- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I would feed three times a day (my dogs all get three meals a day, which means they don't get that trough of hunger just before a meal). Also, and this is going to fly in the face of what most people will say, so stay with me: don't ignore the barking. It's very very very unlikely to work. This is for two reasons:
1. you will give in sometimes, when you just need him to shut up. This variable reinforcement schedule is the most reinforcing type, so it will exacerbate the problem
and, most importantly
2. He is expressing a need. He's communicating with you. It's your job to listen and teach him a more acceptable form of communication that's ust as effective.
My solution to my bonkers shouty cocker spaniel who used to go batshit crazy waiting to have he collar put on, going out the gate, coming in the gate, at meal times etc etc etc was to feed without condition. She was expressing both excitement and frustration that she didn't know how to access her reinforcement. So, hey, let's take a reinforcer and make it freely available. I fed every couple of seconds while I was getting the dogs ready for walks. I threw food on the floor both on going out the gate and coming back in. I tried to make it before the barking, and sometimes I was successful. It didn't really matter. She got to learn the process. I do THIS, then I do THIS, then I do THIS, and you get your ultimate reinforcer at the end of the process. And, in the meantime, you're having some tasty food. Once the process is learned, the free food becomes less important, and now she just gets a single piece of food when her collar is on, just like all the others. Yes, she's still excited, she squeaks and does her tippy-tappy dance, but she's quiet because she understands that her reinforcement is coming and how to get it.
In the case of meal times, you can teach him that if he's hungry, he brings you a food toy that you can fill (or something that means you get a frozen Kong from the freezer etc). So when he is hungry, he knows how to ask politely for that. There are a million different ideas and you have to find the one that works best for you, but it ultimately comes down to you understanding and listening to his need, and him learning how to communicate that need in a human-friendly way.
1. you will give in sometimes, when you just need him to shut up. This variable reinforcement schedule is the most reinforcing type, so it will exacerbate the problem
and, most importantly
2. He is expressing a need. He's communicating with you. It's your job to listen and teach him a more acceptable form of communication that's ust as effective.
My solution to my bonkers shouty cocker spaniel who used to go batshit crazy waiting to have he collar put on, going out the gate, coming in the gate, at meal times etc etc etc was to feed without condition. She was expressing both excitement and frustration that she didn't know how to access her reinforcement. So, hey, let's take a reinforcer and make it freely available. I fed every couple of seconds while I was getting the dogs ready for walks. I threw food on the floor both on going out the gate and coming back in. I tried to make it before the barking, and sometimes I was successful. It didn't really matter. She got to learn the process. I do THIS, then I do THIS, then I do THIS, and you get your ultimate reinforcer at the end of the process. And, in the meantime, you're having some tasty food. Once the process is learned, the free food becomes less important, and now she just gets a single piece of food when her collar is on, just like all the others. Yes, she's still excited, she squeaks and does her tippy-tappy dance, but she's quiet because she understands that her reinforcement is coming and how to get it.
In the case of meal times, you can teach him that if he's hungry, he brings you a food toy that you can fill (or something that means you get a frozen Kong from the freezer etc). So when he is hungry, he knows how to ask politely for that. There are a million different ideas and you have to find the one that works best for you, but it ultimately comes down to you understanding and listening to his need, and him learning how to communicate that need in a human-friendly way.
What a different dog! No barking. 
It sounds like this is the best routine for Wilson , grand result x
