Do you have a dog that won’t stop barking and growling? Is it the known in your neighborhood as the dog that won’t stop barking at everyone and everything? You don’t need to be overly concerned because you are not the only dog owners to face such a dilemma. Dogs tend to bark when they are scared or exposed to a situation in which they aren’t comfortable. This includes meeting or seeing strange people or animals entering their territory. It also includes being separated from their pack or scary, alarming sounds, such as thunder or fireworks.

Dogs bark and growl when they are in a fearful situation or are attempting to assert themselves in a certain situation. Once the situation is resolved the dog believes it is due to its growling or barking. They mistakenly train themselves to think this type of behavior is acceptable. Needless to say, it doesn’t take very long for the barking and growling to more frequent and harsh.

In order to properly correct a barking in your dog, you first need to realize that it won’t happen overnight. It requires effective management of your dog’s behavior. Once you understand this, you can now start training your pooch to minimize its barking behavior and the best way to do that is through the use of rewards. I personally like to use a reward which my dog really, really loves like pieces of chicken but some owners make use of treats, belly rubs, or throwing the dog’s favorite toy. Never use punishment as a form of behavior reinforcement. It is ineffective and often only makes the problem worse because now the dog is either fearful or aggressive in those situations.

Start the training by introducing your dog to a situation that you control. I recommend having someone make a noise which causes your dog to bark, like a doorbell. Once the dog has mastered these easy situations you can then move on to more difficult ones. If the dog begins bark at the noise, immediately interrupt the barking. Once the dog stops barking and becomes quiet, reward it with a treat as a way of reinforcing this positive behavior.

Some dog supplies stores carry products specifically made to interrupt your dog’s barking. These include water sprayers or squirt guns, cans with small, hard objects inside of them, audible alarms, and ultrasonic whistles. All these items can be quite effective in disrupting your dog’s barking and thus initiating a quiet response from the canine. It is important when first using these devices that you are there to praise and reward the dog when it becomes quiet. Without the reward there is no incentive to remain quiet.