How do I stop my dog from barking at me?

Question

Yesterday I taught my dog to speak on command. Now, when I give him other commands he barks at me. He NOW barks every time I give a discipline command, or tell him to play dead (both things he never liked to do). And this morning he woke me up to his barking. He never barked so much until yesterday, AFTER I taught him the command. I usually use a spray bottle when he misbehaves. But, I tried using the spray bottle yesterday, and he kept barking, and got louder. I now tell him to “hush” when he is barking without the command. How do I teach him barking is unacceptable unless on command?

btw – he is a boxer/pitt mix 14 months. We just adopted him from the SPCA 3 weeks ago.

I don’t believe in putting collars on dogs to stop a natural behavior. Besides most reasonable priced anti-bark collars have chemicals in the spray, and the collars with pure water are too expensive. I’m asking for advice to help teach Rocky to bark only when asked. I’m afraid of going for walks, and Rocky will start to bark at the children playing in the street when I give him the command to “come-on”. Rocky and I are in a training class.

I don’t believe in putting collars on dogs to stop a natural behavior. Besides most reasonable priced anti-bark collars have chemicals in the spray, and the collars with pure water are too expensive. I’m asking for advice to help teach Rocky to bark only when asked. I’m afraid of going for walks, and Rocky will start to bark at the children playing in the street when I give him the command to “come-on”. Rocky and I are in a training class. I understand what he is trying to tell me. He is saying, "Why should I do that, when I can bark?"

Rocky is an intimidating looking dog. I don’t want to scare everyone in the neighborhood, b/c of his barking.

Answer 1

He is barking because he was recently highly rewarded for it. My dog did the same thing when I taught her to give paw. Every time I gave her a command, the paw went up. Often she would just sit in front of me and put the paw up, too. I ignored her and she eventually learned that the behavior would only be rewarded when requested. So...ignore him. I know that's really hard when it's something annoying like barking, but it's the only way to get him to stop that won't ruin your relationship and that will still keep the trick of barking on cue.

Answer 2

You have a clever dog ! If he barks tell him NO BARKING and give him a treat ! If you want him to speak he should only make a growling noise not a bark !
Maybe you should both go to dog-training -school so that you teach him the right commands.

Answer 3

He is trying to please you by doing what you asked him to do. You could try to train him to stop barking, or just start working on other commands.

I was so impressed at how smart I thought my dog was when I was training him years ago...now I can pull out a treat and he'll speak, growl, flail his paws at me, play dead, roll over, spin around, dance, etc...all without asking. He automatically runs through whatever it is he thinks I will ask him to do because he wants that cookie - he's associated tricks with the treats.

Sometimes I ask him to do specific tricks and sometimes I just give him the treat. After all that excitement and effort he puts into working for it, I can't help it. Plus it's hysterical watching him do anything and everything for a treat, he gets so worked up :-)

Answer 4

Watch Cesar Milan The Dog Whisperer On The History Channel.

Answer 5

They have collars that will spray him in the face everytime he barks. You shouldn't have taught him to speak. Think about it, you teach him to talk.....and now you want to shut him up.....this is a common problem with human beings.

Answer 6

well i would talk to someone like a dog trainer or an animal person at one of those pet stores like pet co. and talk to someone with the skills and training to help you and they can give you great tips on how to train your dog and teach it obedient.

Answer 7

Listen to him, he is trying to tell you something. After all, you are the one who taught him to speak.