Want some training exercises to help your dog stop barking when you're in prime barking opportunity zones? Here are a few tips to help you get started from a certified professional dog trainer.

In the previous guide we discussed the different types of dog barking behavior and the function of each - from alarm barking to attention barking to fear barking and frustration induced barking.

We also talked about how completely normal it is for dogs to share this sometimes loud and occasionally obnoxious behavior known as dog barking. And how we can use some targeted management and enrichment in their everyday routines to prevent and minimize this natural (but less than welcome) dog behavior.

Note for fear/frustration barkers - If your dog barks excessively, lunges, growls on leash at specific triggers, (dogs, people, bikes, cats, etc) due to fear/frustration, these exercises can be beneficial, but you’ll also find more information specifically related to this type of barking and how to stop a dog barking out of fear or frustration throughout Dogly's Reactivity Channel.

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Helping your "alert barker"

This one goes out to all our dogs who want to make known all the things they see that they feel warrant our attention. Our unpredictable alert-barking dogs are on a mission. “Look mom, there’s that same bird I told you about yesterday that’s sitting in that tree outside being weird!”

These dogs bark at variable times when there's a perceived threat depending on what pops up in their world, making it frustrating and difficult to get them to stop barking entirely. Alerting us with their heads-up dog bark is normal, and we do want them to use their voices to communicate, but many dog owners want to reduce the level of the excessive barking.

A helpful bark or two will work just fine, no need to yell at us for 20 minutes. 

Try this

The treat scatter...

• If you’ve gone through the previous guide, you should already have begun to implement some physical barriers to limit those visual triggers that tend to make dogs bark excessively (especially when unsupervised). Observing your dog's triggers and limiting exposure to them can go a long way to keeping your dog from barking.
• Set up little “treat stations” with sealed containers full of special goodies (that cannot be reached by your dog) in several places around the house for easy access to these food rewards. And remember - for our dogs barking to alert us to whatever it is they think we desperately need to know, we always want to acknowledge them and say thanks for their "service"...
• When your dog alerts you to something (airplane, other animals, speck of dust), acknowledge what he/she sees and validate your pup: “What do you see/hear?,” “Oh wow look at that plane!,” “What a fancy dust speck!,” “Thank you for pointing that out!"... walk over to a nearby treat station and quickly scatter a handful of treat goodies onto the floor (in the opposite direction of what your dog was barking at). You can cue your pup with the phrase, “Find it!” or “Go get it!”

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Supporting your dog who barks regularly at specific triggers...

When you know your dog has a pattern of barking at specific triggers (doorbell, people/other dogs walking by the house, television, etc) you can set up controlled interactions with these triggers to desensitize and counter condition your dog as well as creating alternate behaviors.

Give me an example

Let’s use the dreaded doorbell...

• I like to start by teaching a solid “place” cue in training sessions.
• You will need a designated spot for this - this spot can change if you’d like but needs to have clear boundaries: a towel, mat, rug, dog bed, blanket, etc. for your "place."

Try this

1) Using a treat, lure your dog onto the "place."

2) The moment all four paws are on the place, mark with a click or “yes!” and drop a treat on the mat.

3) Continue to click and treat every few seconds if your dog chooses to stay on the mat (no matter what position your dog is in). This is beginning to reinforce a natural desire “stay."

If your dog chooses to “sit” on his/her own we can offer a “click or yes” and extra reward. If your dog chooses to move into a “down” offer a click or yes and an additional extra reward. If your dog is choosing to stay standing, that is totally fine too! You will continue to reward your dog as long as he/she is staying on the mat/bed/etc.

We are simply starting by acknowledging our dogs for choosing to stay on this spot. For more on place training, check out this guide.

4) After several treats we will toss a single treat off of the bed to prompt the dog to remove himself/herself from the place.

5) Wait for a few seconds to see if your dog chooses to get back onto place. If your dog stands on the mat, mark that behavior immediately and reward generously with treats.

