Barking is a natural form of communication for dogs, allowing them to express their needs and emotions. It is an essential part of being a dog. Asking a dog to not bark at all is like asking your child not to talk. Added to this, humans have artificially selected—through intentional breeding—for hundreds, if not thousands of years—in favor of barking for hunting, herding, guarding, and alerting behavior. Telling most dogs to just “be quiet” is unreasonable and also just plain unfair.

All of this, however, doesn’t change the fact that us humans tend to be very bothered by barking. This can be due to the quality of the sound on our ears, the worry of what other people will think of seeing us with a barking dog, and the simple fact that dogs are living in a human world where barking can be inappropriate at times. (I usually save recommended media for the end of these articles, but this one short podcast from Letters From your Dog is so perfect, it might be best for you to drop everything and listen right now.)

It is genuinely ok for people to ask dogs to bark less. But we have to do so with understanding. We must consider a dog’s biological need for communication and a dog’s biological reflex to express an emotional state. When asking a dog to make yet another change to fit into our human world, we first owe them the courtesy of investigating the underlying reason they are barking in the first place. 

Understanding the different types of barking—and implementing appropriate training strategies for each—is crucial for promoting balanced behavior in our canine companions. In other words, before discussing HOW to lessen barking, it is essential to understand WHY a dog is barking. 

Why do dogs bark?

Broadly speaking, dogs bark for one of two reasons: as an intentional form of communication or as a reflexive behavior triggered by various emotional states. 

The emotionally triggered bark is by far the most prevalent. It is also the trickiest to address, as the isolated behavior of “barking”—in and of itself—is a neurological reflex. Asking a dog

to not bark when in a certain emotional state is akin to asking yourself to not laugh when you are surprised by something truly hilarious. We don’t actively decide to laugh in these situations, it just happens, without thought. What’s more, unless our underlying emotional state changes, it will likely continue. So too with barking.

Added to the mix is the fact that emotional barking is often self-reinforcing, which means that dogs get an actual dopamine hit when they do it. For most dogs, and most especially for members of certain breeds, barking feels right and good. Barking can even serve as a self-soothing strategy to help quell anxiety.  

To limit most kinds of barking, then, it’s important to acknowledge there are only two ways to modify barking behaviors:

1. Manage the environment so that the dog is not triggered to bark in the first place.

If your dog barks in response to an environmental trigger, simply change the dog’s environment so the trigger is no longer present. For barking, this often means using management tools like tethers, crates, baby gates, and noise machines. This strategy is the easiest, simplest, and most direct route to a quieter pup. Management alone can completely eliminate many causes of barking.

2. Change the way a dog feels about an environmental trigger so that the dog is no longer triggered to respond emotionally.

If your dog barks due to a specific heightened emotion, gradually change their go-to emotion by incrementally exposing them to the environmental trigger over time while simultaneously pairing the trigger with high-value rewards.

What follows are the most common causes of barking, with management and training solutions for each. 

Note that different trainers may categorize barks in different ways, dividing specific barks into slightly different “buckets'' than the ones below. It’s best to use these categories as guidelines, and not black-and-white designations. Also, be sure to read through all of the sections, as you may find that your dog is barking for a reason you hadn’t considered!

WINDOW BARKING

This kind of barking is also called “alert barking.” Dogs are territorial, and will often bark when someone walks past the house, especially if that person is walking another dog. This kind of bark could mean “this is my house” or “who goes there?” or “hey, someone is outside.” Many dogs are also likely to bark at the sound of another dog’s bark, even at a significant distance, for the same reasons. 

This kind of barking is loud, consistent, and often rhythmic.

Management
Window barking is often the most annoying to hear and the easiest one to “fix” through management. There are many tried and true management tools; start by trying out one or two of them, and then add or substitute other tools to experiment.

