Dog Barking

Do you ever just want to yell at your dog for barking incessantly? Well don’t, because in dog talk you just barked back. Dogs don’t understand words inherently, but they do recognize tone of voice. By responding to your dog’s bark in a quiet but firm tone tells the puppy that loud, repeated barking is not an acceptable form of communication. Eliminating certain barking behaviors can be part of a puppy’s owner’s training agenda. One or two barks when someone comes to the door can actually be a good quality, but barking at the fish in the living room tank or at every bird which flies past the window is not. There are a few tips like the one above that will allow you to stop bad barking behaviors before they really take hold and the neighbors no longer speak to you.

First, distinguish what type of bark it is. What is your dog trying to convey? Puppy owners learn to distinguish the barks which say “I really, really have to go outside now!!!” to the attention bark that means, “Look, at me, look at me, look at me”. Puppies can quickly become spoiled when every bark made in a ploy for attention gets exactly that and the barking will only continue. Ignore attention barking from the beginning so that the puppy never receives the response they wish. In addition, if you tell them to stop barking, that’s still attention as far as they’re concerned. If you consistently ignore them they will soon recognize this tactic as fruitless and cease attention barking.

However, it is easy to spoil little puppies that if you’ve made the mistake, it’s not too late! Using a mist spray bottle, squirt your dog in the face when they bark for attention. Here’s the trick; do it without making eye contact with the dog. If you make eye contact, you’ve given the dog attention, after a few times being sprayed, he’ll get the point.

If your dog barks at everything that moves outside, you may want to consider blocking access to windows and doors to look out, thereby cutting out reason for barking. If you do this, however, be sure to stick to daily walks so your pal can experience the outdoors and have a change of surroundings.