Get my Dog to Stop Barking. Why do dog bark?
To stop a dog barking is not easy because it is natural for a dog to bark and there are so many reasons why the dogs do bark.
Before you attempt to solve a dog's barking problem you need to analyse the reasons why your dog is barking, or what it is your dog is barking at.
Some of the main causes a dog barks are as follows. Why do dog bark ?
- Boredom
- Protection / warning
- Certain breeds bark more often than others
- Separation anxiety
- Fear
- Enjoyment / Play.
- Learned / Territory aggression
Dog BOREDOM
When some dogs get bored they just bark for something to do, and when they get shouted at to stop barking the animal in some cases can use that negative command as a positive attention stimulant. When a dog barks out of boredom the owners are usually not at home and they only find out through the neighbours complaining. Some owners do not realise the extent that their animal can damage neighbourly relations because when the owner arrives home the dog is quiet. You may be able to reduce the amount of barking by occupying the animal with toys to play with or a bone to munch on while you are out. What you need to do is to solve the problem permanently. You will be able to do this through the desensitisation methods I have discussed in the desensitisation section on this disk.
Dealing with complaints about barking.
If you know that you have a problem, you might enlist the help of your neighbours. Neighbours are often happy to help you with this problem! Have them squirt water at excessive barking, or rattle cans of coins / rocks, etc. But, beware that the dog is not barking at the neighbour for attention or barking at the neighbour for doing this correction treatment; it could make the dog worse in some instances.
In any event, take a neighbour's complaint seriously, even if it is unwarranted. More neighbour disputes arise over barking dogs than anything else, and dogs have been injured or killed by neighbours desperate for a good nights sleep.
Take up obedience training and specialist advice, let the neighbour know that you are taking steps to solve the problem.
Dog Collars
There are collars, called anti-bark collars, available that help train your dog not to bark.
The collars by themselves are not the solution to your dog's barking. It must be understood what the collars do, and you will have to train the dog the collar is on. Some are electronic and others are sonic. These can be quite effective if introduced properly. Ideally the dog should not understand that it is the collar giving the correction so that you can ultimately wean the dog off the collar. Read the instructions on the devices, the good ones will outline exactly how to train the dog to the collar.
The best collars are triggered by throat vibration rather than noise, this helps to avoid having your dog corrected when a nearby car backfires!
Citronella barking collarare excellent
Debarking
Surgery on the dog's vocal cords, called debarking, can be done to reduce the barking to a whispered sound. Some vets will refuse to do the surgery.
Thedogs do not stop barking.
The best way to stop your dog from barking whilst you are home is to teach your dog to bark on command, this is done be whispering quietly to your dog "Speak, Speak". Tease your dog with food or a toy and when the dog barks, reward instantly and say "Good". If you are having trouble say it when you catch your dog at barking or when there are other dogs around and he is barking. Soon your dog will bark at your command, then teach the command "Enough". When the dog barks after your "Speak" command say "Enough", the dog will look at you and you praise and reward. Now the dog has mastered this when he barks for no reason say "Enough" and reward a quiet dog. Every so often retrain the "Speak" command to keep this reinforcement