Management Tools for Window Barking

• Baby Gate/Door: When you are unable to train with your dog, don’t give them access to the place they usually bark. If this is the front window of your house (common), put a baby gate in the doorway to that room or close the door to that room. If your dog does not have access to the window, they are far less likely to be environmentally triggered to bark.
• Window Coverings: Keep your pup from looking out the window by closing the shades/blinds/curtains. If you still want to let light into the room, consider window clings like these sold by Window Wallpaper. Home Depot and Lowe’s also have a bunch of different options, at varying opacity.
• Exercise Pen: Don’t have a convenient door or a doorway for a baby gate, and don’t want to cover the windows at times you are not able to train the dog? Consider putting an exercise pen in a half-circle in front of the windows where barking happens.
• Sound Machine: It is often the sight and sound that triggers window barking. You can mask the auditory stimuli by turning on a radio, television, or sound machine.
• Box Fan: For dogs who are especially sound-sensitive, using a box fan does wonders by disrupting sound waves. Check out the “Box Fan Hack” here.
  

✔️ Keep in Mind

Some dogs additionally view “their” territory as places/objects other than their house or yard (ie a patch of concrete at a sidewalk cafe, a picnic blanket at the park, or a campsite at a campground). Depending on the situation, the same management tools often apply, as well as the location of the dog if the dog’s person is stationary. For a sidewalk barker, for example, it may be enough to tether the dog between the cafe and the picnic table, as opposed to between the picnic table and the sidewalk. For a campground barker, try tethering your dog to the back of the campsite or behind the tent, as opposed to the front of the campsite, on the road/path. Experimenting with variables is key. Sometimes even a minor change can make a big difference.

Training

Because management is so easy for this one, it’s advised to go that route. But if you’d prefer to actively train your dog to stop barking at the window, here are some solid solutions. (Note that when you are not present or not able to train the dog, it is essential to manage the environment so that your dog does not get self-reinforcing barking practice when you are not there.)

Training Strategy #1: Change Your Dog’s Emotional State
Because many types of barking are reflexive responses to heightened emotional states, a process called “systematic desensitization and classical counterconditioning” will be the go-to. 

Simply put, systematic desensitization is incremental exposure therapy. When combined with classical counterconditioning — or pairing the gradually heightening trigger with something your dog finds desirable — it can be a highly effective way to affect a dog’s behavior. It is training FOR the moment, and not IN the moment, which is a crucial component when working with any kind of reactivity..

By changing the way a dog feels about a passerby or a neighborhood noise, their excitement/anxiety/fear/arousal will decrease. This, in turn, may stop the activation of the barking reflex. 

✔️ Keep in Mind

When changing a dog’s feelings about stimuli, allow the dog’s previous learning, their current environment, their breed/genetics, and the specific traits that make them an individual to guide you. Behavior is never in a vacuum. 

Ideas for how to Change your Dog’s Emotional State

• For a dog that barks at people walking past the window, work with a private trainer to slowly desensitize and positively associate the trigger with Good Things for Dogs. Private trainers themselves can work as the triggering person if they do not yet have a relationship with the dog or, if they have already been working with your pup, they can bring along an assistant or two to serve as the triggering person/people. Once you feel comfortable leading the trials, ask friends or neighbors to help you train by serving as the triggering people in controlled trials. (Pizza and beer work wonderfully as helper-lures!)
  
  
• For a dog that barks at people-with-dogs walking past the window, work with a private trainer to slowly desensitize and positively associate the trigger for Goods Things for Dogs. As with above, private trainers can often have assistants walk stranger dogs outside the house. You can also ask friends and neighbors to help serve as triggers by walking a dog past your house in controlled trials.
  
  
• Set up a chair by the window during times when people/dogs are more likely to walk by and watch the street closely for approaching triggers. As soon as you and your dog see someone at a distance, play The Engage-Disengage Game with your dog.  (You may need to move the chair further away from the window if your pup is too stimulated to take treats, even when the trigger is at a distance. You also may need to slowly move away from the window as the trigger approaches to set your dog up for success.)

