NA - Training a dog not to bark

[SixPapaCharlie]

We adopted a new puppy at the onset of Covid. We temporarily went insane and added a 3rd dog to the family. This is "Bella" our Transylvania hound.

She's ~6 months old. She barks unlike any other dog I have ever had. If one of the other dogs has a toy, she sits there and barks very loud and will not stop until the toy bearing dog leaves the toy for her to claim or I go over and hand her another toy (Which is of course rewarding the behavior) This is one of many situations where she barks seemingly forever.

I'm not getting shock collar. Don't even suggest it. What I wonder is I have found a collar that vibrates and lets out a sonic alert that is designed to interrupt / distract the dog. Anyone know if that might work or what is the gold standard method for breaking a dog of barking incessantly?

 

[JCranford]

There’s also a collar that sprays citronella when they bark. Apparently dogs dont like that.

I won’t suggest an e-collar. However we have one for Merlin, our supercharged yellow lab. It’s not a ‘bark collar’. It’s controlled by us and used sparingly, mainly when we’re at the farm and letting him run in the field. If he doesn’t return on command, he gets it. Keeps him away from the road and the logging trucks.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

There’s also a collar that sprays citronella when they bark. Apparently dogs dont like that.

I won’t suggest an e-collar. However we have one for Merlin, our supercharged yellow lab. It’s not a ‘bark collar’. It’s controlled by us and used sparingly, mainly when we’re at the farm and letting him run in the field. If he doesn’t return on command, he gets it. Keeps him away from the road and the logging trucks.

I don't mean to bash anyone's training methods. I used one of those collars one time and I used it on a very docile, submissive dog. I was trying to keep him out of the pool because he was chewing up our safety net. I shocked him one time and seven years later he will not go near that pool he is scared to death to go near it if I walk near it he starts shaking and bolts into the house and hides. If we're swimming he wont come outside.

I'm sure that has a lot more to do with him than the collar but we buried a wire around the pool and he had this thing on his collar that shocked him it got him one time and his behavior in the backyard was permanently changed. I dug it up.

 

[Sinistar]

I just ordered a cheap high frequency whistle for like $7. Our golden barks at a (3) specific dogs when the walk by, red cars and the garbage truck. He only barks outside though and only when in the yard. I suspect the $7 will not result in much but I'll get back if it somehow helps.

 

[EdFred]

Had that issue with Kaiser when he was a puppy. I found a noise maker (pans) he didn't like and when he barked I made noise with the pans. Took about a week and he then only barked when someone came in the yard/pulled in the driveway.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Had that issue with Kaiser when he was a puppy. I found a noise maker (pans) he didn't like and when he barked I made noise with the pans. Took about a week and he then only barked when someone came in the yard/pulled in the driveway.

hmmmm I seem to remember at 6Y9 anytime I would try to speak, you would smack 2 pans together.

 

[cowman]

I'd be pretty dubious about any automated collar. I have tried other non-collar devices and my experience was the bark detection was hit and miss... and the false positives were also high. The thing I used was supposed to make an ultra-sonic noise when the dogs barked. My friend put one on his front porch because of an annoying neighbor dog and said the results were incredible- he said the neighbor's dogs instantly reacted and stopped. My dogs completely ignored it.

Our corgi barks at everything. Owls, planes flying overhead, too much quiet, not enough quiet, etc. If you find something that works let me know, fortunately we have no neighbors close enough to be bothered.

Also, as someone who has used shock collars as a training too I don't think it's the right choice for barking. The collars are for giving a signal not a punishment, we used ours for recall only and now that the dogs are conditioned the collars rarely go on anymore.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I'd be pretty dubious about any automated collar. I have tried other non-collar devices and my experience was the bark detection was hit and miss... and the false positives were also high. The thing I used was supposed to make an ultra-sonic noise when the dogs barked. My friend put one on his front porch because of an annoying neighbor dog and said the results were incredible- he said the neighbor's dogs instantly reacted and stopped. My dogs completely ignored it.

Our corgi barks at everything. Owls, planes flying overhead, too much quiet, not enough quiet, etc. If you find something that works let me know, fortunately we have no neighbors close enough to be bothered.

