Tips to Stop Your Dog from Barking
Understanding why your dog is barking is a key component in training to stop your dog barking. Barking is one way that your dog communicates with you and over time you will develop an understanding of why your dog is barking. Perhaps your dog is anxious, bored, lonely or just feeling playful? At times you will want your dog to bark, when something is wrong or your dog needs to go to the toilet for example. Remember, not all barking is bad!. Of course there is nothing worse than a neighbor with a barking dog and owning a dog means taking responsibility for teaching your dog about appropriate barking behavior. Remember, you are in charge and your dog will look to you for direction about what to do and when to do it; you can stop your dog from barking.
Is your dog lonely or bored?
The number one cause of unwanted barking is a dog who is feeling anxious and lonely. Perhaps your dog spends all day every day alone while you are at work? You will need to make sure you are providing your dog with plenty of exercise to compensate for that, 1 to 1.5 hours per day depending on size and breed.
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We recommend a long walk before or after work. If this is difficult to organize consider hiring someone to walk your dog in the mornings and/or evenings. Your dog will thank you for this attention.
There are quite a variety of dog toys available on the market to try when you are away from home. Most dogs love balls and perhaps you could even try a bone to chew on. Rotating toys every few weeks is a great way for your dog to rediscover a toy.
Another common cause of barking is too much time alone. Dogs are social animals: they need lots of attention, lots of interaction, and lots of communication. You will need to spend a lot of time with them playing and showing them affection. This is what dogs thrive on. When you are at home include your dog in family activities. A loved dog is a happy dog.
Does your dog want to play?
If your dog is barking at you so that you will stop what you are doing and play the worst thing you could do is give in to this demand. You will be reinforcing a bad habit if you do. Your relationship is built on mutual respect and harassing you in this way does not demonstrate your dog’s respect for you. If you don’t want your dog to demand your attention in this way you will need to ignore this type of attention seeking behavior. The most effective way to do this is to turn your back towards your dog; get up and move away, don’t respond at all. It’s likely that this will be confusing for your dog to start with. If the barking behavior has worked in the past then your dog may be thinking that if it barks for just a little longer you will give in and play. Don’t do it! You will need to be firm. The barking will almost certainly get worse before it gets better. When your dog has realized the barking isn’t working remember to praise it. Positive reinforcement is the key and your dog wants to please you. If you are consistent then after a short time your dog will re-learn this behavior and stop barking as a way of gaining your attention.
As with all aspects of dog training, being consistent is very important. Dogs are pack animals and are most comfortable and best-behaved when they know you are in charge. A dog has to respect your leadership to be happy, well-adjusted and well-behaved. Remember a good dog is not necessarily a quiet dog. Through clear direction from you your dog will learn when it is and is not appropriate to bark.
Find out more about helping your barking dog at Secrets to Dog Training, our top recommendation for your training needs.
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