Teach your dog how to genuinely calm down in a distraction-free environment first, slowly building up the distractions around them as they honor their settling skills. If your dog knows how to peacefully take a deep breath, yawn, lie down on their side, sigh, loosen their muscles, put their head on the ground, and other emotionally regulating behavior, they will be much better equipped to handle environmental triggers.

Also, though it has not yet been scientifically proven, it is highly likely that dogs possess the same mirror neurons that primates use to aid learning and read one another’s emotions. This is all to say: if you want your dog to be calm, it’s essential that you model genuine calm behavior as well.

Training Strategy #2: Train a Mutually Exclusive Behavior
Teach your dog that people walking by the house (or sounds like the neighbor’s dog barking or the garbage truck stopping to pick up the trash) is a cue for an alternate behavior that is mutually exclusive to barking.

Ideas for Mutually Exclusive Behaviors

• Go to your Mat/Bed/Crate (and be rewarded with a high-value, long-lasting chew when you get there).
• Down-Stay: Increase duration to (at least) the time it takes for someone to walk past your house; release your dog from their down-stay when the triggering stimuli are no longer present.
• Come: Teach your dog to recall away from the window after one or two barks
• Quiet: Teach your dog to be quiet, and then build the duration of the “quiet” cue.

ALARM BARKING

A dog will engage in alarm barking when they genuinely believe that there is danger present or when there is a sudden environmental change that makes them scared or anxious.. Dogs can also alarm bark when there is a sudden environmental change. 

Note that a dog barking from true separation anxiety likely falls into this category, as the dog’s anxious limbic system truly believes it’s in danger.

When dogs are engaged in alarm barking, they may sound surprised, scared, and/or highly emotional. This bark is sudden, loud, fast, and often higher in pitch. 

Management
Management is stacking the deck in your dog’s favor so that the trigger does not occur or occurs at a distance/volume/speed that does not cause your dog to bark in alarm. If your dog barks in alarm to certain environmental stimuli, attempt to manipulate their environment so that the stimuli are not present when the dog is present. This may necessitate staying far from, limiting access to, or moving away from areas where your dog tends to engage in this behavior. 

Remember, management in and of itself is not active training. But because barking is self-reinforcing, it can stop all of those dopamine hits before they start. (Practice makes perfect, even for undesirable behaviors, and most especially for behaviors that the dog finds rewarding.)

Management Solutions for Alarm Barking

• For a dog that alarm barks when the doorbell rings, a sample management strategy would be to put a sign on your door that says “My dog is in training. Text when you arrive. Deliveries: please don’t knock or ring the bell.”
  
  
• For a dog that alarm barks on leashed walks when they pass another dog on the sidewalk, a sample management strategy would be to cross the street when you see another dog headed your way, or to do a U-turn and take a different path with your pup. Consider also carrying a high-value soft treat in an easy-to-dispense package (like meat baby food in a closable squeeze pouch or wet cat food in a squeeze tube) as a treat magnet or playing the Find It game with a special treat.
  
  
• For a dog that alarm barks at fireworks, stay away from fireworks (even if it means by leaving town), or use management tools such as closed windows, a sound machine, and/or prescribed medication.

• For a dog that alarm barks frequently on walks, cut out leashed walks. It’s a common myth that dogs need neighborhood walks! Some dogs find them far too stressful and would prefer if you substituted leashed walks for other mental and physical enrichment opportunities.

Training

Because you cannot always fully manage the surprises life throws at you (especially if you live in a highly unpredictable urban environment), it’s important to give your dog some relief by identifying specific triggers and then desensitizing their exposure to those triggers and positively associating them with Good Things for Dogs.

Training Strategy #1: Change Your Dog’s Emotional State
Alarm barking is a solid example of reflexive behavior. Just as we gasp or yell if someone jumps out from behind a corner as we pass by, a dog will bark when they are startled or scared. 

