Learning how to keep a Dog from Barking

Maybe you never saw it this way, but it isn’t just people who find it difficult to get rid of bad habits. Animals do, too. Life at home can be very difficult with an errant smoker. And it can be very difficult with a dog that has a barking problem. Learning how to keep a dog from barking can make your life a lot easier – and not just at home either. Your neighbors are going to be a lot friendlier with you once you figure out how to get your dog to turn peace-loving.

There are all kinds of reasons why dog would bark like that. There’s no one trick you can learn that can work all the time. The solutions have to be as varied as the causes. For the most part, dogs bark to amuse themselves when they are bored, when they are just nervous or when they feel some kind of threat to their territory.

There all kinds of things you could do to learn how to keep the dog from barking when you keep in mind that there could be a reason for it. You could for instance, try to pay attention to what happens shortly before the dog starts barking. The times your dog chooses to bark can be a great clue to what’s going on inside that furry little head.

For instance, if your dog seems to be relatively quiet when you’re home but you’re getting lots of complaints from the neighbors nevertheless about all the incessant barking through the day, you could take a hint there that boredom could be the problem. That’s not the only possible explanation to this though.

Sometimes, dogs bark because of separation anxiety and not because of boredom. How do you tell if it’s separation anxiety or boredom? Well, if your dog begins to look agitated and is all howls and barks as you prepare to leave, that’s your clear sign that it’s separation anxiety. If she seems fine when you’re preparing to leave, that would be boredom.

Boredom, as such, is far easier to take care of. All you need to do is to make sure your dog is nice and tired from a lot of exercise when you’re about to leave. First thing in the morning, you can take him out a round of jogging or other exercise. And you could introduce new and interesting toys into his life. One of those toys that release kibble when your dog rolls it around – there should be ideal.

If it’s anxiety that is the problem, you have a little more work to do. You need to get started on what they call the isolation program. This is where you do stuff to train your dog to get used to having you leave – gradually. The dog trainer for instance, will ask you to leave, but then to come back a mere 5 minutes later and keep doing this with longer intervals of time. This way, your dog is going to learn that when you go, you always come back. There are all kinds of ways to learn how to keep the dog from barking. It just needs a little time.