Learn How to Silence Barking Dogs

Some dogs are particularly noisy by nature, such as many breeds of toy dogs, and if this is the case then quite often you just have to grin and bear it but for times when you need a bit of peace and quiet, then it is useful to know how to silence barking dogs.

Dogs have 2 main types of barking - one is attention seeking (I'm bored come and play) and the other is an alert (someone or something has just passed the window) and in this article I'm going to be dealing with the problem of an attention seeking dog and how to silence a barking dog.

Imagine the scenario where you are quietly sitting on the sofa reading the paper on a Sunday morning and your dog wakes up from a nap and decides it's time for a game. She comes on over and deposits her favourite toy right on your lap. You take no notice and carry on reading. After a short spell of puzzled silence she nudges your hand with her nose and lets out a bark. When you raise your head she has assumed a playful mode of bottom in the air, tail wagging, putting on her most endearing look as if to say "hey, come and play with me". You try and ignore her but she barks yet again - this time a little louder - and when no response is forthcoming she barks again only this time she doesn't stop. You let out a sigh and get off the sofa it's obviously not meant to be that you can be left in peace on a Sunday morning. You pick up her toy and go outside to play a game of fetch with her. Her barking stops immediately.

I'm sure you know that respect between you and your dog is an essential part of a good relationship. You respect your dog by providing food and water for her, exercising her and keeping her fit and healthy in ways that she enjoys. In order for her to be worthy of your respect she needs to respect you too and this is where so many dog owners struggle by allowing their dogs to be an equal instead of deomstrating that they are the boss. By getting off the sofa and giving in to your dog, yes, you have silenced your barking dog, but she has effectively used manipulation to get what she wants without any thought for you. A dog has to respect your leadership to be a happy and well behaved dog.

What you should have done in that scenario was to ignore her totally by conveying through your body language that she is not worthy of your attention. In basic terms you needed to give her the cold shoulder. When she carried on barking, you should have got up, totally avoided any form of eye contact and moved to another seat, even turning your back towards her. She would have been confused by your behavior and carried on barking but you musn't crack. Don't speak to her not even to say the word "no". If you had given in she would have won yet again, but simply thought that she obviously needed to be more persistent.