My dog Ralph is my best friend, my favorite companion, and one of the barkiest dogs I’ve ever met. I love her, but I’ll be honest, her barking drives me bananas! Thankfully, I’ve learned a few ways to control it. If you have a dog who barks excessively, you’ll want to read this. Try these four strategies to help stop dog barking—with more details below:
- Sight barriers
- A quiet zone
- Anti-stress and bark control gear
- Training
Why dogs bark
via flickr/dainec
Before taking steps to control your dog’s barking, it’s important to recognize why they bark. Barking is dogs’ most useful form of vocal communication, and serves a variety of functions.
According to the ASPCA, these are the most common reasons a dog barks:
- Territorial Barking: excessive barking in response to people, dogs, or other animals encroaching on their territory.
- Alarm Barking: barking in response to noises and sights. Alarm barking is not limited to defending territory.
- Attention-Seeking Barking: used to gain attention or rewards, like food or playtime.
- Greeting Barking: a bark to say “hello!” Greeting barking is accompanied by relaxed body language and a wagging tail.
- Compulsive Barking: repetetive barking often accompanied by a repetitive movement, such as pacing
- Socially Facilitated Barking: aka “response barking,” when a dog barks excessively only when they hear another dog bark.
- Frustration-Induced Barking: excessive barking in response to a frustrating situation, such as being confined or being separated from other dogs or people
Chances are, you recognize your dog in one of the above. Once you know your dog’s motivation for barking, you can identify tricks and tools to stop it.
1. Use sight barriers
Territorial and alarm barking happen when dogs see or hear something that arouses their attention (that’s why so many dogs bark at the living room window or along the fence). The quickest trick to stop barking at the window or in the yard is to manage the environment. Block your dog’s sightline to potential barking triggers.
In the yard, use privacy fencing to cut off views to neighboring yards or the street. Commercial grade privacy screening installs over your existing fence and may be allowed in your rental unit. If you own your home and seek a long-term, attractive option, consider planting privacy hedges to both beautify and bark-proof the yard.
Indoors, leave the curtains or blinds closed, or use spray-on glass coating or removable plastic film that makes windows opaque. This affordable static cling window film lets the light in, but blurs and blocks sights from outside.
Manage the environment, and block your dog’s sightline to potential barking triggers.
2. Set up a doggy quiet zone
If your dog barks when you leave the house (which can be a sign of separation anxiety), set up a safe and quiet place for them away from the front door. This may be a back bedroom, laundry room, or spare space.
Your doggy quiet zone may include:
- A crate decked out with a comfy bed and privacy cover, or a baby gate to block off other areas
- A stuffed Kong toy or puzzle feeder to keep them busy (and keep their mouth occupied with something other than barking!)
- A white noise machine to mask exterior sounds and produce soothing soundscapes
If you live in a smaller home and can’t isolate your dog in a room, consider crate-training and using a crate cover that allows plenty of airflow while limiting sightlines.
3. Bark control and anti-stress devices
Thanks to advances in technology and a wider understanding of dog behavior, there are some products on the market that effectively control barking in a gentle, humane way.
Ultrasonic anti-bark birdhouse ($28.99)
Ultrasonic bark deterrent devices work by emitting an ultrasonic sound that dogs find unpleasant, which startles them out of barking. Reviews of ultrasonic anti-bark devices are mixed; some dogs don’t respond to them, and others are too sensitive for what is essentially a correction. But for some dogs, these are very effective.
Citronella spray collar ($36.78)
A humane alternative to shock collars of yore, the citronella spray bark collar uses a burst of citronella spray to eliminate or reduce excessive barking. Dogs don’t like the taste of citronella, and the “shhh” sound and sensation startles them out of barking.
Loaded with dog-soothing pheromones, these collars can help stressed dogs calm down, and reduce anxious barking.
A classic, proven anxiety soother, this wrap helps dogs prone to anxiety, over-stimulation, or compulsive barking. It applies gentle, constant pressure to calm anxiety, fear, and over-excitement.
4. Training
There are lots of tricks and tools you can use to help control your dog’s barking, but all of them are more effective in conjunction with training. A few key commands can help control barking:
- Recall. Useful to call your dog away from barking triggers (like the doorbell ringing, or a neighbor dog outside)
- “Speak.” Yup, training your dog to bark on command can help teach them not to bark at other times, especially when paired with the next command on this list.
- “Settle: or “quiet.” Helps your dog “calm down” on cue. See above video for an adorable example!
- Sit/stay. Useful for keeping your dog otherwise occupied when a barking trigger is nearby. If your dog tends to bark on-leash, have her practice being still and quiet.
You can also work with a trainer to practice desensitization techniques that help your dog become accustomed to barking triggers and ultimately stop responding. Training takes consistency and patience, but the long-term rewards are worth it!
Barking can be a real pain in the ears, but the right combination of tools and training will help your dog learn when to keep quiet.
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Maybe your dog Ralph barks because she knows you named her Ralph.
I have tried one of the white triangular anti-bark collars that say they use ultra sound. It was the biggest waste of money. (and it was only $3 on e-bay) It has a high pitched tone when the dog barks (can be heard by humans) and another Ultra-sonic sound (that can also be heard by humans.)
The noise that comes out of this box is not only worse than the sound of barking it also makes the dog bark, at which time the tone goes off again and repeat…. The thing goes off for ever the dog barks for ever.
I didn’t have much problem with barking at all until the trainer suggested I teach him to speak and then be quiet… Well he the first part is easy, the second part is selective at best. Basically it gave him a new hobby and me a new problem.
What a shame to see you suggesting cruel methods such as citronella collars. Punishing and/or scaring a dog for barking is cruel and does not address the root issue(s). You should be encouraging people to actually _train_ their dogs (using scientifically valid, humane, force-free methods).
I agree cruelty and Punishment training on a dog that barks will never work all it does is scare your dog and he has no idea why he’s in trouble.
I get so irritated with all of these dog trainers that claim to be dog trainers and don’t actually know a damn thing about dogs.
It is so easy to train a dog not to bark by simply telling him not to bark and when he quit barking telling him what a good dog he is this is very repetitious has to be consistent but even though it takes a long time to do it is very effective in the long run it’s best for your dogs peace of mind
The best way to train a dog not to bark is to catch your money sparking and tell him not to bark. When you quit sparking you tell him what a good boy he is.
This takes a lot of time so what it’s your dog effective training is better than short-term bad training.
Be consistent and be kind your dog will learn eventually not to bark or to just Bart to let you know a stranger is that the door and you can tell him to stop and he will and he will be happy for it that’s his job all ducks need to job and that’s his job to let you know when somebody’s at the house a stranger or someone you know it doesn’t matter that’s his job to protect you and once he’s protected you to let you know his job is done.
Treat your dog with respect and understand why he’s doing what he’s doing and he will do his job perfectly