Control Barking With Respect

A dog has to respect your leadership to be a happy, well-adjusted, and well-behaved pet. If your dog barks to get you to play. She is not inviting you to play. she is harassing her owner to play. In fact, I’d even say bullying. And even worse, the behavior was being reinforced by the owner’s capitulation – effectively, giving in to this behavior taught her that to get what she wants, she has to make a noise – and she has to keep it up until her goal is achieved.

Affection and play-times are obviously necessary aspects of life with a dog, but they have to be doled out on your own terms. If she learns that she can get what she wants by barking, then your house is going to become a Noise Pollution Zone (and this is not going to endear you to your neighbors, either).

To prevent this type of bullying behavior from your dog, you must be willing to prove to him/her that you will not be so easily manipulated. The simple way of doing this is to ignore him or her. This does not mean to turn your back on your dog and act as if noting has happened, you need to take an active role in correcting this behavior. This means showing your dog though your body language that the behavior being displayed is not worth your attention.

When your dog barks to try to get you to do something for him or her and this behavior is unwarranted, simply turn your back to them, right away. Don’t look at them, don’t make eye contact, don’t even say “no!”, totally give then the “cold shoulder”. If this means getting up and turning your back to them, than do it. This will confuse your dog for a minute, but be ready for more barking. In fact, the barking my become worse before it gets better. It only makes sense, the barking has worked for your dog in the past, why wouldn’t work again.

As in all aspects of dog training, consistency is very important. You must ensure that you don’t change your mind halfway through and give in to what she wants – because by doing so, you’re teaching her to be really, really persistent (“OK, so I just need to bark for ten minutes instead of five to get a walk,” is the message she’ll get). But what can you do in other situations where bullying isn’t an issue and you just want her to stop the racket? If you want to get the message across that you’d like her to cease fire and be quiet, the most effective thing you can do is to use your hands. No, I’m not talking about hitting her: this is a perfectly humane, impact- and pain-free method of conveying that what you require right now is peace and quiet.

You can do this by:

First, give your dog a chance to say what he/she wants to say(it’s much more effective if you let your dog speak its mind-briefly- before silencing them.) If your dog does not calm down in a reasonable amount of time, by them selves, reach out and clasp their muzzle gently, but firmly, in your hand. He/she may try to shake you off of back away, so it helps to place your other hand on their collar to give you better control. This works for two reasons: First, it stops the barking right away(no dog can bark if they can’t open their mouth.) Second, you reinforce your authority: you are showing your dog through direct contact that you are the leader and will not hesitate to enforce your guidance.

Hold onto your dogs muzzle and collar until they stop trying to break free: only when your dog stops trying to break free does it mean that they have accepted your authority. When your dog has become still, hold for one or two seconds longer then let go and praise them. In addition to this short term method, lets take a look that some things we can do to reduce the amount of barking altogether.

The leading cause of unwanted barking(barking that is repetitive and directed at nothing) is due to pent up energy. The kind due to lack of exercise. Most dogs need an average of 90 minutes of exercise everyday, which can be quite a commitment on your behalf. This can very greatly from dog to dog, depending on breed, age and over all health of your dog. If you are exercising your dog as much as possible and he/she still seems agitated(frightened, acting more aggressively then you’d like, restless and destructive.)and barks excessively then he/she may need more exercise.

The good news is you can fix this problem fairly easily: you will just have to exercise your dog a little more. Try working in an extra half hour of exercise a day, that 30 minutes a day can make a world of difference. If this is impossible, you may consider hiring some one to walk your dog for you. If this is still impossible, you may have to except the fact that you are going to have a loud, frustrated and agitated dog until things change.

The second leading cause of excessive barking can be traced back to, too much ‘alone time’. Dogs by nature, love to be social: they need a great deal of attention, interaction and communication. A dog that lacks these social activity can become anxious and restless. Just because you are at home does not mean you are giving your dog enough attention. If you find that your dog is spending a lot of time barking at nothing it might be time for some love and attention.

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