.
We ended up going within sight of the construction, although the noise had mostly stopped. He barked a little, but got over it pretty quickly. I was hoping that was a sign he was adjusting.
I'll tell you the truth. I honestly don't know what to do when this happens. I know what not to do. I know I shouldn't get excited or angry of course. I know I can have him sit and treat the quiet that comes with that, but while that works at the time, after doing it so long, it doesn't seem to help with future times at all. Especially now that he's figured out to sometimes bark just to get the treats. (Although when he does that, it's usually accompanied with a doggy smile and a look like, "I get treats now???")
So I just let him bark now when there's nothing to move him away from and no threat, and hopefully he's learning from that.