When it comes to having pets people really have to consider the kind of animal that they are going to get. All of them could have some problems, such as dog barking problems. If you are faced with this situation, there are some methods that you could try, but none of them will offer you miracles, and the longer the dog has had such a behavior, the more difficult it is going to be to change it.
Remember this
If your dog has problems regarding barking you should avoid yelling at him. He could understand this as a kind of barking and he will go on. Also the training sessions that you have should be upbeat and positive. Whatever training method you choose, make sure that you stick to it, so that you won’t confuse the dog. Every time someone in your family is faced with the barking problems of the dog, they should apply the same method, and not let him get away with it.
No more motivation
Usually in case of the dog barking problems the animal has some kind of motivation. He gets some kind of reward. This is what you will have to eliminate in order to eliminate the behavior itself.
As an example if the dog barks at people passing in front of the window you should close the curtains or bring the dog to another room.
Ignorance
Another way to treat the barking problems of the dog is to ignore the barking until he decides to stop. You shouldn’t offer him any attention, because the attention he gets is a kind of reward for his barking. You should have no contact with him, don’t even look at him. Nonetheless to take care of the dog barking problems, in the moment when he stops, you should offer him a treat for being quiet.
This method means that you have to ignore his barking every time he barks, and keep your calm so that you won’t yell at him even after an hour of continuous barking.
Counter conditioning
In case there is a trigger that unleashed the barking problems of the dog, you should gradually get him used to the stimulus in question. At the beginning start at a greater distance, and gradually reduce it. It should be far enough for the dog not to sense it. Offer him some treats and move the stimulus closer and offer treats again. Remember not to feed treats if there is no stimulus.
In case of dog barking problems it is important for the dog to learn that the stimulus in question leads to good things.
Command
To take care of the barking problems of the dog you might teach him the ‘quiet’ command. First you have to teach your dog to bark on command. Make him bark (through knocking on the door for example) and feed him some treats.
Then work vice versa as well, making him bark first and then making him be quiet, to take care of the dog barking problems.