The only way to lessen the barking in this case is to to change your dog’s feelings about the triggering stimuli. 

Dogs are not great at generalizing, so you may need to be very specific about the trigger (an ambulance wail and a police car siren may be in their own, separate categories, for example). The good news is that the more triggers you address, the greater chance your dog will have of generalizing a specific trigger to a grouped category of multiple triggers.

Ideas for how to Change your Dog’s Emotional State

• For a dog that barks when the mail comes through the mail chute, put a jar of treats outside with a sign asking the mail carrier to also toss some treats through the chute, along with the mail.
  
  
• For a dog that barks at the fence whenever anyone walks past, put a jar of treats with a sign asking passerby to toss treats to the dog, regardless of the dog’s behavior.
  
  
• Take a “reactive rover” or “growly dog” class. These classes are led by trainers who specialize in dog reactivity, and all of the attendees are reactive dog parents. They typically meet in very large spaces so that every dog/handler pair has enough space to work. Taking a class like this can provide predictable practice trials, which are nearly impossible to get in the real world. You also have the benefit of meeting with other pup parents who are working through similar challenges to yours.

Teach your dog how to genuinely calm down in a distraction-free environment, slowly building up the distractions around them as they hone their settling skills. If your dog knows how to peacefully take a deep breath, yawn, lie down on their side, sigh, loosen their muscles, put her head on the ground, and other emotionally regulating behavior, they will be much better equipped to handle environmental triggers.

Training Strategy #2: Train a Mutually Exclusive Behavior
It will be harder for your pup to feel alarmed by a trigger when they are moving away from the trigger. This strategy gives your dog something to do, instead of just fretting over something in their environment.

Ideas for Mutually Exclusive Behaviors

For a dog that alarm barks when they see a trigger while out on a walk, first manage the situation so that you can work with your dog below-threshold, and then play a pattern game. Pattern games were originally popularized by Leslie McDevitt in her book series Control Unleashed. Examples of pattern games include 1-2-3, Up/Down, Whiplash Turns, and Look at That.

BOREDOM BARKING

In the absence of anything to do, dogs will create something to do (if they don’t feel the need to sleep, that is). For some dogs, this leads to destructive behavior and/or random boredom barking. Because barking is self-reinforcing (i.e. it feels good for a dog to do it), a dog may choose to bark to get dopamine hits when… there is… literally… nothing… going… on.

Boredom barking tends to be repetitive and monotone. 

Management
This one is so, so, so easy to manage. Just give your dog what they need to be behaviorally healthy. For the 40,000+ years of dogs as a domesticated species, we have kept them in captivity for only a fraction of that time. Stick to the management ideas below, and all will be well in the boredom department.

Management Solutions for Boredom Barking

• Generally speaking, dogs are a highly social species with a behavioral imperative for community. Many dogs also need at least an hour or two of cardiovascular exercise every single day. If you work outside of your home during the day, it’s essential to hire a dog-walker for neighborhood walks or drop-in play sessions. If your dog is suitable, consider sending them on a hike or enrichment “sniffari” with a qualified company. (For those in the Portland and Salem areas, check out our Adventure service!) Dog Daycares are also an option for specific dogs. (Very dogs are perfectly suited to dog daycares, however. Be sure to check in with a trainer about your dog’s temperament and whether or not your dog would thrive at a daycare facility.)
  
  
• Dogs have a love (and biological need) for enrichment that involves finding/foraging for  food. When you leave your dog alone at home, be sure to always leave them with a high-value long-lasting chew and a variety of food puzzles. You can find kabillions of these items at pretty much any pet store, in-person or online. If you’d like to make pup enrichment even easier, consider a subscription service like Barkbox or Bullymake. Remember, if a dog doesn’t have something to do, they will create something to do.

FRUSTRATION BARKING

This kind of bark is also known as “attention-seeking barking,” “food-seeking barking,” and “demand barking.” Like other types of barking, it can be reflexively triggered by emotions. Unlike the other types of barking, however, it can also be an intentional behavior, deployed as a strategy by a dog to get what they want.

