How to train a dog to stop barking
This is a follow-up of the following post: Dog Barking: Are You Training Your Dog to Bark?
Are you being bullied by your dog? Excessive dog barking is behavior problem that can be controlled, but you must first show your dog that you’re not going to be pushed around (in this case, by his loud, annoying bark). How can you do this? Well, it’s actually quite simple. You just have to ignore him. Now, I don’t mean that you have to act completely indifferent to dog; rather, your role has to be a more active one. You have to reward the good behavior, while ignoring (or punishing) the bad.
How can you do this? Demonstrate to your dog via body language that he is unworthy of your attention when he starts to bark for no good reason (eg: to get your attention). Essentially, you have to give your dog the cold shoulder; this is very effective and the best thing to do to stop the barking. For example, when your dog begins barking at you in order to get you to do something for him, get up, look away from him, and turn your back so that you are no longer facing him and your back is towards him. Cut off contact – don’t glance at him, and do not say a word to her, not even “No”.
Your dog will surely be confused by your reaction to his behavior, and may even start to bark more forcibly the first time that you do this, especially if you’ve caved into her bark bullying before. If you’ve reinforced his barking behavior many times in the past, then he will likely bark a lot more. This is to be expected because your dog knows that his barking has enabled him to get his own way in the past, so why wouldn’t it now too? I know, this is not our goal here, but you must let it happen and continue to ignore the barking before your dog will learn Not to bark. He actually has to be Re-trained to Not bark at inappropriate times.
Now, you must remember something very important: consistency is the key here. For this to work, you cannot get fed up and chance your mind by giving into your dogs barking. If you do this, all of your efforts will only backfire because you’ll teach him that he needs to be even more persistent to achieve his goal (he’ll be thinking: ok, all I need to do is bark for 20 minutes instead of 5 to get taken out for a walk).
So, the first step to stop dog barking that has turned into bullying behavior is to make your dog recognize and accept that you are in control and will no longer tolerate his bad behavior. Don’t give up; your efforts to control your dog’s barking will be well worth it. Excessive dog barking is, many times, a learned behavior. This bad behavior can be corrected, but you must be determined and consistent in your actions.
To Learn more about how to train a dog and how to stop dog barking, check out:
