How To Stop Barking Dogs
Barking is one of the most natural and hardly wired behaviours dogs do. Dogs bark for a variety of reasons, but it can become a problem when it starts annoying neighbours and even you as the owner. As in all behaviour problems I try to solve, I like to look at when the dog is barking and what is causing it to bark. These are the reasons and steps I employ to stop barking dogs
Why Is It Barking?
Generally, it is because they are becoming under stimulated and this behaviour becomes exacerbated as an outlet as other instincts are not being satisfied or being suppressed. The popularity of anti bark collars are high because of their immediate effect in stopping the dog barking. The act of barking does not become reinforcing as it is met with an electic shock or a spray for dogs using citronella collars and these tools can assist to stop barking dogs.
The dogs will become collar smart as they will learn that there is no barking when the collar is on, but as soon as it is off, the flood gates open. In situations where the dog is put on notice by council or local law officers, the anti bark collar is effective in stopping it immediately, but what needs to be done is a program to put the barking on cue, then a quiet command to cease the barking.
So in other words, teach the dog to bark on command using positive methods then once you have that on cue, teach the dog to be quiet on command. Now lets look at some steps we can use to stop your dog barking.
Where Do You Start To Stop Barking Dogs
To teach the dog to bark, you need to find something that will excite the dog. If it has a favourite toy, put the dog on the other side of a fence or tether it to a stationary object and tease the dog with the toy. Try to elicit a bark then, reward the dog with a treat. If you are struggling getting a bark, reward a whimper or any noise that could lead to a bark.
Make this session go for 5 minutes only. Then try to do a few sessions per day in trying to elicit a bark from the dog. It will generally take 2-3 sessions until you get a bark. As soon as you get a bark, give a huge reward with food or even give the dog the toy to play with. At this stage, don’t use an commands.
When you are getting the dog barking pretty well instantly upon teasing it, begin using a word just as you start the excitement. Something like ‘SPEAK’, or ‘TALK’. Keep saying the command and tease until the dog barks, then reward with food and praise.
A good hint is to click your fingers at the same time when saying the command. The clicking is associated with the command then eventually, you will be able to make the dog simply by clicking your fingers.
Once you have the barking command on cue, get the dog continually barking by one command. Try to get multiple barks from one command or get a string of barks in a row before rewarding. Eventually, the dog will do a good 5-10 second string of barks from one command.
Then look for the exact moment the dog is quiet then at that exact moment, say the word, ‘QUIET’ and then reward profusely. Then rinse and repeat. Once you are having the bark command on cue every time, try to slip in the quiet command whilst the dog is in a full blown barking act. You might need to give a few commands for them to be quiet on the command but as soon as they do…reward profusely.
Shaping To Stop Barking Dogs
Essentially what you are doing is shaping the dog very gradually into the two commands ever so slowly but because you are using a reinforcement schedule, that behaviour will be quite strong as will the commands.
If you make this part of your training routine, the dog will be less likely to indiscriminately bark as it will wait for the training sessions to do the barking and you have effectively placed the bark and quiet command on cue. Easy Hey?
If you are at your wits end and you need help, don’t hesitate to contact me and we can work out how to stop barking dogs.
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hi, my dog barks all the time if i tie her up outside a shop and need to go in.I tell her stay or I try just walking away and no achknowledgement…neither work.
what should I do so that I can take her walking and waiting?
thanks very much
I would appreciate your help – when my dog (Jack Russell/Maltese X) escapes, he barks incessently at the top of the drive. When you call him back, he runs the other way and keeps barking. We can never catch him (he hates the care) and only comes back when he is ready and the neighbours are at their wits end. He is usually quite obedient and comes when he is called EXCEPT when he escapes from the back yard. He also barks when he is outside in the yard, but that’s not so much of a problem.
Katie
Hi Katie,
Thanks for contacting me. The reason your dog is doing this is because it is reinforcing to him. The rushing up the driveway and barking (at whatever, potential threats, the postman..butterflies..)whatever it is, there is a reinforcement there for him. Then when you calll him, he chooses not to come. This is simply…a competing motivation. What he is doing is more reinforcing than coming back to you.
When ever you have a problem, the best way to stop it is to train the behaviour on cue. This is what I would recommend.
