Having decided to get a dog in the house, everyone should understand that his pet will certainly bark. And such a phenomenon is quite natural. Indeed, in this way the animal seeks to communicate with the owner, expressing its requests and emotions. However, all this can be quite a serious cause for irritation.
This is especially true for the owners (and neighbors) of a sociable pet, who already in the early morning raises the whole house with his sonorous bark or expresses sorrowful emotions to him at the time when he is left alone in the apartment. How to wean a dog to bark at home and in an apartment without losing the trust of the animal? It should be borne in mind that this is not easy. The owner will need to spend a lot of time, effort, show great patience. However, with the implementation of a systematic approach to the “high-profile problem”, it will certainly be possible to turn even the most desperate “idiot” into an educated and sweet beast.
Reasons for barking
The first thing that pet owners should understand: just like that, their pets will never give voice.
Why and why does a dog bark? The reason for expressing the emotions of a pet can be the following:
- Watchdog instinct. This innate reflex forces the dog to react violently upon hearing the sounds of the elevator, rustling and knocking on the wall, ringing on the phone, on the door or on the intercom, as well as the steps of people who are walking near the adjoining area or along the staircases of the staircase. The dog seems to bark for no reason. However, in this case, she warns the owner of the strangers and the potential danger that comes from them.
- Fear. Pets, especially the most timid and insecure, tend to act on the basis of the principle "The best defense is attack." The doggie, which is literally flooded by the barking after the cars, cyclists, passers-by and relatives, thereby expresses its insecurity.
- Excitation. The dog loses peace if he hears loud sounds, as well as at the time of departure or arrival of the owners. A similar phenomenon is characteristic of small individuals having an unstable nervous system.
- Lack of attention. A dog can make a loud bark so that a person notices it. This often happens at home when the owner goes about his business and at the same time ignores his pet. The animal barks trying to draw attention to itself.
- Oversupply of energy. Every day the dog needs to receive stresses, both mental and physical. Otherwise, she will have a desire to spend her energy on something. This can be damage to clothes or furniture, as well as barking.
- The disease. It happens that the dog barks almost constantly. This happens after she wakes up, on walks, during feeding and at night. But at the same time, there are no visible reasons for such an expression of the pet’s emotions. The cause of this kind of problem can be a disease, the symptoms of which concern the animal. In this case, the dog must be shown to the veterinarian.
- The game. There is only one option in which barking can be considered quite normal. If the owner begins to play with the pet, then he is happy, which is why he begins to express his emotions loudly.
Poor socialization of the animal or its complete absence can also serve as an answer to the question “Why does the dog constantly bark?”. How to wean a dog to bark in this case? The pet should be trained. This will teach him to calmly respond to strangers and cyclists, public transport and other dogs, cats and children.
The most critical period for puppies is the age of 4 to 8 months. How to wean a dog to bark at passers-by? The owners should familiarize the kids with all possible situations and praise for their calm behavior. If an adult dog for some reason has not been socialized, then it will be necessary to instill these skills in it using the help of a dog handler.
Why does a dog bark for no reason at night? The fact is that it does not seem to animals at all that after sunset it is imperative to go to bed. They see great in the dark and have a good instinct. At night they can:
- look for communication and invite other dogs (yard dogs often do this);
- be aggressive when hunting a mouse or insect;
- to worry, left in the room without a master;
- ask to play.
So how to wean a dog to bark at home and on the street?
What should not be done
Wean your pet to bark constantly and for all in a row only the owner who has a solid character and is able to consistently perform the necessary actions.
Very often, those people who seek to calm the emotions of an animal and wean it from the habit of casting a voice at the most inopportune moments behave completely wrong and make serious mistakes. Namely:
- They shout and scold their pet in response to his barking. Often the owner behaves in much the same way as his unbelted dog. He shouts loudly at him: "Tsyts!", "Shut up!" etc. Such human behavior is not able to calm the dog. On the contrary, the animal is even more overexcited.
- Raise a dog only occasionally. In order to wean your pet to bark in an apartment or in a house, you will need to conduct daily classes.
- They beat the dog, trying to silence it. Such a technique can not be used categorically.
- Do not pay attention to the cause of barking. Sometimes the owner is completely unclear why his pet barks. Maybe he wants to attract attention to himself and get an unplanned treat? But sometimes animals try to warn a person about something important. This may be, for example, the smell of burning or the appearance of a stranger. That is why it is necessary to find out the causes of dog arousal.
- Indulging the whims of a pet. Specialists know that animals are capable of manipulating people. For example, many dogs prefer to flood with a loud and loud bark, wanting to get a treat from the table. In this case, you don’t need to go on about the animals. If pets understand that, when they are barked, they will certainly receive food from their master’s plate, they will cast their voices constantly in order to receive the desired treat.
Educational Techniques
How to wean a dog to bark at home? In order to achieve the desired result, the owner will first need to make sure that he is the leader for the animal. In the case when the dog on a walk constantly runs only in front of the person, first enters the room and leaves it, and also ignores the commands, this suggests that she considers herself the leader. Until the animal has learned the opposite, no methods for adjusting its behavior will work.
How to wean a dog to bark? Simple methods of education, which we will learn below, should be applied in combination. A single method will not work. In addition, systematization is required. Indeed, if even once the owner allows himself to relax, then all his previous efforts will be in vain, and classes will have to start from scratch.
