How To Stop Problematic Barking

Most dogs will bark at some point in their lives but they vary widely in how much they bark. Some dogs rarely emit a sound, while others never stop. This can be due to the dog’s breed, living situation, and personality.

An important thing to understand about barking is that it is a self-reinforcing behavior. That means that barking feels naturally good to dogs so many, many dogs will bark for the sake of barking. Or bark for something to do. Or bark because they are bored. What does this mean to us? It means that we usually can’t just ignore barking and expect it to go away. Most likely, it will not.

Just so you know, dogs can bark for hours and hours. We’ve heard dogs bark for up to 8 hours straight, up to 500 times an hour. That’s a lot of barking!

Why Do Puppies and Dogs Bark?

Puppies and dogs bark for seven main reasons. Some barking is fine, such as barking to go outside to the bathroom or letting us know there is someone at the door. But a lot of barking goes on too long and is wearing on us and our neighbors.

• They need to go to the bathroom. This is barking we want unless it gets out of control.
• They want something. This is called demand barking or attention-seeking. If the dog gets what it wants after barking, it will keep barking. This is barking we want to avoid from the start or stop as soon as possible. It is really never appropriate.
• They are alarmed, afraid, or anxious. This is defensive barking.
• They are protecting their territory. This is called territorial barking and pups usually don’t start it until they are at least 6 months old. Some never start it.
• They are excited and happy. This can happen when a puppy is greeting or playing.
• They are compulsive barkers. This barking is often triggered by boredom or loneliness.
• They have been taught to bark. Some owners teach their dogs to speak or bark on command. Because it can be difficult to control, we don’t recommend this trick to most owners.

One note: Puppies don’t bark to protect their property until they are 6-9 months old. Prior to that, they are babies so don’t have a role in protection. They might bark from fear or excitement but rarely protection. But around 6 months you will often see them start protecting all kinds of things, from the house, yard, fence line, and car. Then, in some breeds, the barking can transition to aggression. (We briefly cover the arise of these aggressions in Savvy Socialization, video 5.)

This means we can be lulled into a false sense of security thinking, “My puppy rocks! He doesn’t bark at the doorbell.” Then we don’t respond quickly enough and now we have a problem. So be ready as your pup reaches adolescence to you have a plan.

How Do We Inadvertently Reward Barking

Keep in mind that your puppy’s barking will get worse if you do any of the following while it is barking:

• Look at the pup
• Talk to the pup
• Scold the pup
• Feed the pup
• Give the pup a treat
• Give the pup something new to chew
• Give the pup what it wants — a toy, part of your meal, etc.
• Let the pup out of the crate

If you do any of these, your puppy will learn that barking gets it what it wants, and thus it will keep on barking. Yes, even scolding the pup is rewarding because it got what it wanted–your attention!

Stopping Demand Barking

If you want your pup to not demand bark, to use its voice to demand that you do something for it, you must not give it what it wants and, ideally, give it the opposite. For example, if it is barking while you are making its dinner, telling you to hurry up, then stick the bowl in the refrigerator, leave the room, and start reading a magazine. If your pup keeps barking at you, move further away from the refrigerator. Keep doing this, even if you need to hide in the bathroom. Your pup wants you to feed it so you are doing the opposite, overtly not feeding it.

As soon as your pup is quiet for 10 seconds, start back to the kitchen. If it barks again, fling the dog food and bowl into the fridge and head back to your magazine. Repeat until your dog is quiet while you make its meal.

What else can you do when your dog barks at you:

• Look away from your pup
• Ignore your pup completely
• Leave the room
• Pay attention to something else, a magazine, your phone, the TV or computer
• Put the food or meal away in a cabinet or the refrigerator (be sure the pup can’t get to this item if you leave the room)
• Put the toy, ball, or bone it wants into an upper cabinet or even the fridge
• If the pup is barking because a ball or toy is under something, say a dresser, retrieve the item and put it in a closet or cabinet. Don’t give it to the dog or you’ll teach your dog to shove things under the dresser to get you to retrieve it.

Barking at Doors or Windows

Many dogs bark when someone comes to the door or they see something out the window. Although dogs tend to alert us and react to something or someone on their property, dogs also do this out of boredom, especially window barking. This annoying behavior isn't good for any of us--you, your dog, your family or your neighbors.

What do we want dogs to do when someone comes to the door? Most of us are fine if they bark a few times but not on and on. So let's prevent or break that habit.

When your dog barks at the door

• When your dog barks, walk towards the door and call the dog to you. You should either have super good treats or run to the treat jar and reward with several treats. You want to keep the pup with you for a while so it doesn't grab a treat and run to the door.
• Then either put it in the crate with several treats or if you have the time to work on greetings, go to the door.
• Deal with whoever it is at the door and then release the pup to do a little training or play.

When your dog barks at people/dogs/cars/bikes in the yard, on the street or passing by

If the dog is just barking at things outside:

• Call it to you and give it a treat
• Be very committed and do this every time for a few weeks if this has just started, longer if you are retraining an older dogs

Ask a friend or family member to help with this training

The great thing about this specific training challenge is that you can buy a friend a bottle of wine or 6-pack of beer and ask them to come ring the doorbell, knock on the door, etc. so you can practice. If your dog knows them, ask them to wear hats and coats, carry umbrellas, and generally change their appearance.

Have them come to the door several times, walk on the sidewalk, or move through the yard. It's even worth having them hide behind a tree and pull on a rope that is attached to a toy so it looks like a rabbit or squirrel.

Reward your dog generously and quietly praise if the dog doesn't bark. Calmly crate your dog if it does. Repeat this with your friend or family member several times until your dog is quiet nearly all the time.

Barking While You Are on the Phone

Another problematic time that dogs bark is when we are on the phone. They do that because we usually do anything to quiet them. They get attention, petted and even treats. So rather than rewarding barking while you are on the phone, practice and give a time out in the crate instead. Pretend you are on the phone talking and when the pup barks, put the pup in the crate. Then go into crate training mode while you have your pretend call.