How to Stop Dog Barking

Author: Richard Livitski

If you need to stop dog barking, you've come to the right place. I'm going to give you three quick tips to stop dog barking. These techniques will help you reign in your dog's barking problem.

Why is Your Dog Barking?
This is the first question any dog owner needs to ask before they can have any success trying to stop dog barking. Different dogs bark for different reasons, and how you handle their barking will vary widely depending on the reason for the barking.

Small dogs and puppies often bark out of fear. Small dogs often bark because they feel so little in comparison to people and other animals. Puppies, on the other hand, have a tendency to bark out of fear of being left alone. Each of these will be handled far differently than the dog who's barking to chase away the mail carrier or barking it up at squirrels.

Make sure you know why your dog is barking before you try to change their behavior. Your dog might be protecting his territory, demanding your attention, or just trying to communicate something to you.

Basic Training

You'll also have far more success stomping out barking if you've given your dog a basic training course. Learning to sit, stay, and heel helps you dog understand that there are times when you'll want him to do certain things and he'll be rewarded or praised if he gets the behavior right.

Then, when it comes to training him to stop barking, he'll at least know you're trying to teach him something.

When you do train the barking out of him, set up training sessions. Don't try to train your dog only when the barking moment arrives. Instead, train him ahead of time. If your dog barks every time there's a knock at the door, have a friend come by and knock. Give your dog a treat before he can bark. You'll condition him to look to you when there's a knock at the door instead of reacting by barking.

If your dog barks at people and other dogs when you're out for a walk, have a friend come around the corner at you with his dog. Go back and forth around that corner, commanding your dog to not bark. After about 20 minutes of this your dog will understand which behavior is displeasing you. Be patient. Training takes time.

Divert Your Dog's Attention

Sometimes controlling your dog's barking habit is as simple as using one of many diversion techniques. In many cases, the principle of “out of sight out of mind” works well to control dog barking.

To stop their barking dog some dog owners have changed see-through chain-link fences to solid fences to keep passers by out of view of their dog. You can also get the object of their barking out of sight by changing what the dog is looking at.

Get a tin can, fill it with pennies, and snap the lid back on top. When it shakes it makes a noise that many dog owners find attracts their dog's attention to the can and away from whatever their barking at. If you have hardwood floors, you might just drop the can on the floor.

Squirt guns and spray bottles also work well as a diversionary technique to stop your barking dog. Your dog barks, you squirt her. She forgets the kid on the bike outside and looks for the source of the water.

Use and elaborate on these techniques and you'll finally have the peace you're looking for.

About the Author:

When dog trainer Richard Livitski isn't helping others to achieve peace and quiet with his popular e-book Stop Dog Barking Now, he's busy chasing around his own dogs.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How to Stop Dog Barking: Find Tips to Stop Your Dog From Barking