Ignoring
How to wean a dog to bark at all in a row? Sometimes pet owners do not notice that they themselves provoke such behavior of pets. For example, during barking, dogs give her food, toys, tease, pronounce or console. But the animal, giving voice, and sought such signs of attention. That is why such human behavior is considered fundamentally wrong. Encourage your pet and show interest in him when he barks, is not necessary. It should be shown to him that a person will not have any reaction to such arousal. Sooner or later, the animal will get tired and shut up. By repeating this several times, the owner will be able to make the dog understand: his attempts to attract attention in this way will not succeed.
You should not use the method of ignoring only when the pet casts a voice based on its watchdog reflex, when it sees guests entering the house, neighbors, hears a noise behind the wall, and so on. In this case, the owner should approach the dog and make it clear that it is heard. To do this, just praise the animal or pet it lightly, as well as say certain commands. For example, “Sit” or “Place”.
Team training
How to wean a dog to bark? The main methods of education include teaching the animal to control his emotions. This must be done because the dog simply cannot bark. This is for her a certain way of expressing her attitude to the world.
One of the methods of upbringing is to teach a pet to such commands as Silence, Silently, and Voice. The dog should be specially provoked to bark. At the same time, the Voice command should sound. Then you should say "Quietly" or "Silence" and wait until he finally calm down. If the pet does not understand what is required of him, you can squeeze his mouth. If successful, the dog should receive a treat. She should be reported for misses.
It’s recommended to train these teams starting from puppyhood, because it’s much more difficult to train an adult dog.
After the pet begins to unconditionally fulfill all the requirements, the time between rewards should be gradually increased. In addition to goodies, it is recommended to use a clicker. They need to click in case of successful execution of the command. Such sounds will become an additional positive relationship between a correctly completed task and a reward for its implementation.
Attention switching
How to wean a dog to bark in an apartment and on the street?
A good educational method is to switch the attention of the animal from the source of irritation to something else. You can do this with:
- Massaging the ears. Initially, this method must be tried with a calm dog. If he reacts calmly to massaging his ears, then you need to perform such actions at the moment when the dog begins to cast a voice.
- Light slaps on the croup or clicks on the face.
- Fright of the pet. The owner should pull the leash sharply or loosen it, and then throw the strap on the dog. She should be frightened and shut up.
- The commands “Lie”, “To me”, “Sit”, “Near”. Perform the specified actions and at the same time the dog will not be able to bark.
- Splashing water in the face.
- Dispensing toys or goodies.
However, it should be borne in mind that just switching attention will be clearly not enough. How to wean a dog to bark in an apartment or on the street? Suppress her attempts to cast her voice at the first sound, if there is no reason to overexcite the animal. After the animal is silent, it must be praised and given a treat. Thus, the pet will understand that for his silence he will certainly receive a reward. The owner, however, will gradually need to increase the period of time that lasts from the moment of silence until the pet is encouraged.
This technique works great in cases where animals show a violent reaction to the noise behind the door, knocking, ringing and other loud sounds. The dog is specially provoked (knocking or ringing), and then they turn their attention, rewarding for silence in case of success. Such exercises must be carried out every day until the animal begins to calmly relate to emerging stimuli.
Loneliness training
How to wean a dog to bark when she is left alone at home? After all, her full voice spoils the mood of the neighbors. In addition, the dog, in anticipation of people, along with a bark of many hours, is capable of pretty much ruining things in the house. There are several reasons for this behavior of pets. They are either very cowardly, or consider themselves the main ones. This problem also arises when the animal is not tired enough.
How to wean a dog to bark in an apartment when she is left alone? There are several ways to solve this problem:
- walk your pet well so that he is tired;
- leave him toys;
- before leaving, take the dog to its place, do not let it come to you and do not contact the animal (do not talk to him, do not pet, do not regret and do not "say goodbye");
- Do not respond to joyful barking when you come home, but only silently stroke no more than a couple of minutes.
Returning to the apartment when the pet begins to bark is not allowed. The owner is better to stand under the door and wait for silence. After that, you can again go into the apartment, stay there for a while and praise the animal for good behavior.
If the dog is kept in an aviary, then it will certainly bark. After all, she needs to respond to passers-by, cats, neighbors or guests. In this case, weaning the dog to bark does not make sense. The owner only needs to slightly adjust her behavior. To do this, you will need to pay attention to your pet, walk with him, praise if he warns him of danger, and scold if barking is heard for no reason.
Using a special collar
How to wean a dog to bark in an apartment? In those cases where the methods of education do not bring the necessary result, the owner of a noisy pet should use additional methods. One of them involves the use of a special Antilay collar. Such devices are equipped with sensors and microphones, which are sensitive to the sounds made by the dog, starting to give annoying signals.
It is very important to note that the use of such collars is considered an inhumane way to achieve this goal. After all, the dog does not understand why it needs to be silent. Subsequently, she will cease to cast her voice during games and when danger is approaching. Sometimes such collars do not work at all. Pets pull them together or get scared of the sounds they make so much that they begin to bark even more.
The use of sedatives
Drops and pills created on the basis of soothing herbs - lemon balm, valerian or mint will help wean the dog to bark for no reason. Such funds must be given to the animal strictly according to the instructions without exceeding the dosage. The use of such drugs should preferably be agreed with the veterinarian. This issue is especially relevant if the animal has an allergy.
Surgical intervention
The most undesirable method of weaning a dog from barking is to cut the vocal cords. In this case, the animal becomes practically dumb. The owners of those dogs who have no more strength left to fight the noise made by the pet, resorted to this method, and irritated neighbors began to threaten the court, demanding silence. This is an extreme and very undesirable measure.