Barking is the dogs’ way of communicating to humans verbally, and that serves many varieties of reasons and functions. It may be that they wanted to play, wanted to warn us that we are in danger, threaten invaders, anxiety, fear or they might be just curious and much more. Nevertheless, all those kinds of barks were just so annoying; there should be a particular time for that. Here are some tips to make your pet stop from their habits:
Block the dog’s sight
If he barks with a particular thing; manage his behavior by blocking his view from that thing. You may close the door if he is in that area, you may close the curtain if he is inside your house or you may transfer him to another room to keep him away from that thing that he keeps on barking. Moreover, if he is inside the crate cover his crate with a cloth or something, it is also more secure and safe for him.
If he barks at strangers when he is in the yard, bring him inside the house to the point that he will no longer see that person. Never leave your dog outside unsupervised or unaccompanied by you or a person you trusted all day and night to avoid unwanted happenings, like being poisoned and others or only to keep your dog safe.
Put your dog in his quiet zone
If he barks when you are going to leave the house because dogs can sense that if you are going to leave him, put him in his quiet zone. You can buy a crate for him and make it as his quiet place or a safe place and put it anywhere. You may put it at the back of the door, under the table, under the sink, inside the closet, near the owner’s bed which is the most comfortable place or in his room and others. You also have to condition him like some exercises before you leave to drain his energy.
Train your dog
Train him so that you can dictate what is right for them or bad always in a nice way. Teach your dog the “quiet” command in his training; through it, you can quickly put him in a silence mode without any problem. Gradually lengthen the time of his training from second to minutes to hours and so on.
READ MORE: Training Your Dog
You must choose one word only every session at first, and it eventually will increase as another session goes by and teach her its meaning through obedience training. Training is the number one way of educating your dog the ways or the proper etiquette when strangers come in your territory or simply the appropriate behavior every time.
Don’t mind them barking
If you are just so tired of bullshits within that day and you do not want to do anything, just ignore them from barking for as long as it takes them to realize that they should stop. Sometimes they just wanted your attention to them, some acknowledgment from you when they bark. You can take power out of your dog’s demanding barking by completely tuning him out when he barks at you with an agenda.
Do not reward him by giving your attention to him. Moreover, then once he stops from barking, award them with the things he wanted, or treat him. With that, your dog will understand that when he stops barking, he will going to earn his reward and then that is the start of everything. It teaches him that being quiet is the only way to get his owner’s attention.
Keep your dog tired
Make sure that he gets his therapy every day, just like exercising or playing with his toy. His daily exercise depends on your dogs’ breed, also with his age, and his health condition on how long will it take him to be tired. Furthermore, some dogs need times two of their daily routine or more, like pitbull-type dogs, Husky, Dalmatian, and others. You have to put much effort with these high energy dogs on making them tired because when dogs are tired they do not have that energy to bark anymore and just sleep in their quiet place and maybe sleep as long as they want.
Be Patient
Use your normal tone of voice and body language when making them stop from barking. Usually, when they bark, we tend to scold them through yelling, it is a big no for them. Do not hurry and, most important, do not get angry easily, because you will make things worse instead of solving the problem. You should not yell at them because it just sounds like you are barking along with him and joining him in fun and that is what he wanted to.
Anti-anxiety music
Use your anxiety prevention music to help calm your dog while you are away. Any music will do as long as it is relaxing to the soul. Just like humans, dogs can also feel Separation anxiety, and it is a serious problem for them. You may put the headphone on their ears and play some music that can make them calm and relax.
Be consistent
You cannot command him to bark and be quiet when you only wanted him to be according to your mood. This will cause confusion; he cannot understand what you wanted to say to him when you are not consistent. Your reaction should always be consistent every day, and it is necessary that all family members act the same way whenever he is barking so that he will not going to be confused, so your dog understands the message and learns to control his instincts.
Ask for an expert
A dog usually changed their behaviors, and it takes a lot of time and energy for you. If he does not respond to the training sessions that you prepared for him, then it is the very last choice that you have to do, which is to ask for an expert. Applying general rules for all the dogs will not sometimes work. Individual dogs need special training tricks, so ask a behaviorist, a trainer or a veterinarian for some personalized advice.
Be a confident leader to them
You as an owner, you should have that confidence, because just like humans dogs will not follow you or won’t trust you if they think that you do not have that faith in you in every situation. Moreover, you should be calm, confident leader and know how to take control correctly. Your dog only responds when he will feel that he can trust you well enough. From the very beginning of your relationship with your dog, you should be building a foundation that allows such trust and confidence. With that, you can easily command them with an unexpected situation.
Encourage your dog to bring toys always
Some of the time, dogs enjoy carrying toys or things with his mouth. In that situation, they cannot bark at the same time taking a thing. Through making them busy with some toys, it is an excellent way to keep them occupied and happy when alone. However, always be reminded that don’t give them a toy while they are still barking because they will mistakenly assume that you are giving them food and that is automatically an absolute mess already.
READ MORE: How to Potty Train Your Dog
Use bark control collar device
Through this instrument, it encourages dogs and will minimize them from barking or even to stop yelling when they have the bark control in their collar and will give you peace place.
Use a dog whistle
Through this device, you can train them at the same time making them stop. At first, it will get them bark even more when they hear it for the first time, but eventually, your patience will going to be paid off, and they will realize that every time they bark they have to hear the sound, so they will stop. Dogs will hate the noise of the whistle, but you do not have to worry because it will not go to harm them internally or externally, it is a very safe device.
By all these tips or guides to stop your pet from excessive barking, take note that always the first step is getting to know each other, with this level, you will understand your pet, what he is going to say or what he felt through bark or non-verbal communication. Just like humans, we have to get to know each other to build rapport and have a good relationship or a good foundation with each other.
Making your pet stop from unexpected behavior is not going to be in an instant, it takes a much longer time and it will not be easy as counting 1,2,3 or singing A, B, C and so on. It would require some investment, much time, energy, effort, and patience if you wanted to have a good outcome for your pet.