5 Ways to Make Your Dog Stop Barking (Training Tips & Tricks)

Communication is very important in any relationship and that includes one with your dog. As part of the family, they communicate with us the best way they know-how and one of those ways is barking. Have you ever heard the saying “different strokes for different folks”? Well in the case of dogs its different barks for different reasons such as:

  • Calling out other dogs
  • Expressing emotion
  • Being territorial
  • When they seek attention
  • When they are hungry
  • Barking due to canine dementia
  • Alarm barking
  • Reactive or surprise barking

Sometimes it can be very annoying and stressful to hear your lovely dog barking unnecessarily when there doesn’t seem to be a reason behind such behavior. The good thing is that you can train your dog to avoid this type of behavior or any other unwanted behavior. There are times when they just bark because they are bored and this can be annoying not only to you but to your neighbors as well.

Below are 5 ways you can use to curb the behavior of unnecessary barking. This should be done after ruling out serious conditions like pain barking, barking out of fear, and alarm barking.

1. Exercise

This is one of the ways that has multiple benefits. By now you’d know the other wonderful benefits of some exercise with your dog, but this helps curb the habit of barking for no reason.

The reason why exercise works is because after exercising, your dog is too tired to do anything else but sleep. Also, the fact that he is exhausted makes you a bit relaxed as well because your dog won’t be barking anymore. In case you didn’t know, having a tired dog means a happier family for everyone involved.

2. Use sight barriers

A sight barrier is something that blocks your dog’s view from whatever it is that makes him bark; it could be a fence or simply an object such as a plant.

When he cannot see what he wants to bark at, then there won’t be any reason for him to keep on barking. It only needs to take his attention away from things like him looking at the neighbor’s yard or across the street, limiting his view to just your yard helps.

3. Training

If you are able to train your dog to sit, fetch and jump you can train them to bark only when there’s a need. This is done by simply associating a command such as “speak” to your dog and when he barks you gently give the command while at the same time giving him a treat or reward.

For example, whenever he wants to bark, simply speak while tapping on his collar and then give him his treat. If done consistently, this should stop unwanted barking.

4. Curbing a bark using scent

This is one of the best ways to teach a dog not to bark unnecessarily because there isn’t any harm in doing so. you will need some scented items such as lavender, mint leaves, or something else that gives your dog a weird smell.

When your dog barks all you have to do is to wave the item near his nose and say “no bark” and then give a treat, this will teach him that barking is not allowed.

Once he understands this, his barking will eventually stop because he will learn that there’s no point in doing it and a little mint and lavender scent will keep your home smelling fresh.

5. Do not give your dog an audience

One way that we unknowingly promote bad behavior is by giving it attention, This is a common behavior with dog owners because we always want our dogs to be happy. Whenever they bark for no reason, we give them some sort of attention which could be in the form of going near him or petting him.

This is wrong and it only makes your dog continue barking because he won’t understand the reason why he gets any form of attention no matter what. for this to work you have to be consistent.

The takeaway

Your dog has a language that you need to master and that includes knowing what each growl and bark mean, when he barks, you have to understand why he did so. There are instances that the barking is caused by conditions like Dementia, in this case, you may have to consider visiting your local vet clinic or you can call a mobile vet clinic to your home instead, and they will help to diagnose the condition and how you can best treat it.

Share With Friend