stop dog barking.

All puppies bark, it’s their way to communicate a message.

A dog barks for different reasons: to greet, to alert, because they’re bored, to attract attention or when they are excited.

Although some barking form is acceptable, too much barking is certainly annoying, especially for your neighbors and it  may eventually lead to complaints. The easiest way to prevent dog barking is to control his/her barking while you are at home.

There are different ways to stop dog barking. Set up a situation in which your dog will always bark.   For instance, you can ask somebody to ring your doorbell or knock on your door.

When your dog charges to the door and starts to bark loudly, approach your dog, grab its collar and give the command “quiet” – without shouting please, it doesn’t help.

If your dog stops barking, praise him/her and reward it. She/He’s great and deserves it.

  When he/she continues barking, close his/her mouth with your hand, wrap your fingers around its muzzle – use both your hands if needed, and give the command for him/her to keep quiet. Praise if it stops.

Most dogs should be able to learn the “quiet” command with repeated training like this. Set up situations in which you expect your dog to bark and repeat this training whenever possible.

If you happen to have a hard-core persistent barker, use this method:

A solution of vinegar and water – mix a proportion of 7/8 water & 1/8 of vinegar together.Pour the mixture into a water pistol or what kids call “super soaker” for longer distance shooting.

Aim and shoot at his chest whenever it can’t stop barking even on your command. Dogs hate the smell of vinegar and will usually back off and stop barking. She/He’ll even sneeze a few times. It won’t do him/her any harm, so you do not need to worry.

As usual, praise him/her when he/she stops barking.

For your information, your dog might still be barking noisily and disrupting your neighborhood when you are away. If this happens, you’ll need some training equipment known as “bark collars” to help train him/her.

You can find different types of bark collars on the market.

Some of these collars send a gentle electric shock to your dog when ithe barks, some make a high pitch sound or emit a squirt of citronella, which is annoying but safe for your dog.

Usually, these collars will help to make your dog stop barking.

In my case I always recommend the citronella or the high pitch sound collars. They are both extremely effective and friendlier dog training tools.

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