If your dog spends a lot of time outdoors, there is a good chance that it will see many visitors, strangers, or other animals. When your dog sees any of these, it will start to bark repeatedly, annoying you or the people in the homes around you. The dog will only stop after whatever it sees is out of its sight and away from your yard.
To understand how you must stop your dog from barking, you must know why dogs bark at these things. Some people think that it is its nature and a dog is supposed to bark to defend its territory from anything or anyone that approaches. Others think that a dog barks because it is scared and fears whatever it sees, such as someone who is not its owner. If you have a home with thick windows, the barking may not annoy you as much, but it will make everyone else angry. Strong windows or not, if your dog barks repeatedly, especially during the night, it needs some obedience training. To stop the barking, teach you dog some easy phrases such as "its ok" or "no, stop barking" and reward it with a treat. It is not going to be easy and your dog it not going to stop barking overnight, but if you keep at it, it will understand. If you do not want to spend time training your dog, you can simply build a fence in the yard. The fence has to be high enough so that your dog cannot see beyond it and when it is built, the only thing your will bark at will be squirrels and your visitors.
Speaking of visitors, if you dogs barks constantly when someone enters your home, you can use the same method, obedience training. Training your dog to behave around guests is a bit different depending on whether the person visits you regularly or not. For example, someone you have hired will only visit you a few times until the job is done. If your dog barks at this person when inside the house, just move the dog into another room until the person is gone. A friend that visits you will require a different approach; you start by allowing your friend and your dog to become friends. Have your friend visit you daily so that your dog becomes comfortable and over time it will stop barking. The most difficult method is anytime your relatives visit you and stay with you for a few days. If your dog normally stays indoors all the time, you will not want to put it outdoors if it does not have a doghouse. With relatives around, you are not going to have any free rooms to send your dog to and even if you do, the dog will have to come out at some point. To stop your dog from barking at your relatives, bring him into the room with everyone and calm him down. You can do this by taking your dog to its favorite spot and then give it a treat. Stay by the dog to help it feel secure, because remember, its barking in fear. After an a while, it will stop barking and then you can focus on spending time with your family.
A barking dog can get annoying, however, there is a benefit; a barking dog will always alert you when someone is in or near your yard. Sure, sometimes it will bark at another dog or a squirrel; however, many times it will be someone in your driveway. You will also know when someone is heading towards your door before the person knocks.
If your dog barks all the time, you can train it to stop on command or build a fence to block its view if it barks outdoors. When guests arrive, if it is someone you hired, move the dog until the person is gone, for relatives and friends, make the dog comfortable with them. Training takes time, but once you have a dog that stops barking on command, everyone will be happy.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Dog Training
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