If after a few seconds, your dog doesn’t go to the place, simply lure again and continue to mark and reward every few seconds he/she stays on the place.

6) After several repetitions and quick returns to the place, you can begin to say the cue word "place" to prompt your dog and guiding with your hand (with or without lure depending on your dog’s reliability). 

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Once your dog has a reliable “place” cue, I like to begin the desensitization process.

To set up your teaching practice, find a YouTube video with a doorbell sound similar to the one you have at your house.

Try this

1. Ask your dog to go to “place” and begin to play the video doorbell soundtrack at a really low volume. We want it to be low enough that your dog doesn't care about the sound.
2. Immediately begin to feed your dog as you play the doorbell noise. Gradually raise the volume as long as your dog is staying nice and comfy. Reward with frequent treat scatters on your dog's place.
3. Give your dog a break in between raising the volume by releasing him/her from place, tossing a treat off the bed, and pausing the doorbell soundtrack.
4. This should seem like a boring exercise because that’s what we want the ultimate reaction to be to the doorbell: boring, so uninteresting your dog stops barking. 
5. If at any point your dog begins to bark or jumps off of his/her place, you may be raising the volume a bit too quickly. Slow this down, go to a lower volume and take more breaks to keep your dog calm. 
6. You can eventually switch from the highest volume of the soundtrack, to the actual doorbell noise. Have someone ring the doorbell while you stay with your pup to reward him/her for staying on place. 

The desensitization process is great for building your dog's ability to be less stressed about certain noises (thunder, fireworks, television, etc) as well as to build impulse control for compulsive barking.

For another real-life option: teach an alternate behavior

Of course, in a real situation we can’t always anticipate when the doorbell will ring, so I also like to teach an alternate behavior for a barking dog to respond with after he/she has heard the doorbell.

In this case, the doorbell rings, then we ask our dogs to go to their “place." Over time with practice, the doorbell becomes a cue to "place" rather than to charge the front door and bombard the guest or delivery person with barking.

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Pro tips for managing dog barking: 

1) If you have multiple dogs...

Work with your dogs one at a time with this exercise until both are individually consistent. 

2) If you have a second person to help...

Ideally one would start focusing on rewarding your dog in place while the second person answers the door. If the guest is not entering (like the mailman), practice your dog staying in place while you take your time answering the door. 

3) Make sure to release your dog with a consistent release cue.

Good ones to try are “Okay,” “Free,” “Break,” or “Release.” But just find one that works for you and be consistent with it - and use only for release purposes.

Helping your "attention barkers"

If you are not in a position to give your dog attention (cooking dinner, reading a book, working, zoom call), but you know your pup is getting a little crazy and needs something to do...

Try this

• Give your dog a self-entertaining enrichment toy (treat-dispensing toy, enrichment box, filled chew toy, natural chew) to prevent the barking from happening in the first place.
• It’s also okay to put your dog in a separate room to enjoy his/her toy, chew, etc., while you have a zoom call so your pup isn’t yelling at you to finish up already. 

If you have a crazed attention barker, chances are your pup is missing something….

It's likely your dog might not be getting enough mental and physical stimulation. Physical exercise, decompression walks, enrichment and training opportunities daily will lower the desire for your dog to get your attention. 

Reward calm behaviors! 

Anytime you see your dog lying around like the chill dog you’d like him or her to be, reward heavily. The more you reinforce those calm behaviors the more they will happen!

All in all, the key to helping your dog stay calm and quiet is to practice patience and consistency when it comes to their training. Give your dog plenty of opportunities to practice correct behaviors so that he/she can learn what you expect them to do! With some effort and dedication, you will soon see a calmer, quieter dog.

Next up in the Barking Channel on Dogly

Now that you know how to manage and prevent barking, continue to the next guide to decipher your dog's bark. Or check out the other guides in the Barking Channel on demand barking or attention seeking barking and alarm barking.

If you have any questions, just ask the Advocates in our Community Discussion in the Barking Channel!

Or if you ever need more personalized dog training guidance, please reach out!