Frustration barking is a pushy, insistent kind of bark, usually sharp in tone. 

Management
The reason your dog may be engaging in this demanding barking may be completely valid… they may actually need the attention or food they are seeking to be physically and behaviorally healthy. Before addressing the barking, it’s important to first be absolutely certain your dog’s needs for physical exercise, mental enrichment, food intake, and social interactions are met by following these strategies:

Management Solutions for Frustration Barking

• Unless your dog is very young, very old, infirm, reactive, or a specific couch-potato breed, they need thirty minutes to two hours of cardiovascular exercise every day. Meeting a dog’s needs for physical exercise often helps with many behavioral “problems” that people have when our dogs don’t act like humans. This goes for social interactions, too. Like people, dogs are social animals that thrive by living in community with others. If you work out of your home, hire a dog walker for neighborhood walks or at-home play sessions or consider sending your (adventure-compatible) dog with us on adventures. (Dog daycare may also be an option, but only for a very specific kind of dog. Check in with a trainer to see if your dog may enjoy a dog daycare, and be very discerning when choosing a facility.)

• Dogs need things to do, preferably involving finding, foraging, and working at getting calories. If they do not have these needs met, they are likely going to feel like a handful at home. We recommend high-value long-lasting chews and a variety of food puzzles to keep your pup’s brain operating at peak performance. Additionally, dogs should never eat out of food bowls; give them their daily caloric intake by feeding them through training and food-dispensing toys and puzzles.

Training

Frustration Barking  is, hands-down, the hardest on a human’s ears. It’s high-pitched and just… hard to handle. Luckily, though, this is a kind of bark that can often be addressed through operant conditioning (or “choice-based” learning). Whereas changing a dog’s emotional state can take a period of weeks/months, changing a dog’s intentional behavior can take minutes/hours.

Training Strategy #1: Give Your Dog an Alternative Way to Express Their Needs
Your dog may be attempting to communicate an actual need. If you don’t like the sound of their bark, give them an alternative method to express themselves.

Ideas for Alternate Communication Methods

• For a dog asking to go outside, teach them that the bell hanging by the door is the way you would like them to express this need.

• For a dog asking for water, teach them to target their metal food bowl with their paw to make a clanging noise.

• For a dog asking for food, teach them to lie down and wait in the spot where they enjoy their food puzzles.

• For a dog asking to play, teach them to go get a toy and bring it to you.

• For a dog that wants engagement with a person (eye contact, human verbal communication, human touch, human proximity, or human interaction of any kind), teach them to express this need with a visual cue. Teach them that you can respond with “yes” or “not know,” which have very different meanings. 

• For a dog that wants engagement with other dogs, teach them that play bows and sits gives them access to dogs, but big barks do not.

Training Strategy #2: Teach a “Quiet” Cue
If your dog intentionally barks for the express purpose of getting you to do something, ignore them and wait until they are quiet for one second, say “quiet” and then click/treat (or mark with a “YES!” and treat). If the dog continues to be quiet for another second, say “quiet” and click/treat. Increase the time very incrementally, counting in your head through the silence, saying “quiet,” and then clicking/treating. If your dog barks, completely ignore them and start over. Eventually begin moving the “quiet” cue earlier and earlier before the click until you are actually cuing the quiet. 

✔️ Keep in Mind

If you teach “Quiet,” there is a risk of your pup “learning” that the desired behavior is “Bark-Quiet-Reward,” which is an example of a behavior chain or “back-chaining.” For this reason, it’s essential to increase the quiet time incrementally between every trial so that you can capture trials of longer and longer “quiets.” This can be a bit sticky, so if you feel unsure about your progress, consider working with a trainer to make sure you’re on the right track.

If you’d like to forge it alone, this how-to article does a good job of detailing every step.