Also, as someone who has used shock collars as a training too I don't think it's the right choice for barking. The collars are for giving a signal not a punishment, we used ours for recall only and now that the dogs are conditioned the collars rarely go on anymore.

The one I am looking at requires me to hit a button. I dont think it detects a bark. Do you think that makes a difference?

 

[murphey]

Empty beer or soda can. Put some pennies in it, tape shut. You can use it as a surprise noise maker each time he barks.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Empty beer or soda can. Put some pennies in it, tape shut. You can use it as a surprise noise maker each time he barks.

Ok that sounds pretty good. Imma try this in the morning. Sounds like the same principle as the collar being an interruption.
Thank you for this suggestion.

 

[EdFred]

I got money on the dog barking at the can shaking too.

 

[cowman]

The one I am looking at requires me to hit a button. I dont think it detects a bark. Do you think that makes a difference?

I think consistency is the most important thing with any dog training, my worry with the automatic ones is that they wouldn't be consistent. If you can hit the button consistently when the dog barks and she can make the connection it should work. I wonder how attentive you'd have to be though because in my mind you'd have to be there hovering over the button for hours to be consistent...maybe it doesn't matter. IDK

My dog still barks and I gave up so maybe I'm the wrong person to give advice!

 

[Tom-D]

" POP". get a cat

 

[iflyforfun]

Empty beer or soda can. Put some pennies in it, tape shut. You can use it as a surprise noise maker each time he barks.

This ... I use an empty peanut bottle with a handful of coins. Shake it when they bark, they (at least my last 3 dogs) really don't like it.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Spray bottle of water. A squirt each bark. It takes a while but eventually they get the picture. This only works if the dog hates water... Ours does, won't go near pools or even creeks and absolutely hates the rain.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Can’t you just grab it by the muzzle and say NO?
Let go....
Rinse and repeat as necessary.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Can’t you just grab it by the muzzle and say NO?
Let go....
Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Sounds like a great way to A) get bit and B) have the dog fear you.

 

[steingar]

My Kurzon dog used to bark his fool little head off. I made it known in no uncertain terms that this was unappreciated behavior. Wasn't long before he stopped. Kinda miss that neurotic little guy. He was really sweet.

 

[EdFred]

Sounds like a great way to A) get bit and B) have the dog fear you.

Only if you don't know what you're doing. But those that met him will tell you my dog was deathly afraid of me, and bit everyone in sight at the fly-ins he attended. Oh wait...

 

[bflynn]

Spray bottle of water. A squirt each bark. It takes a while but eventually they get the picture. This only works if the dog hates water... Ours does, won't go near pools or even creeks and absolutely hates the rain.

We tried that and he made it a game to catch it in his mouth. After a while, he would see the spray bottle, run back and forth between us and the bottle, barking to ask us to play.

You can't yell at him because to him, that's just you barking at him.

 

[Van Johnston]

Empty beer or soda can. Put some pennies in it, tape shut. You can use it as a surprise noise maker each time he barks.

Spray bottle of water. A squirt each bark. It takes a while but eventually they get the picture. This only works if the dog hates water... Ours does, won't go near pools or even creeks and absolutely hates the rain.

If you go this route, you need two in every room in the house. We tried the spray bottle, and even with 3 they were never where we needed them, so we never achieved the consistency required. Our dog did age out of barking at everything; now just barks at people walking in street past our house.

 

[Groundpounder]

I'd just start barking as well, and the dog will be really weirded out and run away.

 

[ColoPilot]

There’s also a collar that sprays citronella when they bark. Apparently dogs dont like that.

My sister tried one of those on her non stop barking dog in her small apartment (the dog barks at strangers, people it knows, toys, dogs, cats, when there is nothing around...). The collar didn't stop it, she said she finally took it off when the cloud of citronella was making it hard to breath in the apartment haha.

 

[danhagan]

One other check: Friend had a dog that was unable to or nearly unable to hear ... guess it could barely hear itself

 

[charheep]

We have 2 idiot Labs. The only thing that helps besides screaming like a fool is the ultrasonic sound device. We call it the "button" (do you want the button?) usually just saying the name or showing the dogs the device will get them to stop. We hardly use it anymore since its usually the one jerk dog barking and both dogs hear the sound. the pop can trick is usually helpful.

