Ruki has an artificial sheepskin bed where we put all her toys and towels to wipe her off when she's wet from rain or drink. She loves it there; that's her "safe space." She gnaws on her toys, pulls at the sheepskin, pulls at her towels.
She also loves to bark and growl there. While I know it's fine and natural for dogs to bark when they're excited, I don't want it to become habit, get out of control, or get her "too excited." And I don't want to reward her with attention by trying to get her to stop.
So I came across part of a technique in the My SMART Puppy book. When she starts wildly barking, move towards her and stand in her space, which is just to stand very close to her, or even step right next to her in the bed. Don't make eye contact. Just stand there and show her that you're in her space. And she stops.
I'm not sure if this is "right"--if it's behaviorally proper, or if I'm following the logic of the space treatment right. But it seems to work over the past two days.
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