Tips - and Healthy Treats! - To get your Dog to stop barking

Barking is not just one of dogs’ most effective means of getting our attention. It’s also their best way of communicating with the world around them and a totally normal behavior under many circumstances. For example, we’ve all seen our dogs bark out of excitement in anticipation of playtime or a tasty treat, or out of protective instinct if a critter enters the yard.

But if your dog is barking inappropriately, as in nonstop or without reason or provocation, it can be frustrating for everyone in your house not to mention annoying for your neighbors. If you’re dealing with a dog that can’t seem to stop barking, here are a few strategies to nip it in the bud, including how to incorporate healthy dog training treats in the process.

According to PetMD, dogs use both verbal cues, such as whining or vocalizations, and nonverbal cues, like wagging or tucking their tail, to communicate, with barking being their main means of verbal communication. While many instances of barking are appropriate, some of the less appropriate reasons your doggo might bark include: 

• To get your attention 
• To express excitement (such as playtime or treats ) 
• Out of boredom
• Reactively, like if he sees another dog while he’s out on a walk 

So, if you’re looking to tackle a barking problem and get your dog to stop barking inappropriately, it’s important to first figure out what is making them bark in the first place. 

Something else to remember is that yelling at your dog is not going to help the problem. In fact, all that noise might actually just rile up your dog and encourage him to bark even more. After all, it’s like you’re barking inappropriately in response!

Instead, you’ll need to figure out a way to solve the root cause of the issue, whether that means training your dog to stay calm in a triggering environment or dealing with more deep-rooted feelings of anxiety. Luckily, no one knows your dog better than you do, and he trusts you more than anyone, so rest assured that together you’ll be able to figure it out!

This might sound a little counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to get your dog to stop barking is by teaching them when it’s appropriate to do so! 

First, figure out what causes your dog to bark appropriately. For example, some dogs are prone to barking when they hear the doorbell ringing or someone knocking on the door, while others can get excited enough to bark when they see a treat or a favorite toy. When you determine what works best for your dog, try getting her to bark naturally with one of these cues, then reward her with a healthy pet treat – like our Chicken or Turkey Chips of course! – paired with a verbal command (“speak!”) and lots of praise until she can do it consistently on command. 

From there, you can progress to teach your dog a command to stop their barking (i.e: “quiet”). As soon as they quiet down, reward them with a treat and pair it with the quieting verbal command of your choice. You can dive deeper into dog training tips in our blog post on the subject, too!

While this isn’t a cure-all for all excessive barking behaviors, mastering these training skills can then help you figure out the best way to approach the barking problems moving forward, and create a framework in your pup’s mind for what happens when he barks in different situations.

A common reason dogs bark is in response to a certain stimulus, like neighbors or other dogs walking by your house, people knocking on your door, etc. If this is the case with your dog, figuring out what the trigger is the first step in training them to be comfortable with it. 

While it would be nice to be able to just remove the temptation, doorbells will always ring and people will always walk by! So it’s best to desensitize and counter-condition your dog with some positive treat-training. For example, if your dog is triggered by people ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door for a visit, try the following technique: 

1. Have a friend or family member knock on your door.
2. Immediately give your dog a healthy pet treat before he has a chance to bark. Repeat a couple of times.

Do not give your dog the treat if he starts to bark. Instead, wait a moment, then have your helper knock again and repeat the process. 

Eventually, your dog will begin to associate the knocking with positive rewards – treats and praise! – instead of barking. 

Similarly, you can even train your dog that it’s okay to bark in situations when you’d like him to sound his alert, such as someone coming in a back or side gate or falling in a pool, by rewarding both the bark and the quiet command once you’re alerted. 

By repeat these short training processes several times a week, your dog will become comfortable enough with the stimulus to discern the appropriate response, namely not barking immediately upon hearing it. 

If you find that your dog is barking incessantly for seemingly no reason at all, he may just be bored and using barking to release pent-up energy. This can also accompany other negative or destructive behaviors like chewing or digging up your yard. 

In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Make sure that your dog is getting enough exercise for its breed and personal activity level. In addition to  walking your dog,  you can also keep them entertained with the mental stimulation provided by training or puzzle games or organic dog chews that keep them too busy to start barking.

If your dog is barking a lot when he’s left alone, he might be dealing with separation anxiety. This can be a difficult behavior to train out of dogs, especially if you are unaware that it’s happening to begin with. Remote cameras have provided a window into this phenomenon in recent years, often to the surprise of pet parents.

To manage separation anxiety behaviors, practice leaving your dog alone for very short periods of time. Don’t carry on with the goodbyes or make them emotional. Simply wait for your dog to be calm, then leave the house for a minute, wait, and reenter. Again, don’t make this too emotional. Ignore your dog if he barks at you when you reenter the house, only rewarding him briefly with attention as soon as he calms down. 

Continue repeating this process, leaving for longer and longer periods of time until your dog can comfortably stay alone for long stretches. 

It may sound simple, but if your dog is barking because you’re crate-training, for example, don’t open the door when she starts making noise. While this quick solution may stop the barking in the short term, it actually reinforces the idea that barking is the best way for your dog to get out of the crate. In turn, this can encourage her to repeat the barking behavior not only to get out of the crate, but to get anything else she wants. 

Instead, wait until the dog quiets down, then reward him with your attention or a dog training treat. If you stay consistent – and consistency is key when it comes to training – your dog will eventually learn that remaining quiet is a “good” behavior that gets rewarded; and that the barking won’t help. 

Unfortunately, some dogs’ barking behaviors are much harder to break. If you’re struggling to get your dog to quiet down after consistent training on your own, it may be worth talking to a professional trainer to determine the next course of action. 

Another important note: if your otherwise-quiet dog starts barking uncontrollably or seemingly out of nowhere, it might be a good idea to take him to the vet for a checkup as it may be a way of communicating pain.