What is the best way to reduce how much my dog barks for nothing?

Question

I have a small weiner dog and she barks at everyone (except for me) and any sound she even thinks she hears, needless to say it has become very annoying, what should i do to just reduce how much she barks at the occasional stranger or noise?

Answer 1

Your dog barks at everyone because she is unsure about all the people that she encounters. There are many reasons for this, the most common being a lack of socialization to other people when she was very young. If a dog is unsure about something or someone, their first response is going to be "Stay away... I'm mean and scary, you don't want to mess with me!". There are a couple different things you can do to help minimize her barking. The first step would be to start working on her socialization. It will be a lot harder and take a lot longer now that she is older vs. when she was a little puppy meeting the world for the first time. The goal in socialization is to make her have POSITIVE experiences to different people, situations, and things. Never force your dog to meet someone or do something that they seem nervous our apprehensive about. This only makes the association negative and makes her even more unsure and scared. Everytime someone new comes over to the house, have them offer her a treat and pet her and give her lots of love. You have to make sure you do this when she isn't barking. You do not want to reward her for barking. If you make a positive association to people, she will come to think strangers are good, and when she is quiet and friendly, they will give her treats and pet her. When she is barking, the goal is going to be redirection. When she is barking, do whatever you can to have her focus on YOU, and not on whatever is making her bark. You can use a treat... put it in front of her nose and then draw the treat close to your face. She will follow the treat and look at you instead of whatever she was barking at. You can also physically get between her and whatever she is barking at to have her focus on you instead of the other person. If you are going for a walk, you can turn and walk the other direction. You want her to begin thinking "I want to bark at that person, but if I look at mom/dad instead, I'm going to get a treat and a petting". You can also teach her "quiet" by putting a treat infront of her nose and saying the command. She can't bark and sniff at the same time, so she will stop barking to smell the treat. Once she has stopped barking, you can then give her the treat and a lot of praise. She should quickly learn that when she is quite she gets treats, but when she barks, she gets nothing. It is also important to not accidently reward our dog for barking. Alot of owners want to calm their dogs down by picking them up and petting them and saying "its ok, they aren't going to hurt you.. calm down" etc. When you do this, you are actually communicating to your dog "Good Girl!! This is exactly how I want you to react, keep it up!" When your dog barks, you have to ignore them. Even if you say No to your dog or yell at your dog, you are still rewarding your dog. To your dog, any attention is worth having, even if it is negative attention. If you are consistent and you spend a lot of time practicing with her, you will have a less yappy dog on your hands!

And Remember: Always Have a Tail Waggin' Good Time with your Dog!
- Jamie, Certified Dog Trainer

Answer 2

Make sure that you tell her it is bad that she barks. You don't have to yell to tell her, just make sure she knows she isn't doing something she is supposed to do. You can also spray her with a water bottle every time she barks. How we got our puppy to stop barking was to put our tumb and pointer finger around her mouth when she barks. Then you say no in a firm voice, no yelling though. That way she knew that she wasn't supposed to bark. You don't do it hard, just enough to close the mouth. Another thing we did was to take her out many places so she can meet other people. We took her to the park and to nursing homes to visit all kinds of people. That way, although she will still feel as though she has to protect your house, she will not be so scared when a sound happens. Good Luck with your barker!

Answer 3

have her vocal cords removed HA kidding (you can actually do that...crazy huh?)

I would train her, reward for not barking. You have to show that you are louder and the boss. Bark back (this has worked for some) but what you have to understand is that dogs are loyal protectors, they bark to warn, you don't want her to stop barking all together, it could save your life. You could go to a dog class, you could reward her when she doesn't bark. Training a dog can be a big job but worth it if you do it right and stick to your lessons, pick something that seems to work and stick with it. Be firm but reward with love and a treat. That works best. You do not want to smack your dog all the time, it will be afraid of you...Good luck..

Answer 4

my sbt used to do the same would bark at the slightest noise or even at ourselves for attention. i eventually paid a dog behaviourist to come out to help us all sort out the problem. we used a water spray bottle every time he barked but sorry to say it never worked. what did work was ignorining him. when he constantly barked before hand we would say no which in his eyes we were reacting to his attention seeking behaviour. so we decided to ignore and not react to his barking. it really worked for us. by not reacting and giving him the attention he normally was givin solved our problem. sometimes by saying no or making a fuss when your dogs doing wrong it can only make your dog more worked up and excited. by ignoring (as hard as it is) can make your dog think my owners fine with noises and people and isnt making a fuss so why am i. just remember when your dog eventually does do right praise and praise to the hilt.

Answer 5

Never smack your dogs mouth lightly. I would train her and give her positive reinforcement when she does not bark. You could also ask your vet for a recommendation for a trainer in your area to work on this. There is no one way that works. Its what works for your dog the best and a trainer will help you recognize what you need to look for and do.

Answer 6

My dog also has a barking problem. I finally found, at the Health Food Store, Bach Flower remedy for calming. It seems to be working. You only give them a little of the remedy, there's also a Rescue Remedy that might be of help too.

Answer 7

One trick my brother uses (he owns Chihuahua which is pretty sensitive) is to use radio tune into some talking channels like news. So, the dog can get use to the voices of different people.

Answer 8

Smack her mouth lightly when they are barking for nothing.Really I recommend you don't do anything cause my dog barks if she hears a car pull in our drive way she hasn't heard before(I have no idea if she can tell the wheels the motor she just can tell).Don't really do anything it might be something she heard.

Answer 9

walk walk walk! A tired dog does not bark.

Answer 10

In my opinion I would say buy a Bark Collar