Dogs bark for many reasons including tendency of the breed (terriers and hounds), trying to express dominance, creating their own territory, isolation and warning you of danger. For the most part those reasons are annoying to you and those around you (except the warning one). So the question is: how do you stop it? Here are just a few basic things from Dog Obedience Training Review to do (and not do) when trying to get your dog to stop barking without just cause:
Rewarding = More barking
This applies to trying to stop any bad behavior in dogs but even acknowledging that your dog is barking by yelling at him encourages more of it. Just ignore him. If he’s barking outside, let him do it but don’t let him in because of it or he’ll associate barking with getting what he wants.
Create a command
If you believe that your dog is just barking for attention, teach your dog the meaning of “stop” or “quiet” by telling him one of those things right in front of him. Once he quiets down for a few seconds, reward him with a treat. He’ll start to understand that silence is golden after a while of this, even without always getting a treat.
A tough method
Pretty much everyone’s favorite thing in dog ownership is when they get home after a hard day and their dog provides unconditional love. If you know that your dog has been barking while you were gone and this has been an ongoing problem, you will have to take measures that you might not like either. When you get home, ignore the dog until he settles down and stops barking. If you don’t do this, he will think that his barking is what brought you back home and will continue to bark all day. After you have ignored him for a while, initiate contact with him. He will begin to notice after a while that being quiet correlates with getting his usual pets at the end of the day.
For these and more tips visit Dog Obedience Training Review.