Tips to Control Dog Barking

August 28th, 2009 at 8:11am

Some types of dog barking, for instance- when your dog barks to warn you about a stranger, or when he is greeting or playing with you and barks, aren’t big problems and don’t need correction-maybe just a command to stop if if gets out of hand. On the other hand, if your dog barks for any of the reasons listed in below, you will need to work with your dog to correct these barking problems. It is too bad, but the excessive barking will not just go away on its own accord.

Here are several examples of common bad barking behaviors-use whatever tips work for you, depending on which of these dog barking problems your dog has.

To correct the dog barking caused when your dog spots another dog or person outside the yard you will need to be able to block the view of the outside from your dog. Moving your dog to behind a solid type of fence would be a perfect way to block his view. However, if your yard has no area with a solid fenced area, maybe you can restrain your dog with a lead in an area of the yard with no outer view. If you dog is an indoor dog, you can try closing all the drapes so your dog cannot see outside anymore.

To solve the problem of dogs that bark in response to hearing nearby dogs barking, will require you to interact directly with your dog. For instance, as soon as your dog begins to bark, put your hand over his mouth and hold his mouth shut until he has completely stopped resisting. He won’t be liking this much, so you will have to hold onto his collar while you do this because he may try to move away from you. Another good trick that will startle him out of barking is to spray him in the face with a small blast of water from a little spray bottle. Another option you can try is to use a can filled with pebbles to startle your dog and stop the barking. Any of these 3 tricks should work for stopping the barking temporarily-at least while you are actually applying them. While you do any of these tricks to stop him from barking, you must also tell your dog something like “quiet” or “no barking” to verbally imprint the command to your dog. At the end of a successful training to stop barking, your dog should stop when just given your verbal command.

In order to correct a dog that barks for reasons of being stressed and feeling insecure it requires a lot of attention from you through training, exercising and playing with your dog. An active, well trained dog is much happier, so by increasing his quality of life, he will be less nervous and less likely to bark out of anxiety or stress.

Correcting the problem of bored and lonely dog voicing their frustrations with non stop barking can be done by giving your dog lots of exercise and attention. Obviously if your dog is left alone most of the time and doesn’t get enough playtime and attention from you he is more likely to have this type of barking problem. It is wise to give your dog at least the hour and a half minimum daily exercise time he needs.

To help correct the issue of your dog barking at you for extended periods in order to get your undivided attention, you can say “no”, and then ignore him for a few minutes by turning your back to him and denying him any communications. Be sure not to let your dog be a bully to you. The reason for this, besides the annoyance of a steadily barking dog, is that you are the Alpha dog. You will not be seen as Alpha by your dog if he can boss you around when he wants by barking at you. It is essential for training your dog that you alone are the Alpha dog

If none of these techniques works for you, the pet stores sell a few types of barking prevention collars. Of these, the first is called the Citronella oil collar -which works by spraying a fine mist into your dog’s face. The second type of collar works by emitting a very high pitched sound . Either the smell or the noise is designed to stop the barking through aversion therapy.

A third type of prevention collar that is available in the store is the electric shock variety of collar. These collars have proven to be quick and effective ways to correct behavior problems when regular methods have failed.

For more dog obedience and dog behavior problem articles to help you train your dog at home, please visit http://BehaveDoggy.com.

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