Try These 4 Techniques To Stop Nuisance Dog Barking
Dogs can sometimes be very loud and annoying. They might bark all day long, especially when a stranger comes to the door. The good news is that there are many ways to change this behavior, and you may not need professional help to do it!
Teach your dog basics
One of the best ways to get a dog to stop barking is to teach it that there are no strangers. All people, even if they are unfamiliar, should be greeted with at least a bark or two. You can also try teaching your dog that only certain people deserve to get attention from them.
Teach the dog the command “that’s enough” when they start barking too much which will reward them for stopping their noise production and reinforce the idea not to do it anymore.
There are also many natural methods that have been found to be very effective in getting dogs to stop barking. These include providing plenty of toys for your dog, teaching them tricks like rolling over or fetching sticks, or going on walks with them which will all provide them with the much-needed mental and physical stimulation.
Try some barking control gadgets
One way to control a dog’s barking is to use some type of “barking control gadget”. A few popular devices that people use are Citronella spray, static shock bark collar, anti-bark device, and ultrasonic sound devices. These gadgets work by deterring dogs from barking which can help prevent the annoyance caused by excessive barking because managing barking dogs is not easy. A lot of people use these bark control gadgets to help eliminate their barking problem. What you need to have in mind is that they all function in a different way.
The ultrasonic devices use a pulsing high-intensity noise that can not be heard by people but dogs hear it as an annoying sound that is unpleasant for the dog. The static shock bark collar is also used to deter unwanted barking and works by administering a harmless static charge (no pain) when the dog barks. Another popular device used to deter nuisance barking is a citronella spray, which makes your dog associate its specific barking with getting sprayed in the face with water or citronella oil mist. These are just some of several different anti-barking devices available on the market so if you have a barking problem it’s highly recommended you look into these options before resorting to other more extreme measures to control nuisance dog barking.
Give your dog attention
Providing your dog with plenty of attention when they are not barking will also improve their attitude towards strangers and will make them less inclined to bark at people that they don’t know. Providing positive reinforcement for good behavior is essential in training dogs properly.
Incidentally, a dog’s need to learn commands cannot be overplayed as you can teach him or her things like sit, stay, rollover, etc which they may then use to defend themselves if it becomes necessary. In other words, proving your dog knows how to respond to commands such as sit or no, can actually help prevent bad situations from developing. Just remember that every dog has its own personality so if one trick doesn’t work, try another!
Take them to the park
Sometimes as humans, we have a tendency to forget that dogs are animals, and like every other animal, they need attention. So make sure you take your dog out for at least two walks a day in order to give them some of the exercise required for their physical well-being as well as a mental exercise that will keep them from barking too much. Also bear in mind that when you do return home, give your dog plenty of attention and if possible play games with them which can be very rewarding. Make sure you reward good behavior such as sitting quietly rather than playing an active game with them since this encourages quietness and also praises all the little things they did to make your life easier.
Make sure you are home early enough to let them out when they need to go out and give them a proper meal before it gets dark since dogs are nocturnal animals who do the bulk of their activity after dark.
Most of the time barking can disrupt work or sleep, so it’s best to stop it before things get out of hand. A barking dog causes issues with other dogs in neighboring houses and once they sense you’re easy pickings, they’ll start nipping at your heels too!
It would be ideal if we could train our dogs to bark only when needed. The reality is that some breeds are just more prone to excessive barking than others, and try as we might, most dogs will still find things (or people or animals) in their environment worth vocalizing about!
