How to Get My Dog to Stop Barking

Image credits: Unsplash

Dogs bark for different reasons, for example, to get attention, whenever they are stressed or bored etc. It’s not hard to tell the difference. For pet owners struggling to understand the barking behaviour of their dogs, here are some of the reasons why dogs back and how to know.

Why Dogs Bark

Barking is a type of communication that dogs use, and it can have different meanings depending on the situation. Some of the reasons why dogs bark include:

1. To protect their territory

When someone comes into your dog’s territory, that often leads to excessive barking because he senses a threat. As the threat comes closer to your dog, the barking becomes louder and he will look aggressive. This is probably the most known reason for a dog barking because it has been widely known of dogs to protect their territories and guard their homes.

2. Noises/objects

Most dogs bark at almost every noise or object that draws their attention or just startles them. Noises make dogs feel uncomfortable, especially when these noises are, well… uncomfortable.

3. Boredom/Loneliness

When dogs are left alone for long periods, they can easily become bored and will start barking because they are sad. It is important for dog owners to watch their dogs, and look for signs of loneliness in the dog. However, a lot of times, the dog will not be lonely when you are around but if you leave it for long periods of time, you can be sure it feels lonely a lot.

4. Greeting/Play

When greeting people or animals, dogs bark, accompanied with sometimes jumping or tail wags. Most times the barking in this instance will not last for long, but the jumping and tail wagging might last for a while.

5. Attention Seeking

Dogs bark when they want your attention. For example, the dog might bark if it wants to play, go out of its cage or when it wants food.  

6. Separation Anxiety/ Fear

Dogs will bark excessively when left alone because they tend to hear noises which are not even there or sometimes they bark just to listen to their own voices. The results of this may be dog depression, inappropriate elimination or destructiveness. They often move in circles around the fence.

How to stop your dog from barking

Below is a list of six tips to help you stop your dog from barking. You shouldn’t expect results overnight although some of the tips might work very fast. The longer your dog has been doing the barking behavior, the longer it will take for him to stop.

1. Remove the motivation

Try to figure out what makes your dog bark and remove it. Don’t give him the opportunity to go on with his barking behavior. For example, he may be barking at people or animals who are passing by the window and you have to close the curtains or transfer the dog to another room so that it can stop barking. If he is barking at the passersby that he sees through the fence, then bring him inside the house to stop him from barking.

2. Ignore the barking

Ignore means that you should not give your dog attention while he is barking. Don’t look at him or even talk to him and sometimes you have to pretend that you can’t hear him barking. If you give him attention, he will think you are rewarding him for barking. When he is finally quiet, ensure you reward him.

For this method to be successful, you have to wait for as long as it takes the dog to stop barking. If you yell at him, he will get frustrated and next time he will bark for a longer time. Whenever you take your dog in his crate and he starts barking, start moving and ignore him. When he stops barking, go to him, praise him and treat him.

As he gets to understand that by being quiet he gets a treat, continue increasing the time he must remain quiet for him to be rewarded. You should start by rewarding him for being quiet for just a few seconds then go on to longer periods of silence.

3. Train your dog the “quiet” command.

This technique might sound contradictory to the previous one but here, the first step is to teach your dog to bark when commanded. For example, you can tell your dog to speak, he will bark for a little, you should then let him sniff your treat. When he suddenly stops barking, praise him and give him the treat. You should repeat this until he respects your command.

When you can reliably command your dog to bark, you can now go ahead and teach him the “quiet” command. When the dog starts barking, you can say “quiet” and when he does keep quiet, praise him and give him a treat.

This is important especially when someone knocks at your door, your dog will alert you that there is someone at the door by barking. You should be able to tell your dog to keep quiet. Practice this more often in other situations until your dog learns to immediately stop barking when you tell it to stop.

4. Ask your dog for an incompatible behavior.

This involves training your dog to react to the barking stimuli with something else that will make him stop barking. You can train your dog from an early age quite fast by using a shock collar for small dogs which are so effective for training as well as quite cheap compared to hiring a trainer. 

When your dog barks, ask him to do anything different from barking. For example, tell him to go lie on his bed. You could put a treat on his mat and ask him to go there.

When he obeys and heads on to his mat to earn his treat, then, try opening the door while he’s still on his mat. If he tries to get up, go ahead and close the door immediately. When you do this repeatedly, he will eventually stay on his mat while you open the door. Always reward him if he stays on the mat when you open the door.

5. Keep your dog tired

Ensure that your dog gets enough mental and physical exercise every day because a tired dog is always a good dog and is less likely to bark. Although, depending on his breed, age or health, your dog may need long walks as well as a good play of going after the ball and also playing with some toys.

6. Keep your dog busy

One of the best ways to ensure your dog is out of trouble is by keeping them busy. There are a lot of products that can help you in this and you can even make DIYs which will help you in keeping the dog busy. Some of the things you can do to keep him busy include;

•         Hide stuff and allow your dog discover them.
•         Give him pet puzzles.

What you should not do

• Always be consistent when you should be.Stick to your ground when encouraging the dog to stop barking at some things.
• Never use any means of constraint in order to keep a dog quiet for long periods. It can be too risky to your dog, or even considered animal torture.