Stop barking

Question
Hi,
We have a new puppy who is 6 months old now.  He is from a shelter and is a lab/beagle/doberman mix.  He's really a good pup, and is housebroken and neutered.  Recently he found his bark and barks at just about everything outside the house when he is inside.  Any car driving down the road, or if the wind blows.....it is making me crazy.  I try to remain calm and calm him down, but usually it doesn't work.  How can we stop him from barking at everything?

Also, he barks like mad at our neighbors when he is outside.  We have an invisible fence, so he can't get to them, but it sure sounds like he wants to....oddly, he doesn't bark at people who are in our driveway, until they knock on the door.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Lynn

Answer
It is confused about who is in charge.   It is quite possible it is used to
being in charge, and intends to stay in charge.  You need to take over as top dog.  Having a good pack structure reduces such
problems.  The dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class.  A good obedience class or book is about you learning to be top dog, not the dog learning it gets a treat if it sits.  Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/

The above are fundamental techniques I suggest for almost all behavior problems and should help with barking too. The truth is, Labs usually don't bark that much and I don't have methods of controlling barking that I have been successful using. It isn't even in the manual for them. The manual does have a suggested reading list.  One I have read is The Other End of the Leash by Patrica McConnell.

She suggests the first step is not to yell at the dog. After all, usually if one dog starts to bark, any others around will to. So yell at your dog when it barks and it is happy to have you bark with it. Quietly tell it enough and walk over to it with a treat, doesn't need to be very big. Let him know you have it and use it to lure him away from what he is barking at if anything, and praise him as he shifts his attention to the treat and away from barking. Once away from where he was barking, give him the treat.

Unlike much of my other advice, this is not something I have tried and found works. It does come from a reliable source and I would trust it more than something I found on a website I know little about. I just hope she isn't smart enough to figure out if she barks, she gets a treat plus your attention.