How To Teach Your Dog To Stop Barking

Barking is one dog behavior which is completely natural but may be extremely troublesome for the owner. This is because the owners living situation may not be conducive to owning a dog that barks excessively. For example dog owners who live in an apartment or in other situations where they are very close to their neighbor’s residence may receive complaints from the neighbors as a result of the dog’s barking. In the mildest form this will simply be troublesome and may result in a strained relationship with the neighbors but in extreme cases it may result in the police and animal control officers becoming involved. In these more extreme cases the dog owner may be given an ultimatum and required to either get the barking under control in a reasonable time frame or else the owner may be required to re-home the dog. As you can see this situation can be very troubling and can have dire consequences. Further evidence of the severity of this problem is the fact that some dog owners opt to have their dogs debarked. This is a surgical procedure which alters the vocal cords to prevent the dog from barking loudly. The dog may still be able to bark but it will likely not be able to do so loudly. This article will provide information on training a dog to stop barking to prevent dog owners from having to take such extreme measures as debarking or re-homing their dogs.

Many of the training options for teaching a dog to stop barking are corrective in nature. This is because this is one of the easiest ways to teach this behavior. With this type of training the owner waits until the dog begins to bark and then takes a corrective measure. This correction is intended to be uncomfortable and unappealing to the dog in an effort to help the dog make the association between barking and this uncomfortable consequence. Once this association is made the dog will be less inclined to bark because he will not want to experience the undesired consequence. The use of loud noises and bark collars are two of the most popular methods used to deter a dog from barking.

Making a loud noise each time your dog barks can be used during the training process of teaching him not to bark. Some dog owners choose to either make a loud clapping sound or to keep a can filled with pennies nearby and rattle the can each time the dog barks. Both of these loud noises can startle the dog and are typically unappealing. A dog owner who consistently uses this technique each time the dog barks may find the dog quickly learns not to bark or at the very least begins barking with less frequency. The sound of a loud clap or the rattling of pennies in a tin can are not the types of noises a dog enjoys hearing so when he hears these sounds each time he barks, he will quickly learn not to bark to avoid this noise.

Bark collars are also used by dog owners and trainers to teach a dog to stop barking. These collars fit on a dog’s neck like regular collars but they have a small box which can sense when the dog is barking through vibrations in the dog’s vocal chords. When the device senses the dog has begun barking the device will cause a corrective action to occur. This corrective action may be a piercing noise, a mild shock or the release of a citrus scent such as citronella. Similar to the loud clapping or the rattling of pennies in a can, these corrective measures are unappealing to the dog and help the dog to learn that his barking is causing this corrective measure. The dog then learns to avoid barking to prevent these corrective measures.

While the majority of training methods used to teach a dog to stop barking, there are some positive reinforcement techniques which are used to train a dog to stop barking. In fact some dog owners and trainers may actually teach a dog a bark or a speak command as a step in the process of teaching the dog to stop barking. This may sound counterintuitive but it actually does have some validity. In teaching a dog to bark on command the trainer gains some control over this action and then has the ability to give the dog a command intended to stop the behavior. This is often referred to as being able to shut off a behavior. For example if the dog owner or trainer teaches the dog to bark with a command such as, “Bark,” or “Speak,” he can then negate that command with a command such as, “No bark,” or “No speak,” which allows the owner to instruct the dog to stop barking. Many dog owners teach the bark or speak command in a positive way by simply seizing opportunities when the dog barks on his own and then rewarding the dog by saying, “Good bark,” or “Good speak,” and offering a treat as a reward. This helps the dog to associate the desired command with his behavior and the dog will soon learn the meaning of the command and be able to offer the desired behavior on command. If the dog already understand the word no, simply adding the word no to the command to bark will instruct the dog not to bark.

The process of first teaching a dog to bark and then teaching him not to bark involves several steps and may be more complicated than corrective measures but for owners and trainers who prefer to rely exclusively on positive training methods it is worthwhile. It is also worthwhile for dogs that are overly sensitive to correction. These dogs do not respond well to corrective measures and may never learn to stop barking if these are the only techniques used. In fact some owners of sensitive dogs may find the problem of barking is exacerbated by the use of corrective training techniques.