Training Your Dog To Stop Barking - The Best Techniques

 

Excessive barking can be an extremely stressful thing to deal with, and sometimes it seems like your dog is doing it just to get on your nerves. Not only that, but your neighbors aren't going to appreciate constant barking.

If your dog is an obsessive barker, the last thing you should do is to shout at your dog or lose your temper. Dogs usually bark because of several reasons: loneliness, attention seeking, guarding, boredom or simply because it's a naturally fun thing to do for them!

Shouting at your dog is self-defeating in all instances. If your dog is lonely or seeking your attention, shouting at him will merely reinforce his belief that by barking he'll get your attention. If your dog is guarding and starts barking, he's trying to alert you that there's something that needs your attention, if you shout or punish him, he won't understand what he did wrong and will become even more stressed and anxious, resulting in even more barking. If your dog is bored, barking provides an outlet for pent up energy or boredom and becomes a self-rewarding activity.

So the last thing you want to do is lose your temper, this cannot be stressed enough. If your dog is left alone for long periods of time, provide him with toys and things to chew to keep him occupied. Boredom is one of the most common causes of obsessive barking. Walk your dog frequently so he can work off energy and frustrations.

If your dog is an attention seeker, don't reward him by punishing him when he barks for your attention. The act of punishment will be seen as success in getting your attention. A quiet "no" and ignoring him will eventually teach him that barking will not get any attention. When he's quiet praise him profusely and give him your full attention.

If your dog barks at everything he sees and hears this is probably guarding behavior. He's simply trying to warn you of potential danger, and this is best handled by immediately averting his attention to something else, you can do this by dropping some keys next to him or clapping loudly, any loud noise to divert his attention. Shouting at the dog or losing your temper will only serve to reinforce his belief that something is wrong and he will think you are also anxious and he will bark even more.

The key to stopping your dog from barking is persistence and patience. Anger and punishment will never result in a calm dog.