Dogs bark, especially when they’re lonely, bored, afraid or frustrated. They bark when you get home, when you feed them, when they’re on walks and when the doorbell rings on TV. It doesn’t matter if your dog has a high-pitched yippy bark or a giant braying voice. Barking is barking, and it’s annoying when it goes on too long.
Unfortunately, dogs are dogs, and they do dog things, whether you like it or not. A dog’s bark is his voice, and unless you train him to do otherwise, he’ll use it.
A Tired Dog is a Good Dog
The simplest, most effective way to curtail negative behavior, especially barking, is to give your dog plenty of exercise and socialization.
Go for Walkies: Take him for daily walks around the neighborhood and encourage him to interact positively with people and other dogs. Carry a bag of treats so you can reward him when he greets people with good doggie manners.
Visit the Dog Park: If you have a good dog park near you, take your dog regularly and allow him to burn off excess energy. The dog park is also a great place to socialize your dog and introduce him to other dogs.
Take a Hike: Most dogs love taking long walks and exploring the outdoors. If you have a nice hiking spot nearby, take your pup for a long outing as often as you can.
Hire a Dog Walker: If you don’t have the time or physical ability to exercise your dog enough as he needs, consider hiring a dog walker to take him out once or twice a week.
Plan a Doggie Play Date: If you have a network of friends who are also dog lovers, make weekly play dates so your dogs can tire each other out.
Adopt a Furry Friend: Although some dogs prefer to be the only dog in the house, most crave companionship, whether it’s a cat or another dog.
Remember, a bored dog barks. If you don’t give your dog something to do, he’s going to complain—loudly.
No-Bark Devices
Although a number of products promise to teach your dog to stop barking, there are also compelling reasons not to use them.
Citronella Collars: These training collars fit around your dog’s neck and emit a spray of citronella when your dog barks. The problem with these collars is that if your dog barks long enough—and some do—then he’ll use up all the spray and continue barking. Smart dogs will even turn their heads while they bark until the container is empty.
Shock Collars: Like citronella collars, these collars fit around your dog’s neck. When he barks, the collar gives him an electric shock. According to most animal trainers and behaviorists, this method is not only inhumane, but also ineffective. The shocks are not pleasant and can even harm your dog; at best, they’ll make them become fearful.
Sonic Bark Busters: These devices emit a high-frequency tone when your dog barks. The sound won’t harm him but will merely annoy him. Although many people report this device has been useful in eliminating barking, others have had no success at all.
The best way to teach your dog to bark is by training him, which will not only eliminate the problem, but also strengthen your bond.
Positive Reinforcement
Most animal trainers and behaviorists agree that the best kind of training you can give your dog is based on positive reinforcement. Basically, you ignore bad behavior and praise him when he does what you ask.
When you give your dog negative feedback, you can frighten and confuse him. Unless you catch the bad behavior and respond immediately, which seldom happens, your dog won’t even know why you’re punishing him.
The theory is that dogs act out primarily for attention. It doesn’t matter if you scold or praise them—they’ll still be getting a response from you. You must give him attention only when he follows your commands.
In the case of barking, you’ll want to train your dog to be quiet on demand. Select a word you’ll use every time, like “quiet” or “enough.” When your dog barks, interrupt the behavior by squirting him with water. Only do it once—the idea is to interrupt the behavior, not to punish him and associate barking with an unpleasant experience.
Training Your Dog Not to Bark
When you have his attention, follow these steps.
- While you’re training your dog, you’ll need to teach him that barking has unpleasant consequences and being quiet has rewards. When you hear him bark, immediately give him the command to be quiet. Only give the command one time. If he doesn’t obey, squirt him to interrupt the bad behavior.
- When he stops barking, reward him with verbal praise, a belly rub or another treat. He’ll soon associate the command with good things.
- Another way to interrupt the barking is to hold a tasty treat in front of his nose. He’ll probably gobble it down, which will give his mouth something different to do.
Positive training is simple to incorporate into your daily life, but in order for it to work, you must be consistent, giving him the command to be quiet every single time he barks.
How to Prevent or Minimize Barking
As with any unwanted behavior, prevention goes a long way toward eliminating the problem. Set up your dog for success by making it easier for him to obey your no-barking command.
If you have a window that faces the street, keep your drapes closed when you aren’t home and during high-traffic hours, especially when people are walking their dogs. If your dog doesn’t see anything to bark at, he won’t bark.
When you aren’t home, crate your dog in a room with closed doors. This won’t prevent him from barking, but it will confine him to one space, making it less likely that he’ll annoy your neighbors.
Losing Battles
Although there are certainly exceptions, dogs will continue to bark at certain stimuli, no matter how well you train them. If any of these visitors come to your house, expect a reaction.
Lawn maintenance professionals
Meter readers
Mail and package delivery people
The reason dogs bark at these kinds of stimulation is because they are trying to protect their owners and homes from (supposedly) dangerous intruders, such as your kindly neighbor walking her ancient dogs and your patient, well-meaning lawn services team.
You can certainly try to train your dogs not to respond—you might even be successful!—but it’s more likely that you’ll have to endure at least a little barking in these situations, especially when they first spot their quarry.
Be Consistent
Training a dog is really about training the owner. If you change the command, take too long to respond, or if you yell at him, he’ll become confused and won’t know what you want him to do. The faster you train yourself to respond automatically with the command and reward, the sooner your dog will learn not to bark.
