Thursday, November 05, 2009

How to stop dog bark immediately

In this guide I'm going to teach you how to stop your dog from barking. There are several reasons why your dog could be barking. The first step you'll need to take is to distinguish the reason for his barking. A dog will bark when he is nervous, excited, bored, territorial, frightened, or if he is of a specific breed. Depending on what the reason is, you should remove temptation or start training him to fix the behavior.

Giving your dog consistent exercise, and training him often are very crucial. Consistent exercise will help use up your dog's energy, which will make training him a much easier. Training will help your dog understand impulse control, which in turn will keep you in control.

For specific situations, such as when they are excited or anxious, you can teach them alternative behaviors. Alternate behaviors would include making him sit, lay down, or go to his bed. Any time they are in a situation where they would bark, have treats on hand and make them do an alternate behavior. This will keep them distracted from what they would be barking at and will replace the barking with a more pleasing behavior. It is important to give positive feedback, especially when they give up what they want to do and listen to you. The barking will eventually be replaced with the alternate behavior you have been teaching him. Teaching your dog an alternate behavior takes time and a lot of persistence, but it's certainly worth the effort in the end.

When dealing with territorial barking it's more challenging, but not impossible to fix. In this case you are going against his natural behavior. A dog’s territory is sacred to them – it's their space and it's their job to protect it! If your dog sees an animal or a person that he doesn't recognize close to his yard, he will automatically see them as an impostor and will bark at them as a way of informing them that this is his territory, and to stay way. In this circumstance, the best way to quiet them is to give them a signal of some sort that tells them that “it's all clear”. You can select any command you desire. By issuing this command you will essentially be telling him that the “intruder” is not an intruder after all, and he can settle down. Before giving the “all clear” command, you want to validate that they saw something that doesn’t look right to them. You can go outside, to the window, front door, or wherever they sensed a disturbance. After you are done checking it out, praise him for doing a great job.Then with absolute confidence in voice and body language, give the “all clear” command and walk away, taking them with you. It's vital that you don't try to physically make him leave – walking away is all you should do. Make sure that you do not look at them if they don't follow you, just continue walking away and call them. This will show them that it really is okay!

For fear barkers you can typically use the same “all clear” command you utilize for territorial barkers. It is crucial that you don't console them by hugging them, petting them, talking to them in a high pitched voice, etc. They want a leader that is in charge when they are scared. He is looking to you for safety. In a soothing but firm voice, give the “all clear” command, while keeping your body language confident.

For some dog breeds barking is in their nature. Terriers and hounds are a wonderful example of dogs that are notorious for being barkers. Again, you are going against nature here! For this kind of dog I recommend having a “quiet” command. To teach them this, it's best to be in a controlled setting, away from too many distractions. Wait until your dog barks and then tell him to be “quiet”. If they stop barking, tell them how good of a dog they are and give them a treat. At times, they will be too caught up in what they are barking at and they won't hear you. If this happens don't repeat yourself or raise your voice. They will just assume you’re joining in. Fill a container full of beans or coins as a substitute. You can then squirt them or shake your noise maker to get their attention. Once they stop and look at you, tell them to be silent.

A good amount of exercise can help when your dog is barking out of boredom.

source:http://mediachannel.org/

Cheers!
Dorothy
www.DogMillion.com