Minimize Your Dog’s Barking

Most people, dog owners included, find dogs that bark a lot to be annoying at best. If you’re the owner of such a dog, then you should seriously consider taking steps to minimize your dog’s barking. Many have the attitude that “…that’s what dogs do…”, but that totally ignores the rights of others.

Many buildings, apartments, neighborhoods, and cities have strict rules regarding excessive barking of dogs, as they can be a form of noise pollution, especially at night when everyone is asleep. There are many reasons why dogs bark: they could be hungry, bored, scared, or anything else. Some breeds of dogs can also tend to be more prone to barking than the rest. As a result, many excessively barking dogs are given up or end their lives in shelters with high euthanization rates.

While barking is a normal activity of a dog, it can be toned down and minimized so as to be less irritating to you, your family, and the neighborhood you are in. Here are a couple of barking habit-stoppers for your canine friend:

Minimize Your Dog’s Barking

• Give them voice commands and train them. For example, use a command like “no bark” or “stop” or “enough” when he barks intensively. And when he keeps quiet, offer him something like a reward, or simply show him that you like him being quiet even more. This will diminish his barking habits. Rewards may come in the form of toys, food, or a soft cuddle from his owner. In short, give your dog some bit of praise and compliment for not barking too much and eventually, he will carry it on as a good habit. This works well, but definitely requires patience and TLC on your part.
• If you want to train your dog to bark whenever someone is at your door, then it’s time to do some role-playing. Pretend that you’re a guest, and have your dog bark whenever you open the door or open the gates and make your way in. Do these practice sessions daily or as often as it takes, but at the same time, keep him from barking excessively.
• But what about a dog’s barking being already a nuisance? Maybe the dog is hungry, lonely, bored, angry, jealous, afraid, or something else. You’ll have to identify what makes the dog bark intensively and get a hold of the situation. Or it could be that your dog is trying to tell you something, and you’ll have to completely understand him and often times read between the lines to get the message.
• Your dog may just be bored. Get him into physical activity such as training sessions, playing and running at the park, socializing with other dogs, going on adventures like camping, trekking, and sight-seeing, or simply bring him toys to play with at the comfort of his own home. Your dog might be missing the love and care that his owner should give to him as a dog and a loyal and trusted pet.
• Dogs barking excessively during playtime can also be calmed down. It’s just the matter of giving him proper training and guidance. Perhaps advices and tips from other dog trainers can help out in toning down your dog’s barking habit.
• As a last resort, there are also special collars for your dog’s obedience training, and can be used as training aids. However, learn to use them not too roughly or the dog may rebel or get scared.

With these tips, you can minimize your dog’s barking habit or can even get rid of it. Remember that mutual understanding between the dog and owner is the key to a better partnership.

Have you ever had a dog that barked excessively? Please share below how you dealt with it.