Training a dog not to bark at the wrong things.

[DogMom Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DogMom]

Is that possible?? One of my dogs barks at EVERYTHING and my neighbors are getting tired of it. I go outside to see what she's barking at and if I don't see anything I tell her "no bark". But it doesn't stop. The minute I'm out of site, she's barking again. She barks when she plays too. It seems when I tell her no bark while she's playing she takes it as I'm saying she has to stop playing. I really don't want her to not bark at all so I'm afraid to use any lemon juice or hot sauce like the trainer says. And I'm really not sure how I feel about shock collars yet so I'm staying away from them.

Any suggestions?

[Arazante Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Arazante]

I'm going to copy and paste some advice I saw on another board from a woman who taught her dog to bark on command. I'm not sure how much help it will be- my dog rarely barked unless he was riled up.. so I have no real experience in trying to get a dog to stop barking and I personally don't feel comfortable seeing any dog in a shock collar:

First, it helps that Alfie already understood "No Bark." I taught him that one, interestingly, by teaching him to "Speak!" on command. Once he could control the initiation of a bark, he could control the bark, period. I know, it sounds weird. But it works.

I taught him to speak on command by having him sit and wait for a treat. I would say "Speak!" and after a moment he would bark, mostly because he wanted the biscuit. After numerous repetitions he would bark immediately when I said "Speak!"

I taught him "No Bark" by going out to the yard and physically removing him to the house every single time he began barking. I placed my hand firmly on his head to indicate that I was in charge, and led him by the collar back to the house, repeating "No Bark." (Sometimes, just to entertain the neighbors, I'd say, "There's no barking in Palo Alto.") After a few repetitions of this he figured out what "No Bark" means, and he would stop barking if I simply called out the order to him. I then used it to stop him from barking when the door bell would ring.

[celtechfarms Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close celtechfarms]

Sounds like good advice to me. If that dosen't work you could try a citrinela collar. I'm not a huge fan, but when you dog barks, instead of a shock, it gives them a spray under the muzzel with citrus.

[DogMom Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DogMom]

Yeah, it is good advice. As for the citronella collar though, like I said, I really do not want to teach her not to bark at all. I am only human and I do like that forewarning that something is somewhere it doesn't belong. lol

But, on the other hand, my big girl is pretty good at judging these kinds of things and she barks very rarely--usually only at things that need my attention (and the electric guy who she just will not under any circumstance stop barking at). LOL So I guess this one not barking at all won't be the end of the world.

But something has definitely got to change. Honestly, if she were my neighbor's dog I would have filed a complaint a long time ago. No one has said anything directly to me yet but the girl next door did say, rather loudly one night, something along the lines of "gawd that dog never shuts up". They all know me and everything so I don't want any of them to think they have to put up with it because I am animal control and the "rules" just don't apply to me. But I know she's got to be driving everyone crazy because she's already driven me up the flippin wall. LMAO

[DogMom Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DogMom]

Hmm........I did a little searching last night for collars and found one that seems a bit interesting.

It's a beep, spray, shock collar. It will beep once on the first bark. Beep twice on the second and three times on the third. On the fourth bark it will give a spray. On the fifth bark it will shock very lightly and the intensity of the shock will get stronger as the dog continues to bark.

She's a smart dog so maybe she'll figure it out pretty quick? lol

Anyone ever heard of or used these? I like the beep warning a lot. I've trained all my dogs in a very minor way somewhat like clicker training except with a clap of my hands. According to the page I read, I can change the tone of the beep so if I make it deeper like a clap, she might learn just on that.

I just still really hate the shock part. And I'm afraid with the spray that it might spray one of the other dogs if they're close enough.

[countrychic10 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close countrychic10]

Sorry for the barking issues.

We have an "ENOUGH" command in my house...it works for a range of things..."enough" rough housing, "enough" barking ect. ect.

So if (and I say IF because we have finally passed the annoying "lets bark at everything" stage") they do start some nonsense barking I just give a very loud, stern "ENOUGH" and they knock it off. Frank is a bit dim witted so sometimes I need to clap loudly or somethign similar to get the point across.

And when someone does come to the house or there is a reason for the barking, I allow a few good barks, praise them for letting me know someone is here and then give them the "ENOUGH" command and all is quiet.

Teaching an "ENOUGH" command has always worked for me either with puppies or the adult rescues I have drug in so I personally wouldn't use a "training collar" of any sort....I just don't like them...

But on the flip side I can see where they have been useful to some people so if you must resort to a collar I do wish you luck and hopefully the noise situation will be under control soon.. :)

[celtechfarms Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close celtechfarms]

The only thing I would be sure of is that you can cover the prongs so that your dog can wear the collar and not get shocked, that way once your dog learns just the beep warning you can keep the collar on when shes out and it'll still give the beep warning. Oh and remember, if you do go the collar route, make sure you take it off as much as possible, those little metal prongs can do alot of damage if left on all the time. On another note I do know someone who has used such a collar and it worked great, the shock was very mild, she tried it on herself first, and the dog learned very quickly.

