My wife has a little Yorkie. He’s eighteen months old and his name is Monty. We got him as a very small puppy in 2008 and he was never really a barker, which was nice as Yorkies do have a tendency to be just a bit yappy.

However, just a few months ago things changed - if he heard any noise outside, he started barking. We live in a very quiet part of town - so any external traffic is usually audible. Certainly, it’s not all bad. For example, should an intruder try to enter your property then some advance warning is a good thing. Annoyingly, Monty kept barking for some time after the “threat” disappeared. It got annoying pretty quickly.

Luckily for us, one of my wife’s friends had encountered a similar problem with her own dog and was able to advise how she had remedied her problem. Based upon her advice, my wife decided that she was going to fix the problem before we all went mad - or Monty met with an untimely end. What she did was to get a bottle of mineral water – one of those ones with the “sports” type cap. Every time that Monty started barking at some external noise she squirted just a little water on him, told him that he was naughty and shook the bottle in his general direction. She didn’t shout at him. He was told off firmly but quietly.

As it transpired, she only had to actually splash him two or three times at most. After that she just shook an empty bottle at him and squeezed it so that it made a crumpling noise. That was more than enough for Monty. Within three days there was a very noticable reduction in his barking. After a week of this treatment the barking was pretty much a thing of the past.

The added bonus was that Monty’s therapy was not only extremely effective, but also selective. Noises from outside no longer initiate a prolonged bout of barking – but if anyone comes to the door, or if the doorbell rings, he still barks. I’m certain that my wife could treat this barking also, and using the exact same technique – but we don’t think it’s a bad thing, especially when you bear in mind that he doesn’t continue to bark once the initial stimulus has been examined to his satisfaction.

So, if your dog is a problem barker, you might want to try the water bottle treatment. It’s humane and it seems to be both effective and fast acting. There are other ways to stop your dog barking of course, but this one is well worth a try in the first instance.

Dog barking has a number of explanations.It’s not a dangerous habit, true. It’s actually a communication tool for dogs. However, overly loud barking is annoying.Uncorrected barking can be a real problem.

The first step toward changing your dog’s barking mechanism is to know what brings it on and changing those situations.What follows are some tricks to check your dog’s incessant barking:

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1.Arrange a meal pattern for your dog.When they start getting hungry, dogs will naturally bark for food.A dog’s hungry bark, howl or growl is distinct from other sound.Feeding your dog on a specific schedule lets him to settle into a feeding routine, making barking unnecessary.

2.Let your dog get a good hour of exercise each day.Dogs are bundles of extra energy and would need to use that daily.Otherwise, your dog gets restless.Regardless of the weather, give your dog time and space to stretch and run.When the weather outside is no fun for a day out, be creative with what you can do indoors.

3 .Bring home a toy or a second dog to keeep your little friend happy.Because they’re pack animals, dogs are inclined to suffer from separation anxiety if kept to themselves for hours.Having a toy or another animal to have fun with rids the dog of anxiety.If you’re entertaining a guest with their dog along, don’t let yours see this.Don’t have your dog hear you doing something exciting or interesting.Dogs like doing things with people and would bark to let you know they want to join.

4.Teach your pet when it’s fine to bark and when it’s not.One of the first commands you should teach your dog to heed is, “Quiet.”.Dogs get very protective of their territories.They bark at anything unusual .It’s helpful to be alerted of strange things around your house when they happen.While that may be true, you don’t need your dog to bark at every person - postman, pizza delivery persons, children.Teach your dog to distinguish strangers and bark only at them.Most especially, teach your dog to quit barking on, “Quiet.”.

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A dog that barks only at appropriate times saves you a lot of hassles.Your neighbors won’t be complaining to the police due to too much noise.Secondly, if your dog’s trained to bark appropriately, you’ll know there’s a cause for concern even prior to seeing the reason.Also, if your neighbors know your dog doesn’t bark for no reason, they’d know when to see if there’s trouble at your place.In rare but very possible cases, like when you’ve fallen terribly ill or unconscious, your dog’s bark can attract help.

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Last night my neighbor’s dogs kept me awake with their constant barking. There was a full moon out, and so were the area’s coyotes-yipping and howling and disturbing all the dogs that live around her. My dogs also barked when they first heard the nearby coyotes, but after I commanded them to be quiet, they stopped. My neighbor’s never quiet their pack of dogs-I don’t know how anyone could sleep that deep and it makes me mad and jealous at the same time.

As I thought about the all night barking, it was obvious that even though dogs may start their barking for a good reason sometimes, when it is out of control it is a problem just like any other form of barking.I felt like the owners were at least as much at fault as their dogs-if not more-for not correcting the problem.

As a dog owner, it is up to you to be responsible enough to keep any type of barking, whether it starts for a good reason or not, under control. There are some very good reasons my dogs will bark, and I would not want to change that.

For example, here are some natural and acceptable reasons that will cause your dog will bark. You can see the difference between these “good barking” reasons and  the  “problem barking” reasons, and know whether your dog’s barking is a problem or not.

