Thursday, June 25, 2009

How To Cure Dog Barking Problems

By Andyl Hannerl

One of the most annoying problem behaviors that a dog can exude is its barking problem. There are so many reasons that can make the dog start barking and a lot of these reasons need to be analyzed so the dog barking problem can be stopped or at least minimized.

The barking is always triggered by something in the environment. The dog might be trying to assert dominance over another dog or animal that it is around. It may be trying to stake out its territory or it may be just barking for the fun of it. There are some dogs that have a barking problem because they are not socialized to other dogs and others that are barking to get what they want from their owner.

Curing The Issue

One way of escalating or making the barking problem worse is by rewarding the dog for barking even if it done through a negative attention. The dog needs to have a clear understanding that barking is not an acceptable conduct in any way and that he should not be rewarded by the owner. If an owner yells at the dog for barking, it is only a sign of negatively implementing the behavior by giving it some interest.

When a dog is barking wildly outside the house and the owner lets it in thinking that he is addressing the issue, this is where the owner is wrong because the dog will think that he can get away with barking thus reinforcing the negative behavior. When an owner comforts his dog or gives his dog a treat to calm it down, this will just make the dog barking problem continue.

There are a lot of techniques in correcting a dog barking problem behavior. One is not reacting when you sense a barking issue such as when a dog barks at the doorbell or the ringing phone. The owner must not react to any of these things to show the dog that there is nothing to be stressed about and that everything is okay when these types of sounds happen.

It would be useful and helpful to ring the phone or the doorbell regularly while training the dog so it gets used to these types of sounds and that no reaction is needed when these sounds are experienced.

There are ways to prevent the dog barking problem if it still occurs when the owner is not home. One of these ways is to give the dog a lot of things to play with while he is alone so he does not get bored and another way would be giving him a lot of exercise.

A dog that has been barking when the owner is away, the owner has to make sure that he does not get greeted while he is still barking, only greet him when he has already calmed down. Make sure that you only praise your dog when he is barking and not the other way around. There should be a punishment for barking, such as a bark collar or a loud noise.

About the Author:

0 comments: