A barking dog can indicate danger, excitement, or the presence of someone strange. Even though it can be a great warning sign and alarm system, continuous barking can be extremely irritating.
In order to create a peaceful home space and keep your neighbors happy, you have to take measures to train your dog in maintaining an acceptable barking behavior.
Teaching your furry friend to keep their voice down isn’t an easy task, it takes a lot of patience, endurance, and repetition.
Barking is part of a dog’s DNA; it traces back to their ancestors. Since dogs have become pets and live in apartment buildings surrounded by other citizens, we have to train them to live in our habitats.
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Here are a few excellent training techniques you can use to try and control your dog’s excessive barking.
1. Don’t Yell and Scream
Whenever your pup starts barking and going crazy at the sight of anything strange, you shouldn’t yell at them. To them, it will only appear that you’re barking along with them. As a matter of fact, this will only encourage them to bark more and louder.
2. Remove Motivational Elements
What is it that triggers your dog’s barking bones?
Perhaps a passerby or birds that flies around in the yard. Manage your canine’s behavior by eliminating the elements that trigger his chattiness.
Close the curtains of the windows if he barks at things outside, and bring him inside the house when he barks at birds. You shouldn’t leave your pup outside unsupervised for too long, then he will just bark at anything and anyone he sees.
3. Use Positive Reinforcement
You should always be happy and positive when you train your dog. Avoid hitting them with a shoe, or even gentle slaps on the bum – this will only make them feel scared and anxious.
When they contain themselves from barking, you can give them a special treat or a belly rub.
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4. Ignore It
It might be difficult at first, but it will be wise to ignore your dog completely until they stop barking. We should really give canines the credit they deserve, they know what to do to get your attention.
Whenever your furry friend goes on an excessive barking spree, ignore him completely. This means no touching, no petting, no looking at him, no talking to him, and definitely no treats.
If after a while you get so frustrated with the noise that you yell at them to keep quiet, he would’ve achieved what he wanted to; getting your attention. By giving in, you teach him that if he keeps at it for long enough, that you’ll give him attention.
Don’t forget to reward your dog if you ignore them and they start being quiet. Reward him after different time intervals.
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5. Exercise
Dogs have a lot of energy that they need to get rid of. Make sure that you give your dog enough mental and physical exercise to keep them happy.
When your dog is depressed he will become passive and uninterested. It’s important to keep your dog engaged and happy by taking them for walks and playing fetch.
Not only will this keep them happy, but it will also make sure that he doesn’t start barking because he is bored or frustrated.
6. The ‘Quiet’ Command
It will be difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. But if you start enforcing the ‘quiet’ command your canine might just start to listen.
Use the command ‘speak’ to indicate to him that he can start barking, after 2 seconds you say ‘quiet’ and then hold a treat in front of his nose. He can only eat the treat once he has stopped.
It’s never too late to try and coach your dog to keep their voice down. When you combine any of the above methods with a lot of patience and tons of treats, then you’ll be able to achieve your goal.
About The Author:
Stefan Savevski: web content writer/WordPress editor/web researcher. Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies.
