A Simple Way to Stop Your Dog Barking
A dog trainer friend of mine recently told me that the problem people most often call him in for, is barking. Pretty amazing really when you think about it, I mean, surely you know when you adopt a dog that there will be a certain amount of barking involved.
Still barking is one of those behaviors that drives dog owners crazy, and if the dog really is a problem barker, then I can certainly sympathize. Living with a dog that sounds off at every shape and shadow is enough to try the patience of anyone.
So what do you do if you have a dog that is a problem barker? Without wanting to sound flippant, you simply tell him to shut up!
Let me explain. First, think about how you’d address any problem dog behavior. Let’s say you have a dog that likes to jump up at you, chances are you’ll tell the dog “down”. And if you have a dog that takes something he shouldn’t, you’ll probably say, “leave it”. Why then is it so difficult to tell a dog to “be quiet”, when he barks for no reason?
The problem lies in the fact that you haven’t taught the dog what ‘be quiet’ means. The truth is, that few dog owners ever teach a dog this command. They’ll teach a dog to sit, stay, roll over and even perform tricks, but not to stop barking.
The reason why this is, should be pretty obvious. While sit, stay, roll over and so on all teach the dog to do something, ‘be quiet’ teaches him to stop doing something, so it’s a little more difficult to train.
Still, with a good method, a bit of patience and a lot of perseverance, it is do-able. Here’s how.
Pick a spot for training and put your dog on a leash. In order to teach your dog to stop barking, you have to first get him to bark! If your dog is already a problem barker this is quite easy. Simply attach the lead to a tree or fence post and stand a few paces in front of to dog, facing him.
The dog will likely be confused by the situation and will start barking. When he does, say ‘be quiet’, and when he stops, immediately give him a treat. Keep repeating this until the dog stops barking, on your command.
Your dog now understands the ‘be quiet’ command and you should be able to use it whenever you want to shut him up. Now, you’ll want to change location so that he understands that the command applies in all situations.
This is just one simple method, but you can also incorporate a clicker and hand signals and it will be just as effective.
Remember that dog training is always easier if your dog has a simple one or two syllable name. Puppy Names HQ has thousands of excellent male dog names and female dog names for you to pick from.
