How to train your dog to stop barking
Dogs bark for a variety of reasons including aggression, attention seeking, separation distress, protection, excitement or fear.
It's easy for dogs to do and easy for us to unwittingly reward, for example, when a dog barks at the door to be let in and is rewarded by being allowed inside.
Funnily enough, to teach your dog to stop barking you actually need to have your dog bark - so for this training, use something that generates barking from your dog. Often dogs bark when they are clipped up, and that's a great opportunity to teach "quiet".
This training is much easier to do with a clicker, but if you don't have one of those then you can just say "yes!" as the marker, or eliminate the sound aspect and use food rewards only (but it will take longer with these options).
- Begin by clipping your dog up to a lead that's attached to a wall or piece of furniture in a quiet, distraction-free room.
- Practise your "sit" and "down" commands, rewarding calm behaviour.
- Click and reward quiet periods in between barking. Slowly extend the amount of time you wait before you reward.
- It's easiest to start without a verbal command, as introducing one too soon can be confusing - just click and reward quiet times.
- After a successful period, introduce the verbal "quiet" command - when the dog barks, say "quiet" then click and reward quiet - first for short periods (a couple of seconds), then slowly extending the period you wait before you reward.
If your dog is barking too much for you to get an opportunity to reward quiet, teach a "speak" command then contrast this with a "quiet" command.
This technique is more tricky - if done incorrectly, you can end up rewarding your dog for barking and reinforce the behaviour. It's important to reward both "speaking" AND "quiet" so they learn the contrast - only use this if you need to for highly vocal dogs, and don't over encourage the "speak" as this is already natural.
- First teach a "speak" command: when you anticipate they will bark, encourage them with a speak hand signal (hold your fingers and thumb together like a duck's bill then open and close them).
- Click and reward as soon as they start barking.