Methods to stop your dog from barking

Here are 5 priority interventions to help your dog stop barking.

1. Increase mental and physical stimulation 

 If your dog is disturbing and barking excessively, you can cut short his time outside alone, by going to play ball with him. Also you can hide treats for him to discover in the garden, give him new toys and letting him play with fellow dogs at the dog park. Go play outside with him as often as possible for at least 30 minutes a day or go for a walk depending on his need to be active. 

Spending your dog’s excess energy on a daily basis is an effective solution to prevent excessive barking.

2. Learn to better manage anxiety

When you are at home with him and he feels anxious, giving your dog a small relaxing massage of 10 minutes allows you to forge a real bonding time. In addition, it helps him relax (tellington-touch method). Massage and acupression are needed to be explored, as well as essential oils, which help calm the mind and body naturally.

Your dog mustn’t be overly dependent on you, as he could develop separation anxiety if you leave. It’s hard to hear, but it’s very important: the closer your dog is to you at all times, especially small arm dogs, the more you increase his anxiety. Therefore, more difficult it will be to leave him alone. You need to teach him to respect your personal space by asking him to get away from you. You can leave him alone in a room for a few minutes, then reward him when you go see him and he is calm.

He should be confident in himself and not be afraid of being alone.

3. Set limits and rules of conduct is the best way to stop a dog barking.

All through his life, the dog must learn the right behaviours, so he will know what he can and cannot do. You must often repeat the commands so that he can fully understand your expectations and your limits. Especially in its growth period, it will require you to intensify the given education and to impose your limits. It will require a lot more investment of your time and effort, but it will pay off in the long run for a balanced, pleasant adult dog. Socializing your dog is an intervention to prioritize at this time, as well as more regular outdoor outings.

Set limits for your puppy to prevent excessive barking.

4. Show him to calm down

If the animal is overexcited, it will not miss any opportunity to bark and disturb the neighbourhood. You may ask him to lie down in a specific place without stimuli for an increasingly long period. You repeat this exercise often and give him a vocal reward or a kibble if he manages to stay calm. Teach him nicely to stay alone, playing with his toys calmly without paying attention to him

How to stop your dog from barking when you leave? When you leave the house, you can put him in a cage with toys to prevent him from getting bored or destroying your whole house, especially with large breeds and puppies. You can must help your dog to be alone at home without barking by leaving him toys, stuffed animals, recipient toy with food, or a deer antlers offered in several stores to relieve him of loneliness.

Keeping your puppy busy all day with toys is a good strategy to avoid excessive barking during your absence.