• The most obvious good reason your dog will bark is when he wants to warn you that something (maybe another dog or a stranger) is approaching. When your dog does this type of barking, it is to warn his master, and this is a good thing you won’t want to stop. Given that, you should still be able to quiet him with a command to stop. One example would be quieting your dog when he barks at someone who has parked in front of your house that you know is not dangerous-he should quiet down as soon as you say so. In case the visitor isn’t someone you want on the property, you have the option of letting your dog’s “good barking” continue to serve as a deterrent. As long as you are in control of the amount of barking you dog is doing when protecting his territory, this barking is “good barking”. If your dog is barking a lot for other reasons then you do have problem barking needing correction.

• Dogs will often bark for the good reason that they are happy and excited . When I play with my dogs, they bark at me and at each other-but all in fun. This is the doggy’s way of saying he is having a lot of fun, and wants even more. If one of the dogs starts barking too much from all the excitement I will then tell him to quiet down.  A little excited barking is one thing, but constant loud barking is quite another and should be stopped. Because your dog may develop a barking habit from too much excitement if you don’t limit it while playing, you need to pay attention to that.
• Many dogs will bark upon your arrival home. This is a very common since your dog is excited to see you again, and this is acceptable as long as the barking is very brief. My dogs always greet me at the gate when I come home, and I don’t mind a couple barks because that is all there are. The problem is when your dog gets over-excited and barks incessantly for an extended period. This barking is a problem if it is excessive, and should be controlled.

• When my Lab wants some playtime, she will let me know via a bark or two, as she brings me a ball to throw.  If they continue barking at you to play, they are actually bullying you in a way. My dog had me pretty well trained through her bullying, so I know what this is like first hand. Truthfully, this isn’t great, because it is up to you as top dog to determine when play time begins. If you let the dog think it is the boss instead of you, you will make all other training more difficult. If your dog is bullying you, don’t let it, because it is important that you are always viewed as the boss in the relationship-not the other way around.

I think you’d agree the above barking behaviors are not troublesome-unless they are out of control. But, except for these few, the majority of other reasons dogs bark too much should be corrected.

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Some types of dog barking, for instance- when your dog barks to warn you about a stranger, or when he is greeting or playing with you and barks,  aren’t big problems and don’t need correction-maybe just a command to stop if if gets out of hand. On the other hand, if your dog barks for any of the reasons listed in below, you will need to work with your dog to correct these barking problems. It is too bad, but  the excessive barking will not just go away on its own accord.

Here are some examples of barking problem behaviors and some ways to correct these types of dog barking problems-use the tips that are appropriate to your own dog’s behavior problem.

• To correct the problem of dogs barking upon seeing a stranger or another dog  somewhere within their visual range, it is necessary to block your dog’s view out of his yard. If you can move your dog behind a solid fence you will have blocked that view. However, if your yard has no area with a solid fenced area, maybe you can restrain your dog with a lead in an area of the yard with no outer view. If your dog stays indoors, keep the curtains closed to block his view.

• To solve the problem of dogs that bark in response to hearing nearby dogs barking, will require you to interact directly with your dog. For example, when your dog begins his response barking, immediately shut his mouth using your hand, and make sure to hold it shut until he relaxes and stops trying to bark. He won’t be liking this much, so you will have to hold onto his  collar while you do this because he may try to move away from you. Another good trick that will startle him out of barking is to spray him in the face with a small blast of water from a little spray bottle. Another option you can try is to use a can filled with pebbles to startle your dog and stop the barking. These tricks all work to temporarily stop the barking for the time you are using them. While you do any of these tricks to stop him from barking, you must also tell your dog something like “quiet” or “no barking” to verbally imprint the command to your dog. The end result should be that just by saying “quiet” you should have the ability to control your dog’s barking problems.

• Correcting the problem of a dog barking too much due to stress and insecurity will require you to give your dog lots more attention by exercising him, playing with him and training him. An active, well trained dog is much happier, so by increasing his quality of life, he will be less nervous and less likely to bark out of anxiety or stress.

• To correct the dog barking problems cause by a bored or lonely dog, also will require increase attention by you in the way of exercising and playing and training your dog.  Obviously if your dog is left alone most of the time and doesn’t get enough playtime and attention from you he is more likely to have this type of barking problem. Therefore, be sure to give your dog the minimum one and one half hours daily of activity he needs by exercising him, training him and of course, playing with him.

• Correct the problem of your own dog barking for attention by saying a firm “no” and then turning your back to him and ignoring him for a few minutes. Don’t let your dog bully you into doing whatever he wants. Besides the fact that the barking gets annoying, you must be seen by your dog as the boss-the Alpha dog-of the relationship. You will not be seen as Alpha by your dog if he can boss you around when he wants by barking at you. You need to be the Alpha in order to get good results with your training

If none of these techniques works for you, the pet stores sell a few types of  barking prevention collars. Of these, the first is called the Citronella oil collar -which works by spraying a fine mist into your dog’s face. The idea behind the second type of prevention collar is that it produces a very high pitched sound when your dog barks . The collars work by using aversion theory-one through a smell dog’s hate, and the other through an irritating noise.

A third type of prevention collar that is available in the store is the electric shock variety of collar. Some people have had good success using these when other methods have failed.

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