Tips to Help Control Barking

Above photo courtesy of Cocoa Bella Havanese

No doubt about we all know dogs bark. It is their way of "talking,"  or a natural reaction much like in humans we talk as reactions to things in our environment. Dogs barking can be much more annoying than a person constantly talking. Yelling, rewarding bad habits and inconsistent disciplining is not the way to go for solving this problem.

You first want to try and figure out the source of your dog's barking if you want a permanent solution. Maybe the dog barks due to being bored. If so, provide your dog with interesting and/or fun things to do and you solve your problem. If separation anxiety is the reason your dog barks you will need to try a completely different approach. If you have several dogs, they may even dog with each other as a way of "arguing" or determining ranking order.

In this article, I will give you a few tips I have learned are recommendations trainers and dog behaviorists offer the most for dealing with  your dog's barking.

Providing enough exercise always seems to top the list. Try this one first. Giving your dog adequate amounts of physical and mental exercise before you leave them or every day for that matter could possibly help them to rest more when you are not home or rest more in general. A daily walk is great if you have time to walk your dog. If not, then think about hiring a dog walker.

Many dogs bark at people or other dogs in their territory. Socializing your dog well can help solve this problem. If a dog has many positive experiences with all ages and types of people such as people on bikes, the mailman, people in wheelchairs and children, the dog is less likely to protest and bark at them. If your dog is a mailman barker, ask the mailman to give your dog a cookie, for example, to try and ease the tension between them.

Interactive dog toys and puzzles help to stimulate the dog's mind and hopefully provide them with less desire to bark for an activity. Place treats inside a dog puzzle toy and the dog to work at getting the treats off to take his mind off barking at outside noises.

Another common suggestion I see and hear a lot from dog trainers for dogs who bark a lot when their owner is gone is to leave the dog with some familiar sounds such as a radio or television. Oddly enough my dogs seem to calm down to "Popeye Cartoons."

Close the blinds when you leave home to help remove the dog's opportunity to see things within their territory.

Teach a "be quiet" command of your choice or use a silent foghorn device, silent to you, but very loud to the dog's ears. If you use a foghorn, press the button at the moment the dog barks, then release it when the dog stops barking. Some dogs will learn this is their command to stop barking. And all dog trainers always advise to give treats for obedient behaviors to whatever you choose as your quiet commands.

If you have read many articles or seen many videos about training dogs, you probably have read or heard these tips before. Never hurts to be reminded of them again. I hope you find one of these tips to be helpful in training your dog or dogs NOT to bark excessively. They have the right to talk in dog language, just not to the extreme!