 

[jsstevens]

We took our dog to a trainer. Sent her to camp for about 3 weeks. This was for a variety of things, not primarily barking. She used a collar (which we now have) that is capable of shocking but is not set to shock. It's set to vibrate like a cell phone. And the intensity and duration are variable. The vibrate setting works really well on our dog. We would not use a shock collar either! It's a Mini-educator (small dog): https://www.ecollar.com/products/et-300-mini-educator-e-collar-1-2-mile-remote-dog-trainer

 

[PPC1052]

You are correct that the e-collar isn't a great solution in this case. To be effective, you would have to leave it on him all the time, and that can cause skin lesions and infection where the contacts are. I am not opposed to the e-collar for training, but it is best to take the collar off when you are finished, and not leave it on all the time.

One method I have read about is to teach the dog to speak on command. Paradoxically, that apparently can cause some dogs to learn that barking is only to be done at certain times. I dunno, and wouldn't swear by it, but it can't hurt. Otherwise, the ultrarsonic interruption is probably your best bet.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Sounds like a great way to A) get bit and B) have the dog fear you.

A. Not if you run your hand up his chest
B. You can do it without being mean or aggressive
You should be put your hand around a dog’s mouth without fear of getting bit.

You can use the Cesar method and poke him with your finger every time he barks.


Tom

 

[wilkersk]

Gimmicks don't solve the problem. My wife's little ankle bitter is a yapper. She never barks when its just me at home. Because she knows I'll ignore her barking until she gets tired and stops. Then, I have her go lay down. And only then, I will give her a treat.

Its a pain in the ass. Because if everyone in the house doesn't do this, then she'll bark for anyone that reacts. So, when my wife comes home, or my daughter drops by, the dog goes nuts.

When she does this, we all take a time out and I hold a treat in my hand so she can see it. I tell her to sit, then I put the treat on the floor and she has to sit/stay till I release her. This distracts her from barking, at least for awhile. I've never been able to get the wife or daughter to do this consistently. So, the dog falls back into bad habits when I'm not around.

I suggest reading a book on dog training, or find a trainer in your area. If you do go to a trainer, you'll learn very quickly that dog "training" is really dog-owner training.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I'm thinking 'training a dog to bark' would be an easier and more satisfying endeavor. Well, easier anyway.

 

[steingar]

If Kurzon was barking (almost always outside) I'd walk out and order him back into the house. A few days of that and he got the message. I'll never be able to stop my Lhasa Apso from barking, it's what she was bred to do. But I can ameliorate it a bit.

 

[Ted]

Dogs are a lot like children. They're all different and the training methods that work for one aren't necessarily correct for another because personalities are different. However many like to think one size fits all.

I think you've gotten a lot of good suggestions in here that have worked for some people and may be worth trying. One thing I'd point out is that when the dog is barking is a question. It sounds like with the current state (I assume you're home all the time with the dog) what you're trying to do is make sure the dog doesn't bark when you're home, therefore you're able to do something to respond to the barking, hopefully enough to make it stop. Introducing something the dog doesn't like whether it's a noise, squirt gun, grabbing the snout, collar (citronella, shock, etc.) generally works, it's just a question of what of those works without causing problems (like the shock collar did for your previous dog).

Some dogs also just bark a lot, part of their personality.

 

[RyanB]

Can’t you just grab it by the muzzle and say NO?
Let go....

My dog would’ve gotten angry if you tried to grab his muzzle. He didn’t like that. For a small dog (dachshund) he had an incredibly strong jaw.

 

[JCranford]

Also, as someone who has used shock collars as a training too I don't think it's the right choice for barking. The collars are for giving a signal not a punishment, we used ours for recall only and now that the dogs are conditioned the collars rarely go on anymore.

^^yeah that

Ours is button controlled by us with a vibrate and beep mode, and a 1 - 10 shock scale. Start with the vibrate or beep and work your way up. Merlin’s been given a 5 once. The rest of the corrections have been 3 or 4.

