Our canine companions are some of the most alert individuals we could ask for. When they bark, they’re normally just trying to grab our attention. Sometimes, certain breeds or individuals can bark for seemingly no reason or just at anything and everything they encounter.
Incessant Barking
The barking can get frustrating for dog owners and spell problems for HOAs (homeowners association) and other legislations around noise. Thankfully, there are some proven methods to aid in training your pooch to stop barking so much.
The Why
Your dog can bark for a number of reasons. The most common form of barking is stimulation, which communicates the situation to the owner. They may bark when excited or happy, but they can also bark when they feel distressed. Try to find out why your dog is barking in the first place to pin down how you can help them.
Stimulation In Other Ways
If your dog is barking for stimulation, it may mean that they don’t get enough physical stimulation during the day. A great way to tucker your dog out is through consistent and frequent walking.
Exposure Therapy
Walking your dog also doubles as exposure therapy. This means that a dog that doesn’t get out of their home much will become desensitized to otherwise foreign things like other dogs and strangers. After enough exposure, they may be less inclined to bark.
Early Training
To catch this behavior early, it’s a good idea to take your dog for training as a puppy to reinforce good behaviors and abolish bad ones. If it’s too late for that, never forget that you can still train your dog, it’ll just be harder the older they are.
Positive Reinforcement vs. negative Punishment
If your dog barks when they shouldn’t, don’t reward their behavior, but don’t do anything drastic either – positive punishment is more of a deterrent, but dogs will react much better to positive reinforcement. Try giving your dog a treat when they successfully listen, and don’t bark. They will quickly catch on.
A Short Attention Span
Dogs have a short attention span and generally forget about everything and focus solely on what they are doing – like barking at a dog walking past the fence. An easy short-term solution to get your dog to stop barking immediately is through distractions.
Distractions
Call them away from the situation entirely. Avoid distracting them with treats if they’ve already started barking, as this could inadvertently reinforce their bad behavior.
Being Left Alone
If your dog is barking when you aren’t home, it could indicate a few things. They could just be bored of being locked up, but they could also be lonely, or even anxious without their owner.
Stimulation
If they aren’t used to being left alone, try to find something that can stimulate them while you’re not there. A T.V. with a nature documentary can work wonders as background noise. You can even install cameras to check on your dog and see when they’re barking.
Be Cautious
Stimulation can stop your dog from barking out of boredom, but be careful not to leave them unsupervised with hazards, like toys they could possibly choke on. Similarly, don’t leave a T.V. on when you have no control over what it could play next. Loud noises, even from a T.V., could induce anxiety in a dog.
Provide A Safe Place
No matter if you’re home or away, your dog should have a safe place that they can retreat to if they need to. Creating an environment like this means that your dog could take themselves away from stressful situation where they would start barking and stand their ground.
Source:
How to get your dog to stop barking
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