To stop a dog from barking, you first need to understand what is causing her to bark before you can address it properly. Below are the most common reasons a dog barks and the solutions for getting them to stop.
1. Identify the Cause
- Alarm/Alert: A change in the environment often causes a dog to alert her owner.
- Boredom or Loneliness: Often a dog will start barking when left alone or after a period of inactivity.
- Territorial/Protective: Self explanatory.
- Attention-Seeking: Otherwise known as demand barking – it’s usually a higher pitched bark and not continuous.
- Playfulness or Excitement: Again, more of a higher pitched bark, a happy bark demonstrating enjoyment of an activity.
- Anxiety or Fear: This one covers a wide array of situations. It could be a change in the environment, even a person getting up from their chair, or a person approaching them..
2. Training Techniques
- Desensitization: This works for 4 and 5 above. Gradually get your dog used to the trigger that causes barking. All dogs have a threshold where if the trigger is beyond the threshold, the dog won’t bark, but if the trigger crosses the threshold, all hell breaks loose. Start at a distance beyond the threshold and slowly bring her closer as your dog remains calm. Of course, you will be rewarding her for her calmness often, saying “yes!” and giving a treat for calmness.
- Teach “Quiet”: This works for 1 and 2 above. Don’t give attention when your dog barks for attention. Wait for 3 seconds of silence, then reward them with a marker word “yes!”, the word “quiet!” and a treat – so “yes! Quiet!” treat.
- Counter-Conditioning: Works for 3, 4 and 5 above. Change your dog’s reaction to stimuli. For example, if your dog barks at the doorbell, you can do one of two different things, or even both. 1) teach them to go to a specific place and stay quiet when it rings, or 2) Rapid fire treats in your pup’s mouth even before she can start barking at the bell – say “yes!” every time you deliver a treat and keep the treats flowing until you feel she is done with her desire to bark. Then repeat the process 5 times a day for 2 weeks.
3. Environmental Management
- Exercise and Stimulation: Perhaps the most important thing of all – exercise. 60% of all behavioral issues stem from a lack of proper exercise. Giving your pup at least an hour and a half of open mouth panting per day will significantly reduce her desire to bark.
- Remove Triggers: Close curtains, turn on the TV, put in a couple white noise machines, or put your pup in an area where he cannot see the outside world.
- Comfort Items: Provide toys, puzzles, or treat-dispensing toys to keep your dog occupied, especially when you’re not home. Also, stuff a Kong with either wet dog food, yogurt, sweet potato, or pumpkin and freeze. Have 2 ready to go at any given time. Then when you need 40 minutes of peace and quiet, bring it out for your pup to enjoy.
4. Professional Help
- Veterinarian: Your dog could have a physical condition that is causing discomfort and inducing the barking fits. It’s always good to rule this out first.
- Dog Trainer or Behaviorist: A certified dog trainer can bring lots to the table in the form of new ideas on training and management, and guide you through all the steps required to achieve your reduced-barking goals.
5. Consistency and Patience
Repetition of your commands is an absolute necessity in training a dog to do new things or to refrain from doing bad things. Along with consistency of training, you will need to pack lots of patience as your pup will only learn new behaviors with repetition and time.
Executing these strategies will help you manage and reduce your dog’s barking successfully.
