Teach Your Dog To Stop Barking

In order to come up with a training plan, you must first identify why the barking is occurring.

The most common types of barking

1. Breed related barking: Some dogs simply bark more than others by genetics. Herding breeds and terriers rank higher on the barking list and lower on the "stop barking" list.

2. Territorial or alert barking: It is not unusual to have this type of barking when strangers pass by the window or walkway.

3. Loneliness barking: A dog separated from the pack will often bark or howl to find you.

4. Attention barking: This is the kind of barking that occurs when the dog wants something from you, and often, it has learned that it gets it this way.

5. Random barking: This is sporadic barking that happens off and on or out of excitement. This is often related to lack of exercise and hyperactivity.

If your dog has lots of energy and has random barking, you need to step up the amount of exercise your dog is receiving. If your dog is lonely and spending a lot of time away from the family or pack, give it the opportunity to be more a part of the family. Either of these activities should help your dog to stop barking.

Here are two other solutions you can install in your training plan that will help in a variety of situations:

Teaching the “Quiet” command

Instead of yelling at your dog to shut up, ignore its barking. Have plenty of treats ready because you will be rewarding the moments does stop barking. The moment your dog isn’t barking, say “Good quiet,” and give a treat immediately while he is still quiet. He won’t full understand what the treat was for, but the more times you reward the quiet moments, the quieter he will become. Remember to say “Good quiet” so that he hears that word with the action. Soon, you will be able to say just “Quiet” when he begins to bark, and he will silence himself.

Training a whistle “Come”

This works for a lot of different things, but it is great for a dog that barks at fence-lines or windows and is a distance away. Get a whistle; either a regular whistle or a dog whistle will work. Get plenty of a really valuable food item your dog really likes and wants. He will only get it in combination with the whistle, so make it very good, something like diced chicken, cheese, lunch meat, or whatever works. Take your dog, whistle, and food in an area that is quiet and he can concentrate. Blow your whistle, he will look at you, give him the treat. Do about 10 repetitions this way so that the sound of the whistle becomes paired with the treat.

Start moving farther and farther away from him to blow the whistle. You can move to being hidden or out of your dog’s sight. He will come find you. You can apply this to barking in that if your dog is down at the fence-line barking at a passing pedestrian, blow your whistle to interrupt his barking, and he will come to find you. This is an easy way to interrupt his actions in a positive way, and the whistle can also be used as a nice tool for “Come” at a distance too.

By identifying the reason for the barking, you can tailor a program for your particular issue. Once identified, teach a “Quiet” command and teach a “Come” to the whistle to interrupt the barking. Both of these tools work wonders to train a dog to stop barking.