Stop Dog Barking With These 2 Excellent Tricks

I've been raising and training dogs my whole life, and have a number of years of show experience in the ring as well. I have been through plenty of obedience and 4H training courses, and have certainly dealt with my fair share of dog behavioral problems. Probably the toughest by far though is how to stop a dog from barking.

First the mistakes that most people make. I had a friend who had a Boxer, and although the dog was really cute, he wouldn't shut up. My friend would get so irritated that he would use an empty soup can containing a bunch of loose change, with the top taped off. This would act as a 'shaker' to silence the dog. Only one problem - it didn't work.

Don't yell at the dog or try to bombard its ears with more noise. When you raise your voice, the dog will simply think that you are barking alongside of it. The other types of noises are too frustrating to the dog, and it will

encourage the behavior, possibly causing the dog to think that the noise is fun and a good thing and that he should keep barking to keep the noise going.

Be consistent. If you are going to stop a dog from barking, you can't let him slip sometimes and then correct him part of the time. This means getting your whole family on board, or it won't work.

Before I reveal this trick to you, you must understand why your dog is barking in the first place. He's doing so to get attention or he associates something positive with his noise making, or both.

If your dog is yelling out the window at people or other canines traveling by, get him away from the window. If he barks at certain items in your house, such as a vacuum cleaner - put him in another room. Remove him from the situation.

1. Deny him the attention

Now for the trick which I think will help you. You have to take the intensity away from the situation, and address him like you would a child. If your child is acting up, you might not want to feed their poor behavior nor reward it. One way you could do this is to ignore the child.

Well, you can do that with the dog as well. Next time he starts barking, don't play into it. Turn your back and silence him without saying a word. Pretty soon he will realize that he gets that when he barks it's not as much fun anymore.

Just remember to give him a treat when you are able to stop dog barking.

Remember though, this doesn't happen over night, and your entire family must work with you to stop the dog from barking.

2. Teach him to bark?

Another method that you may find interesting is to "teach your dog to speak," by going along with what he is already doing. Use the command "speak" while he's barking and reward him with a treat.

Once it seems like he understands the speak command, introduce the "quiet" command and use a reward with that one as well. This trick to stop a dog from barking can take some time, but it uses a little reverse psychology and can work well.

Wait! want good dog behavior? want to teach him some dog tricks? Just click one of those links and you'll be shown how to get the best out of your pooch.