1. Go to Bunnings and buy 10m of ski rope. Put clip on one end that will connect to his colloar, put a loop in the other hand to hold onto.
2. Get something really really tasty, like chees, bacon, salami, something that he will do his nut over and chop them in very very small portions and put in a pouch, bowl whatever that you can acces quickly
2. Attach the rope to his collar and let him out.
3. As soon as he moves 1-2 metres, call him back, get on your haunches, get excited, real excited…and if he doesn’t move towards you, reel him in and praise him profusely and give him a reward with the food treat.
4. Rinse and repeat. Do not let him progress beyound that 1-2 metres until he is recalling without you having to pull him back with the line.
5. When you are consistently getting him coming back at 1-2 metres, increase to 3-4, then 5-6 and so on. Do not do this training anymore than 5-10 mins.
6. Try and do this a couple of times per day.
What you are doing is reconditioning him to what the situation is. You are reconditioning him under your terms where you can control the situation. Do it in baby steps. If he does not respond at a certain distance, you have gone to far with your distance and you pushing him to win. You always want him to win and you also…every situation.
Always manage the situation. He will have a completely different expection to your recalls. Always always have food initially. Do not see this as bribery, this is conditioning. Eventually, reward every second..third recall..and replace with lots of pats, high voices, praise….he will LOOOOOVE coming back to you then.
The problem in overcoming any behavioural problem is giving a different expection to a given situation and make sure your motivatioin exceeds all others. Eventually you will be able to have him recalling in any situation. It is a simple formula. Put in time, effort and you will reap the rewards.
Good luck, let me know how you go.
Glen
I have a neighbour who thinks that dogs should not bark AT ALL and as my moodle has barked for more than a couple of minutes on two ocassions over 6 weeks he has complained to the council. The barking is more about protecting the property than anything else. I made the mistake of letting her sleep inside (yes, on the bed), and follow me round as she was a malnourished confused little dog rescued from the pound and needed some extra care. I have stopped this and she now sleeps with the two other dogs, and I do the ignore, come when I call etc. I start obedience training in 2 weeks, but is there anything you can offer in the meantime?
Thanks
I could also use some advice. I was sad but not surprised when I got a letter from council today saying a neighbour had complained about my puli’s barking.
He is getting worse, and I suspect my reprimands are making it worse, but I don’t know what else to do. He gets plenty of exercise (2 walks a day, obedience class on Sundays, agility on Mondays!) but barks at everyone who walks past. I put up a fence he can’t see through, hoping that that would improve things, but to no avail.
I have read things that talk about teaching a dog to speak as a control mechanism, but am concerned that if the neighbours heard me trying to do that they would be even more upset! And he doesn’t bark much when we go out at all (except if a dog approaches him when he’s on lead, when he gets territorial/defensive as well).
Any tips/suggestions welcome, as I am wondering if I need an anti-barking collar, which I never dreamed I’d consider resorting to!
Hi Nic,
Is the barking happening when you are there? If so, you need to be able to reinforce your command to stop barking..ie NO, with an aversion of sorts if the barking continues. When using any sort of aversion (or punishment technique) it must be of a nature that it has a profound effect on the dog, otherwise, the aversion will be simply nagging. You can use a throw chain to reinforce your NO command.
1. So when the dog is barking, get some chain from a hardware store and put it on a keyring so it makes a rattle noise.
2. If possible, set the dog up with another dog walking past (a friend perhaps with their dog) and get in proximity to use the chain. When the dog barks, give the command NO and throw the chain right near the dog.
3. If the dog stops praise him and pat him, if he continues, throw the chain again.
Alternatively, you could use a remote collar that only administers a correction on your say so.
Or, you may have to bite the bullet and purchase a remote collar. I had a friend that resisted that option for months as her dog received numerous complaints from neighbours about the dog. It came to the crunch, had to do something, or get rid of the dog. She bought the collar, problem fixed in 10 minutes.
Good luck in your decision Nic.
Hi,
I’ve just found out that my Great Dane x Bull Mastif barks very late at night while I’m asleep and it wakes up the neighbours.
I’ve never heard the barking and it has never woken me or my housemates.
