Stopping Dog from Barking

Discovering how to stop your dog from barking may just take some time and thought. Of course most dogs bark, but the wild uncontrolled barking that drives you to distraction must be stopped or all kinds of bad results. Consider these three steps to stop barking before you resort to other steps.

Consider that dogs are often trained, accidentally, to expect attention. It isn't just that attention is expected, it's demanded. Even from a puppy, many pets are petted and catered too to the point where the dog demands immediate attention and often gets it. That barking may simply be a demand for attention and the problem is that's,often what the dog gets.

Even hollering at the dog for quiet actually rewards the undesired noise. The shouting is the attention that the dog demanded. Loud shouting may be seen as a great idea by a dog. At least it's some kind of response.

That means that often the barking dog must learn that the barking will not get it attention, at least not attention that's fun for the dog.

Besides trying to attract attention, barking often results from boredom. Dogs that are left long alone often make noise simply out of loneliness and boredom. This is related to desiring attention but a little different. This may be overcome with more exercise and even more play objects. The exercise needs of many dogs is far higher that you might expect or hope.

Ultimately though, t may be practically impossible for you to spend enough time with a dog to completely satisfy the dog's desire to run and play. At some point a dog must learn some control and act responsibly. That may mean some negative consequence must be linked with too much barking.

The challenge though is linking a negative with the barking quickly enough so the dog gets the message. Also, as already suggested, what you perceive as a negative, hollering, may be seen by pet as a positive, attention.

Often a tool can help with linking a negative with uncontrolled barking. One way to train for bark control is a training collar. At least three types of collars can be used in training. Each type rewards barking with a shocking response of some sort. Some rely more on a psychological shock and other use more of a physical shock. In each case, the collar works to teach the dog that certain behavior, wold barking, will be rewarded with unpleasant consequences.

Learning how to stop your dog from barking may take time and attention. Often careful observation can quickly pinpoint the cause of the noise and then you can take steps to correct the problem. Sometimes the right tool can help you get some peace and quiet quickly and with a minimum of fuss.