My dog barks too much

Back to Training Page

Barking at people passing outside the house – Toys and games
Attach an eight-foot line to your dog’s collar and allow him to trail it behind him wherever he goes in the house.

· You must remove it when leaving your dog by himself and when going out for walks.

· Use the line as much as possible to teach your dog how to come away from the window or doors when you tell him while he is barking.

· Also make sure that you use the line to teach your dog how to behave in any situation where you might want to control him. (e.g.. put him out into the garden or getting him off furniture).

· Remember to make lots of fuss of him whenever he does anything that he is told.

You should now use the toys and games to reinforce good behavior when they are offered.

Barking at people when outside the house – Food
Now take out all of your dog’s food and some favorite toys whenever you take him out of the house for exercise. Use the food and toys to reward him for being under good control whenever there are other people and/or dogs around. This part of the program emphasizes the importance of behaving in an acceptable fashion because all of his food and games with toys are at stake. There is to be no food or games with toys offered at home for this week of the program.

Barking at visitors – Food
In order to stop your dog from barking at visitors, do the following:

· Divide all of your dog’s daily food allowance up into ten equal portions. No other food is to be available.

· When anyone that your dog knows well and is friendly towards enters the house they are not to greet him at the front door.

· They should walk straight past him without saying a word and go straight to where the food and toys are.

· They should get one position of food and place it on the floor for him to eat.

· It sometimes helps if he is very friendly towards certain people to get them to stroke him before giving him the food.

Excessive territorial barking – food
In order to reduce your dog’s barking in his territory feed him in the following manner each day:

· Prepare his food for the day in the morning and put half of it in the refrigerator for use in the evening, with the other half split up into five containers, each containing an equal amount.

· Keep some containers near to areas where you have had problems in the past with his barking, etc.

· Whenever he sees someone go past the window, call him away and offer one container of food.

· If he comes away quickly then he is allowed to eat that container of food.

· If he does not come away from the window then let him see you put that container of food into the bin.

· He is only allowed five chances each day to get this half of his food.

· There is to be no other food at all which is made available to him for the duration of this program.

· The only food that he gets is for behaving in the manner that you want.

Barking when left in the house
In order to stop your dog from barking when you leave the house, you simply need to remove all of the signals that let your dog know you are going out so that he thinks you are always in.

· Make a list of all the things you do before and during the time you are about to go out.

· Every day on a daily basis go through your going out routine but stay in the house or immediately return after closing the front door.

· You will also need to trick your dog into thinking you are still in the house by using some or all of the following tips.

Try leaving the radio or television on.
Make a recording of sounds that your dog will recognize as you being present in another room of the house. Vacuuming, washing up holding a telephone conversation, etc. Play this tape in another room whenever you go out so that your dog thinks you are at home.
Leave an unwashed item of your clothing just outside the door of the room that your dog is left in so that when he stiffs the bottom of the door he thinks you are on the other side.

Back to Training Page