One of the behaviors pet owners don’t appreciate is dog barking. It is loud, frequent and a nuisance to your everyday life. Dogs like to voice their opinion on certain matters and may not know not to bark when people come over, but that it’s okay to bark if an intruder comes. There are many ways to stop dog barking, but here are some effective ways ranging from using water to using an electric collar.

Stop Dog Barking Today

Here is a list ordering from least intrusive to most intrusive in approaches.

1. Teach Bark On Command – If you can teach your dog to bark on command, then you can teach your dog to be quiet on command. To teach bark, most dogs will start to bark if you just look at them and wait. I found with our dogs that if I get then to sit and say “speak” with a hand gesture dogs will become somewhat frustrated and start to display behaviors, one of which is barking. Over time you can elicit the bark with the command and gesture. Once your dog can do that, then reinforce quite times in between barks. Later you can elicit quiet when they are barking. This approach to stopping your dog from barking is a little cumbersome and time consuming but for smart labs and border collies, this is a challenge they love to learn.
2. Tire Out Your Dog – Dogs who don’t exercise, walk or challenge themselves will become destructive. They will bark, jump, dig, scratch and chew. This is their way of releasing this pent up energy. For little dogs like terriers, they need a lot of exercise. They are big dogs in little bodies so treat them to a long walk, a run or use a dog backpack to tire them out.
3. Use A Squirt Bottle – Squirting water every time a dog barks can be very effective. Of course using punishment isn’t always the best approach to dog training but punishment works by stopping the behavior fast. The only problem with punishment is that dogs quickly learn to not do the behavior in the presence of the punisher or object that causes punishments. So dogs who learn to not bark in the house when the owner is around, will surely bark outside when the owner is in the kitchen. So to be effective, you must consequent with water squirting for every time they bark.
4. Electric Dog Collar or Dog Bark Collar – The e-collars or shock collars works by sending an electrical current, tone or vibration through a specialized dog collar. These collars can work for other behaviors such as bolting when the door is open, destructive behavior and barking. This method should be a LAST resort and only used if the problematic behavior will endanger the dog’s life. Do not use electric dog collars for behaviors you want to encourage such as sit; if the dog doesn’t sit DON’T shock. Shock collars are only used for problematic behaviors. Be careful when using. Only pick ONE behavior to use the shock collar. Don’t get the collar and say you will use if for all destructive behaviors. The dog needs a clear picture of “when I bark, X happens.” These collars should also not be used over a long period of time and should not be worn as a regular collar unless used for training.

I hope these methods work. Please let me know if these are helpful, if they worked and if there are any other methods you found useful in stopping your dog barking.

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