If you own a pet dog that won’t stop barking it can jeapordise a relaxed happy home life. This can be further exacerbated if you have young children, thin walls, or live in close proximity to neighbours.
It is not only irritating, at times it can be startling, it can wake people up and sometimes it can seem like there’s not much you can do to stop it. Pets can get out of the habit for months then suddenly they’re barking all the time again. How on earth can you prevent this from reoccurring?
Fortunately, help is at hand. You can attend classes or meet with a behavioural expert for advice on how to prevent your pet from barking the house down. The idea behind it is to understand why your dog is barking and to react accordingly in order to ensure that you are getting to the root cause to prevent further outbursts.
There are plenty of reasons for barking, for example, some dogs want to alert you to danger, they can do it out of fear and sometimes dogs will bark when they are frustrated, stressed or simply bored.
One of the best ways to deal with this is to try and notice when they typically start barking. Of course it might seem like it’s happening all the time, but generally pets tend to follow behavioural patterns whereby certain stimuli set them off, the same way humans respond to certain things consistently.
If you use rewards after calming the dog down it will help them to associate positivity and relief rather than anger and punishment with their outbursts. This can encourage them to be less highly strung around the home, providing them with a more relaxed home life and reducing their need to bark constantly.
Another way to do it; -especially if they tend to bark when they think someone new is approaching the home � is to simply take an hour or so to repeatedly walk in and out of your front door. Making sure your dog’s in close proximity. When they start barking, simply open the door and walk in and show them there’s nothing to worry about. Soon enough they will begin to realise that it’s unlikely anyone is coming into the house is a threat and that it’s safe to relax when they hear things going on outside.
One of the great ways to reward your pets is to give them treats � if you are looking for bespoke treats designed for training check out Wagg foods for more information.