[DogMom Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DogMom]

That's the thing country--we have "enough" and the "no bark" learned here too. I give her the command and she stops.........but only for a few minutes (usually until I'm out of site). Usually I can tell the difference between barks (isn't that so sad??? lol). Anyway--usually I can tell what she's barking at with the tone or intensity of the bark. Like I can tell if it's the rough housing, playful bark or if it's a bark at an animal or a bark at someone who doesn't belong or so on and so forth. So depending on what bark it is, I will holler her name and "enough" out the window or door and she stops barking. When she does it again, I'll do it again and she'll stop. If she does it a third time I'll go to the door and call her to me and tell her enough. And it stops. I go back in and she barks again so I go all the way outside and look around; tell her "enough" if I don't see anything. Come back in the house and the minute the door closes she's barking again. So I feel like I'm running back and forth all night long telling her to stop barking. Seriously, it's like she knows the command and listens until I'm out of site. Then she goes to stupid, untrained, don't know anything dog. lol

I'm going to put some more thought into the collar and do some more researching before I make any decisions. We talked about it last night and are going to see what we can find to put on the fence (like a tarp of some sort) to make it so she can't see outside the yard. That'll at least help with stopping her barking at leaves or stray cats or people walking down the road. It won't help with the playful barking but dealing with just that will be easier to break than everything together. Does that make sense??

Ugh--the older she gets, the more difficult, I swear. LOL

[Coonhoundlover Hatchling Find all posts View Profile Close Coonhoundlover]

re: smart, stubborn barking dogs (reply to Dogmom)

Hi Dogmom,

your post makes complete sense! your doggie knows exactly what you're attempting to do, or want her to do...I have the same kind of doggie personality in my beloved semi-service coonhound.

I tried to train him on the citronela collar and shock collars, but he outwitted his "owner" hah! he barked until the citronela ran out of the lemon spray (each time I put it on and took it off) and he figured out when I'd shock him or not.

Actually, the best advice I got was from Dog Whisperer's show...I tapped him on the neck and I said, "be quiet," or "don't bark", when I didn't want him to bark and he stopped. [though, usually not for very long--ha!]
Give your doggie treats when she doesn't bark and "listens" to your commands...that's how I slowly trained my dog out of the habit at barking at every wild animal and noise :)

he still barks a bit out of control sometimes.
I too, know my dog's barking habits--excited, bored, dangerous people or animals etc. heh.

unfortunately, his very loud barking still drives some of my less tolerant and understanding neighbors crazy! I wish they'd understand I'm in a tough spot, since I trained my coony to be my service dog on my own [yes, I am disabled...I get seizures from time to time; and I discovered this crazy dog's rare ability by accident :)]. for him not to bark compltely would not be a good thing...

oh well.
yay dogs! :)

[Guest Close jennismortal]

How to Stop the Barking:-

* Dogs that spend most of their time in the backyard or in the house probably need an exercise outlet. Even if your yard is large, dashing around it in circles is not the equivalent of exercise and interaction. Take your dog for a long walk, or head to the park for a change of scenery and a game of fetch.

* Love the one you're with. Bring your dog into the house when you�re home. It's important that he feels he's part of the family and is loved. Develop a relationship with him through play and fun.

* You've got a friend in me. Dogs are social creatures. Take your dog to the same park daily or weekly and let him make doggy friends. Dogs romping around together tire easily and sleep soundly.

[pinkcircles Cub Find all posts View Profile Close pinkcircles]

I have heard of these dog collars with a device on them that spray air into the dogs face everytime the dog barks you can also get these with a remote that you can control yourself i found these at www.nutrecare.co.uk.

[MonkeyLover Hatchling Find all posts View Profile Close MonkeyLover]

I wonder what's the tactics of training a dog to bark when you ask him to!

[evanhog Cub Find all posts View Profile Close evanhog]

I am not sure about shock collars. my advise is to better give training using a good dog trainer. it is not necessary you should give full traning just say to him in what issues u want to train your dog he will do it.

[scotther12 Hatchling Find all posts View Profile Close scotther12]

Hello !

A dog who is left alone all day is likely to take up barking as a hobby because

no one is there to control him.So you can train your dog to stop barking.To

know more details about stop dog barking , you should checkout this link.It

might be very useful for you.

[Gary99 Hatchling Find all posts View Profile Close Gary99]

Ive used the collars before (spray ones)...great whilst the dog is wearing it but the moment he realises he hasnt got it on...the barking starts again...I dont think its a proper solution