This question was asked anonymously via our submit-a-question form:
“help! my dog will not stop barking. what can i do to stop him. do i need a anti bark collar? i dont want to cause him any pain. thanks”
Here is my answer based on the small amount of info provided…
Dogs bark for a reason, so it would only be in the most rare of cases and as a last resort that I would recommend any form of correctional collar to stop it. These are the top reasons why your dog may bark excessively:-
- Alerting you to danger/intruders (as he sees them)
- To get attention
- Boredom, fear or anxiety
- “Replying” to the bark of another dog (jumping on the bandwagon)
It would be just plain wrong to stop your dog barking altogether, but once you get to know the cause of his behavior, you can teach him when it is appropriate to bark and to reinforce how much barking is allowed before he must stop.
The first thing to reinforce is that barking does not get attention, and can result in exclusion from the family unit. It can be difficult ignoring your dog’s barking at night time, but if you so much as get up to scold him, he will see that as a way of getting you to come to him. Here is what I would suggest you try for night time barking:
Used a “detached” negative reinforcer, ie, something your dog will not associate directly with you. Something that makes a noise that you can make out as though you haven’t made it (perhaps you have played the old trick of sneaking up on a friend and spooking them, then acting as if it was someone else – that is the kind of thing you should be aiming to do with your dog!). When he is barking, stay just out of his sight and use something to make a loud noise – dried beans in a can, an air horn, two pots clanged together etc.. so he is startled into stopping barking. Give him a few seconds and if he remains quiet, reward him for the quiet behavior with praise and/or a small treat
At other times of the day, there are a few different approaches you could take depending on the cause of the barking
If your dog barks at strangers, the postman or whatever, start a program of desensitising him so that he doesn’t see them as a threat. This will take time and patience, but if you use praise and rewards whenever he is quiet in these situations, he will associate the scenario with good experiences and see no cause to sound an alert. This is quite a drawn out process to detail here, but you can find solutions and case studies of similar problems in the Sit Stay Fetch program from Kingdom of Pets
If he just barks for attention, turn your back on him each time, then reward quiet times. If he persists, instead of just turning your back, either leave the room or put him in a different room to you (NOT his crate or usual sleeping place) and close the door. When he realises that barking detaches himself from his pack, he should soon stop barking for attention.
If your dog is barking through boredom, then he is either not getting enough physical exercise or mental stimulation. Make sure you take him out enough and do some basic obedience training to stimulate his mind. When he is left alone, make sure there are toys to play with and get him a Kong toy or similar chew toy that can be stuffed with food to keep him occupied. This will often also quell his urge to respond to the barking of other dogs.
Neutering can also help, especially with aggressive barking, as neutered and spayed dogs are often much calmer and do not display many of the traits associated with sexual hormones
