Tips for Excessive Barking

Does your dog have a favorite pastime of barking out the window at all types of passersby? Does anything from cars, people, dogs or even a cat set your dog’s alarm off?

Remember barking is natural for dogs and like anything if they are not properly trained how to use their inherent nature in a home and not in the wild, it can become a bad habit instead of just simply a natural instinct.

Work on correction and redirection while your home with your dog 

Always have a house leash on your dog so you can maintain control and be the leader of your pack, you can use a regular six foot leash or a short one foot leash.  Correct your dog as soon as their alert barking alarm goes off with verbal correction and then follow through with redirecting your dog through training.  Use what your dog knows best and have some treats handy, try a sit or a down, “focus” having your dog make eye contact, with you, or take your dog to their bed and reward your dog for that command but also for being quiet.

Remember that every command is only correct when they are quiet, so if your dog continues to bark you can use the command to correct and say “no sit” or “no down” and focus on “quiet” training. Set your dog up for success, use their best training skills to turn them away from the barking temptation.

In the future you can just simply use one of these commands to instantly stop the barking since all commands are quite commands.

Out of sight out of mind

 What to do when you are not home is just as important as what to do when you are home.

If your dog has a barking problem, help them with that stress and burden. Find a safe place in your home for a crate that is out of sight from any window or things that set him off. When you leave your house make sure to keep your dog in this safe place so that you can stay consistent and your dog doesn’t get reinforced for a barking habit while you’re gone.  Your dog will be happy to finally get some peace and quiet.

Always remember we want training to be fun for you and your dog! Check back next week for more training tips from Dog School!