I think this maybe because of the echo against our house and across the road – which probably makes it even more annoying.
As I can’t hear and don’t notice his barking, how do I stop him annoying my neighbours?
Our backyard is split into two, the upstairs concrete entertainment area, and the downstairs grassed area which includes his kennel and shed.
He used to have full access to both halves however we’ve put a gate in and he now only has access to the bottom half. It’s not feasible for him to come upstairs again but I think this maybe when he started barking.
Can you help?
Thanks heaps,
Madi
hey i would love some advice.
My staffy loves to bark at night over nothing. she is a it over a year old and has 2 other dogs to play with and loads of toys, so im pretty sure she is not bored.
i get little sleep as i am always getting up to tell her off. lately i have been bringing her inside at night (normally she sleeps outside) just for her to stop barking. i dont like the idea of barking collars and i have tried spraying her with lemon juice and water each time she barks..
thanks
Our little dog barks at night, when we are in bed. We let him on our bed until we are ready to go to sleep, putting him in the laundry in his bed and closing the door. He then goes outside and barks at seemingly nothing, I go outside and get him to stop, by smacking him and telling him to stop barking. He continues to do this throughout the night, until I close his dog door so he can no longer go outside. What advice can you give me to get him to stop totally? I have been doing some research and considering teaching him the Speak command and then a Stop Barking command, do you recommend this?
Thanks
The thing with this situation is that allowing the dog to move around freely in and out of the house is becoming a problem for you. As a dog, he probably perceives it as his job to ward of intruders, (butterflies, bugs, moths, lizards) things moving outside. Number 1, I would not allow the free access around the house at night. I strongly advocate the use of a crate, where the dog has its own place to sleep at night, and also a place to contain him when need bed. In most situations Andrew, management of the situation is better than using punishment techniques. Try to let go of the (he like being allowed to run around at night), the thing is, he will love anything he is allowed to do. Take away the stimulation, you take away the problem. Good luck.
Management of this situation is needed Amy. If you don’t like the use of collars, then I would recommend the use of a crate or confine her to an area where she is not stimulated by barking. In any given situation where the dog is performing the behaviour, which is completely natural for them, we have to manage it, by changing the environment..removing stimulus, or using an aversion to stop the dog every single time it barks so it does not becoming reinforcing. A bark collar will achieve this for you. Good luck.
Hi Madi,
It sounds your dog is just doing his job…any suspect intruders, noises etc and he is warding them off. However, this sounds like it is becoming a problem.
Remember, dogs have inherent instincts, and he is just acting normally, all we have to do is manage the situation. I know a lot of people cringe when I say this, but crating him is probably the best for the situation and also, the best for him (I am presuming it is a male.) Confining him at night is a very natural thing for dogs to do and won’t take long for him to accept. This will restrict him to the stimulus that is causing him to bark at night. Don’t think this is cruel, it is far from it…it probably one of the most natural things for a dog to accept…a place to chill, have as their own and relax.
Other alternatives are to put a barking collar on him at night so the reinforcement he gets from the barking will no longer exist, but I know a lot of people have an aversion to this. In any situation, try to think management first. Remember, dogs will get used to different routines over time, it just means you have to persevere is all. Good luck.
Glen
Hi Edie,
When you are trying to teach your dog something, always set the dog up to win. Don’t throw it in the deep end. Work backwards in what you want the dog to do. So in this situation, you want your dog to sit quietly whilst you walk away from it. So work with doing it gradually in training situation.
1. Tie the dog up, take one step away, come back and praise (or reward with a tasty treat)
2. Repeat and slowly increase your distance away from the dog whilst it is remaining calm. Each time, come back and praise profusely (or treat, which I recommend)
3. Each time, you should be able to increase your distance away from the dog whilst it is remaining calm, if it stresses, you have gone beyond it’s threshold, and you need to regress in your distance.
What you are doing is shaping your dog to behave how you want it do when you walk away from it. Don’t expect the dog to know what you want it to do straight away in any given situation. Some dogs just do, but some dogs don’t. The dogs that don’t need gradual exposure to stressful situations and an understanding that their owners are going to return to them, and that the calm behaviour whilst you are away is what you want from the.
Good Luck.
Glen