Excessive barking
So how do I stop barking?
Some dogs bark at everything they see and hear, a characteristic that flops like a lead balloon in an apartment or attached
condominium development. Some dogs will stop barking if they cannot hear or see the interlopers. So, if your dog is an in-the-house
noisemaker, put her in the kitchen or laundry room with a crate or bed, away from windows, common walls, and hallways, and turn
on a radio before leaving the house. Classical music stations may work best; they have fewer disruptions by commercials with
doorbells and other noises that could trigger barking. Confine your dog in the room with baby gates in the
doorways, not by closing doors, so she doesn't panic.
If your dog barks while you're gone because he is outside and wants inside or if he's an outside dog and a habitual barker, change
of scene could work as well. You could bring him inside the house or build a run in the basement to keep him in an area without so
many distractions to bark at. The radio will help mask the sounds and confinement to a small area may help him settle down.
If your outdoor dog has been banished from the house because he is destructive, you may find that he has outgrown his destructive
stage. If not, or if you are afraid to find out, a crate or a basement kennel may be the answer. Some Behaviorist say to use the
"sneak and peak" program for curing excessive barking. The method has the owner leaving home as usual, then sneaking back and
watching the dog from a hidden vantage point. When the dog starts barking, the owner makes a brief distracting sound to catch the
dog's attention. The dog is not praised for stopping his noise, but the distraction is repeated if he starts barking again. When the dog
settles down, the owner goes about his daily routine.
A Professional Trainer's or not?
If you have a dog that dose it "all", some trainers say to Prevent and Correct Aggression, Destructiveness, Housebreaking Problems,
Excessive Barking, Dogfights, Tugging, Jumping, Car Chasing, Biting, and so on! Instead of making a distracting noise, some
recommend that owners correct the dog when it starts barking by re-entering the house or yard, shaking the dog by the scruff
of the neck and repeating "NO, NO, NO" in a commanding tone. After the correction, the owner should calmly leave again, wait out
of the dog's sight, and repeat if necessary.
Yes, this is done! And yes, I have seen it done, and it will work for some dogs!
But believe me when I say; If you do not let it start in the first place, it never would have got this bad!
You the owner must judge the applicability of these methods for yourself. Some will find them useful, others will not have the
patience or the fortitude to carry them out, and still others will find that their dogs bark more, not less, because the noise brings
attention.
An owner asked me if they should use the crate to discipline their dog?
A friend told me that when they punish their dog, they put it in an old chicken coop they had out in the back yard for an hour or two and
it caught on real fast! I was told that they broke the dog of barking real fast by doing this. Now when I ask the friend's father what the
reason for doing this and how it worked?
He explained, that when the dog was on the run, it would start to bark and he would tell it to be quite, and if it would not stop barking he
would go out and tell it to, "be quite" and would pat it! And then go back in the house and if it would start to bark again, I would go out,
and would not say a word, take him out back to the coop and put him in it, and say "BAD DOG" real loud and walk away. Now he said
that when the dog heard the word "BAD DOG" he would give a sad look and would lie down! As to say, "please don't put me in the
coop" So what he did, was to teach the dog, when it was being bad, it associated the coop as "bad dog" or bad.
So were would you put your dog to teach it to associate punishment or discipline with bad! Well I am very shore a lot of you, do not
have a chicken coop in your back yard! We do have a 6x10 dog pen in the back yard and when our dog are punished or disciplined,
this is were we put them!
When we have a dog that want to bark, we have a good trick that has not failed yet! The dog can be on the run or in a pen! We set the
sprinkler up so the dog can not see us and when he starts to bark, we turn on the sprinkler on till it stop barking, and if it starts
barking again we turn it back on! It does not take long before the dog learns to stop barking!
Now, do you have a good idea or trick that would work?
When you're home or away your dog is going to bark! He may bark when you have a visitor, when joggers go by, when the kids get off
the school bus on the corner, or when the next door neighbor gets a package or has the landscapers in the yard for a day or two, even
when you are home.
This type of dog is the best dog to have. It is the hard working dog, the type that works for every treat and cuddle and all the love he
gets. He should sit or lie down or do a trick on command before getting anything he wants. And the reason he is barking is because it
is his yard or home and he is king!
You can teach a dog to bark on command, so you can then teach him to stop on command.
Here's how it works. If your dog barks when someone knocks at the door, repeat "speak, speak" just before you knock on a wall or
other hard surface. Tell him he's good and give him a treat. Repeat several times a day until he understands that "speak" means bark.
This process focuses his attention on you and gets ready for the next step, "teaching him to quit barking"
When you tell your dog to speak and give him his reward for doing so, follow it with "Enough" or some other word that means
"knock-it-off!" Once he gets the idea that he must stop barking after the treat, you can begin to use "enough!" when he barks at real
interruptions. Be sure, however, to allow to alert you to the presence of whatever and praise him before you tell him he's done enough.
Training is the best way to correct unacceptable behavior, but other methods are available. Faced with seemingly unsolvable
problems and threats of lawsuits or court action, owners have used no-bark collars and vocal cord surgery to stop their pets from making
excess noise.
The anti-bark collars come in two types, radio and herbal spray. The radio collars deliver a mild shock when the dog starts to bark.
The collar has prongs that must touch the front of the dog's neck so the vibrations of the barking trigger the shock. The herbal spray
collars work the same way, only the vibrations trigger a mist of pungent citrus-scented fog into the dog's face. The mist startles the
dog and interrupts the barking. Debarking must be done by a veterinarian. The procedure is misnamed it muffles barking but doesn't
eliminate it but it is a humane alternative to the options of giving away a beloved pet, suffering the wrath of neighbors, or facing
legal action.
You don't! Barking is a dog's natural reaction to changes in his environment; he should be allowed to indulge himself as long as he's
reasonable. However, if your dog annoys you or the neighbors with his noise-making, there are some steps you can take to minimize
the dog from barking. The solution could be as simple as a change of scene for the dog or as complex as the development and
implementation of a behavior modification program.
I think of pups, as I do my kids growing up. When I use to discipline my kids they would love to get sent to their
room.
Why you say?
A bedroom is a place of rest and relaxation, your own world. So do you think, you should use it as a place of punishment or discipline?
"NO" Were does the dog hate to be the most? That is were it should be put!
If you do, E-mail me! And we will add it to the list of tricks!
The trick here is to know what triggers the barking so you can get it started yourself then, just before initiating the noise,
saying the name of the command.