 

[ebetancourt]

I don't know about other breeds, but in our case he barks for a purpose. Means we can't ever live in a subdivision. Great Pyrenees are guardian (not guard) dogs. A friend raises sheep and has about a dozen on different farms. They are work centered dogs and bark to suggest predators go elsewhere. They will do whatever it takes to protect their charges, but they start with a warning. The friend says it doesn't happen often, but the coyotes that ignore the warning usually wind up dead. In our case, Sam decided at a very early age that he should spend the night outside protecting the property. Every potential threat gets barked at. We have lot's of coyotes, a few bobcats and recently a fox has moved in, so it's most of the night. Incredible breed but they have some limitations as a pet. Very independent and essentially untrainable, they train themselves. Once they figure out what you want they generally comply, but not the core protection thing.

 

[steingar]

We visited a farm where one of Mrs. Steingar's pals lives. She (the pal) has alpacas, goats, and a couple sheep, and a Great Pyrenees to to guard them. While I was there that dog didn't stop barking even once. A very good guard dog, I thought. Beautiful too.

 

[sarangan]

There’s also a collar that sprays citronella when they bark. Apparently dogs dont like that.

I won’t suggest an e-collar. However we have one for Merlin, our supercharged yellow lab. It’s not a ‘bark collar’. It’s controlled by us and used sparingly, mainly when we’re at the farm and letting him run in the field. If he doesn’t return on command, he gets it. Keeps him away from the road and the logging trucks.

I would recommend the citronella collar. Actually nowadays I don't even need to turn it on. Just putting it around his neck is enough for him to know that he should resist his barking instincts.

 

[AGLyme]

"Shock" Collars have a bad rap... I bought one years ago and I use it to break bad habits on my bird dogs. However I have never "Shocked" the dog. You don't use the collar to shock and punish - mostly.
In training, I use the lowest setting as a reminder... Dogs have ADD and during early training they forget what it was they were supposed to do. So, the collar "zap" is merely a tap on the shoulder so to speak to remind them what the successful behavior is.
BTW, you don't press the button to punish the dog. Rather, if the dog is barking, for example, you press the button and hold the button down while giving the command. When he looks confused by what that feeling is and he looks to you to understand why he is getting this weird feeling, and the dog stops barking you release the button. in other words, the dog is rewarded with the release. Therefore the dog is rewarded, and the good behavior is reinforced. Coincidentally, my 2 year old bird dog and i are going on a training walk/hunt today and for the first time since last year I am going to use the collar. She is a great dog but has a mind of her own sometimes and she runs out of shooting range which is dangerous as she could put herself in danger. When she does it today, I will press and hold while giving the command and when she turns towards me the button will be released.

 

[Half Fast]

Here's the real reason Bryan won't use a shock collar:

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/it-could-have-happened-to-anyone.97414/

 

[jaymark6655]

I know you don't want people recommending the shock collar, but I had a dog that the only thing that worked was the shock collar. Most dogs I trained, if they barked I could open the door and tell them no or yell no through the door after seeing it was something that I didn't want them barking about. Current dog would bark at everything and telling him no didn't work for weeks. Wore the shock collar, was shocked three or four times before he figured it out, switched to vibrate for a week (really good since he is often outside while I am not home), and then removed for the rest of his life. He only barks when people come into the yard or one bark at the door if it starts raining and he is still outside. Same thing with property, I have too much to fence and chains kill dogs, so electric fence. Pretty low setting or vibrate for a week or two and then never again for the rest of his life. He will cross it if I do, but that's it. I never used a collar for training (all labs) for obedience, duck, and upland bird until this dog. He is pretty hard headed. I feel like the collar can be abused just like any other training method if used by someone that doesn't know how to utilize it. Example start out with no, then maybe hold muzzle closed (gently, I wouldn't run at the dog when I do this and I move my hand pretty slowly) and say no (I am of the opinion that if the dog bites you when you do this, you have done a lot of stuff wrong prior to this), then maybe bark collar that buzzes/vibrate, then maybe lowest shock setting. The thing with no or any sort of action, you have to apply it immediately or the dog is confused.