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How to Stop Your Dog
From Barking
By
Larry Parr
We want our dogs to bark if there’s trouble
(“What? Timmy’s fallen down the well?!”) but it
is annoying both for us and for others if our dog barks constantly. It can also be a lot more than just
annoying – many communities have laws about barking dogs and with as few
as three complaints in some communities you can be fined or your dog can
be removed from your home for excessive barking.
Experts tell us that the main reason dogs bark is that
they are bored or lonely. On the
one hand this is a difficult problem to solve since most of us like to
spoil our pets when we’re with them.
So when we leave them or put them outside they miss us and all of
the attention we give them – and so they bark.
They bark because they want our attention.
If we give them our attention for barking then we are
training them to bark more in the future. By this I mean if we put our
dog outside and the dog barks and we bring it back in what have we taught
it?
We’ve taught it that barking works. We’ve told the dog that we want
it to bark.
So how do we deal with unwanted barking? The best answer seems to be negative
reinforcement.
One training method is to stand calmly in front of your
dog and when it barks say the word “Quiet” and then throw a glass of
water in the dog’s face. Generally it doesn’t take very long (maybe two
to three days of doing this on a regular basis) for the dog to get the
message.
Once the dog gets the idea then just the word “Quiet”
will be enough to stop the barking.
This method of training is not recommended with
a dog which bares its teeth and shows anger when it is barking. If your
dog exhibits symptoms of aggression or hostility while it barks this may
be a sign of a serious psychological problem; consult your vet.
Very often, without realizing it, we, as dog owners, do
things with our dogs with the best of intentions which make problems worse
instead of better.
If you make your dog the center of the universe and
then leave her or him alone why would you be surprised that the dog
barks? Of course it’s going
to bark – you taught it that it is the center of the universe so naturally
it’s going to bark if that universe abandons it.
Don’t overdo a good-bye to your dog. You believe that your dog understands
the words you say to it – but it doesn’t.
What your dog understands is your tone of voice and your body
language. When you overdo your good-bye and overdo your return, what YOU
are telling your dog is that your absence is a Big Deal – and this
encourages your dog to bark more while you’re gone.
Provide your dog a chew toy to distract her or him and
then when the dog is concentrating on the toy then – without saying a
word – leave the room and close the door.
A few minutes later, reenter the room but DO NOT pet your dog or
even make eye contact no matter how
much your dog greets you.
The point you are making with your dog is that your
absence means nothing. You are telling your dog that you ARE going to
leave but that you will return and that is NORMAL.
When it comes time for you to leave for the day, do NOT
say good-bye to your dog. I know
this will be hard on you, but it is important if you want to stop your
dog from barking all day while you’re gone. Instead, give your dog a chew
toy and when it is not paying attention to you quietly slip out the door.
When you return home you MUST remain calm and NOT greet
your dog excitedly. Wait until your dog calms down and then tell him or
her to sit. Once the dog sits then a simple head pat and a “good
dog” is permissible.
Remember, you are training your dog to understand that
your being gone is No Big Deal and that you Will Return and that this is NORMAL. You must not make a big deal out of any
of it.
If you recall at the very beginning of this article I
mentioned that according to experts most dogs bark because they are
bored. So, next we’ll concentrate
on keeping your dog occupied while you are gone.
There are several chew toys that can actually feed your
dog while you are away for the day and by doing so they can distract your
dog and prevent boredom for long periods of time.
One company that makes long-lasting, quality chew toys
is the Kong company. They have a
line of chew toys that are hollow and open at one end so that food can be
inserted into them, such as a dry treat or even canned food. Depending on
your situation, this may be one way to keep your pet occupied while you
are gone.
There are also hollow balls in which you can put dry
food. As your dog plays with the ball a few morsels of dry food at a time
will fall out of holes in the ball.
In this way your pet plays by himself or
herself and gets rewarded for it.
You can even hide several of these balls around the house for your
dog to find over the course of a day.
Your local pet store or your vet may have other
suggestions as well.
One other solution to the problem of a
constantly-barking dog is a special collar which causes a negative
reinforcement each time your dog barks.
I feel these collars should be a last resort as they can sometimes
give a negative response when the phone rings or even when a plane flies
over the house.
Also, if someone were to attempt to break into your
home while you are away you want your dog to bark in that
situation – but with a negative-reinforcement collar on, your dog would
be punished for such barking.
If your situation is so hopeless that you feel a collar
is necessary, we recommend that you use the kind of collar which emits a
whiff of citronella when your dog barks.
Your vet and/or pet store owner would be able to recommend one
that is right for your dog and your situation.
A constantly barking dog is a problem for both you and
for your neighbors and many communities will take action to quiet your
dog if you don’t do so yourself in very short
order. While some of the
techniques may seem cruel (such as not saying good-bye to your dog
when you leave) keep in mind that this only seems cruel to YOU but
that your dog does NOT think the same way that you do; it is NOT
cruel to your dog.
©2005 Larry Parr
ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
There are two excellent dog training
programs which I can personally recommend to you. One I have personally used, and the
other my sister-in-law used and both programs worked miracles.
You can
read all about the program my wife and I used to train our three dogs HERE.
Read
about the program my sister-in-law used to train her old hound dog HERE.
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