End Your Dog’s Barking Today

our dog has a natural need to bark. That much, you probably know. What you may not know, is that you can teach your dog when it is OK to bark and when it is not. Here are some simple tips to start teaching your dog right away. After all, silence is golden.

We cannot approach any issue related to dog barking if we don’t know why dogs bark in general. Dogs bark because they need or want to attract attention, notify their owners of a stranger or unusual event, or for self defense, in that order of frequency. Most of the time it is to notify their owner or want attention, and very seldom it is to defend themselves.

So how do you know if you have a chronic barker? Simply put, if you remove the dog situation, or the situation from the dog, and the dog still consistently barks, you have a chronic barker and you can easily change when the dog will bark. All you will have to do is change the response the dog gets when it barks.

For example, if the dog is barking to get your attention, then you reach down and pet them right away, or even if you yell at the dog to stop, they will continue to bark to get attention, because that’s what worked last time!

In order to break the habit, after the dog barks, tell the dog to stop by saying “Stop” in a firm voice (not yelling). Then, give the dog a chew toy to distract them from the barking. Once they stop barking, praise them for stopping the barking, not for barking. Then spend time with them and play with them when they are quiet. This should be more than enough to kick their habit.