Barking

Why Does My Dog Bark?

Dogs bark for many reasons: excitement, frustration, boredom, stress, fear, to alarm, while playing, and many other reasons. Since your dog could be barking for any number of reasons, it is important to identify why your dog is barking before you try to silence him.

Reasons for Barking and Quick Solutions

Boredom: If your dog doesn't have anything do, he will find something to do. Some dogs will occupy their time with barking. To prevent boredom-barking, give your dog access to interesting and interactive toys when you can't play with him, for example, Kongs, treat balls, or smoked bones. Make sure your dog is getting enough exercise (at least 1 hour a day): because a tired dog is less likely to bark.

Attention: If your dog is barking to get your attention, the only way to stop the behaviour is by ignoring it. As soon as your dog begins to bark at you: leave the room. When your dog is quiet, praise him and lavish him with attention. Any kind of interaction when the dog is barking, such as talking to the dog, looking at the dog, or even yelling at the dog, will sustain the behaviour.

Alarm Barking or Barrier Frustration: If your dog stands at the door, window, or fence and barks at anything that passes by, the best thing to do is to limit his access to these areas. If he barks at noises while inside the house, turn on a radio or TV to muffle outside sounds.

Barks at Other Dogs While on a Walk: This maybe the consequence of a lack of socialization, or your dog may not be getting enough play time with other dogs. Try to take your dog to more dog parks where he can play off-leash with his canine comrades. Dogs need to be with other dogs on a regular basis: training class is not enough.

Teaching Your Dog to Be Quiet on Command

To control alarm-, territorial-, or excitement-barking you can teach your dog to be quiet on command.

When your dog is barking give the command "Quiet" or "Shush" in a firm tone. The hand signal for this command is putting your index finder to your lips. As soon as the barking stops, for as little as one second, click'n'treat.

Gradually increase the amount of time your dog must remain quiet to get a treat. Once you have rewarded your dog for being quiet, distract him from what he was barking at with other commands: for example, a combination of sit/down/stand or a short stay, or you can distract him with a rawhide or bone.

If your dog does not stop barking when you give the "Quiet" command use a loud noise like a shaker can or drop a book near him to startle him. As soon as he stops barking; click'n'treat.

Eventually you will not need to startle your dog to get him to stop barking: your command and signal will be enough. However, when you are teaching, remember to always use the command and signal with the startle technique - do not simply startle your dog to get him to stop barking. This will not teach him anything.