Training Strategy #3: Leave
It’s generally understood that reward-based trainers use “positive reinforcement,” which is adding something as a consequence to a behavior (positive) to increase the chance of that behavior happening again (reinforcement). Note that the word “positive” does not mean “good,” which is a common misconception! The word “positive” just means that the trainer is adding something to the environment to affect the probability of the animal’s resulting behavior.

If you work in the mental health field, or if you have taken a psych class, you will know that “positive reinforcement” is actually just one of the four options for “operant conditioning,” a concept introduced by American psychologist and behaviorist, B.F. Skinner in the late 1930s. And while it’s true that most reward-based trainers primarily rely on positive reinforcement, we occasionally employ the use of “negative punishment” as well. Negative punishment is removing something as a consequence (negative) to decrease the chance of that behavior happening again (punishment). As above, note that the word “negative” does not mean “bad.” It just means that the trainer is taking something away from an animal’s environment to affect the probability of the resulting behavior.

In the context of Frustration Barking, positive reinforcement would be giving any kind of attention to your dog (which would, in turn, increase the chance of future barking, as most dogs find attention rewarding), whereas negative punishment would be removing any kind of attention (to decrease the chance of future barking). 

All of this is to say: one way to deal with Frustration Barking (after you have determined that all of the dog’s needs are met or managed) is to just walk away. If your dog follows you and continues barking, put a barrier between you. Your dog will learn that barking for attention only makes their person disappear, which is… not at all what they want. (This is usually the case. If your dog does not find attention rewarding, however, this strategy will not work.)

✔️ Keep in Mind

If you use this strategy, expect the barking to get worse before it gets better, thanks to “extinction bursts.” An extinction burst refers to a behavioral phenomenon that occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer rewarded. In simple terms, when a dog has been receiving positive reinforcement for barking, and that reinforcement is suddenly removed or stopped, there will likely be a temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of that behavior.

For example, imagine a child who has been given a treat every time they ask for candy at the store. If the parent decides to stop giving the child candy, the child might initially increase their requests for candy, throwing tantrums or persistently asking for it, hoping to get the treat as they used to. This escalation in behavior is the extinction burst.

Extinction bursts can be a challenging phase for those trying to modify behavior, but it's crucial to remain consistent and not give in to the behavior during this time. If the reinforcement remains withheld, the burst will eventually decrease and fade away as the individual learns that the behavior no longer leads to the desired outcome.

One final note: using negative punishment should always be a last resort, and positive punishment should never be on the table. Positive reinforcement works faster, is easier to implement, and reinforces the bond between pup and person. Whenever using punishment of any kind, you also risk unintended consequences and emotional fallout. Consider working with a trainer if you’d like to attempt the strategy above.

EXCITEMENT BARKING

A dog will engage in excitement barking when they feel great, just as humans smile or laugh when we feel great. Dogs may bark in this way when you arrive at the park, begin a game of fetch, engage in dog sports like agility, or when they see you are preparing their dinner. Excitement barking expresses happiness, and also the anticipation of even more happiness.

Management
Unless your dog’s excitement barking is a significant issue that is very negatively affecting your life or the lives of the people around you, there is no need to manage this behavior. It is A-OK to allow your dog to feel happiness and tell the world about it, within reason. If you absolutely must manage excitement barking, though, here are some strategies.

Management Solutions for Excitement Barking

• For a dog that is barking in excitement because they have been waiting for hours and hours and hours to get exercise, meet their physical enrichment needs by taking them out more frequently or hiring a service to do so.
  
  
• For a dog that is barking in excitement because they were super bored and then saw you preparing a food puzzle, meet their mental enrichment needs by giving them more things to do when you are otherwise occupied.
  
  
• For a dog that is barking in excitement when in the presence of new people and/or new dogs, meet their social needs by giving them more (appropriate) access to new people and/or dogs.
  
  
• For a dog that barks in excitement when they see something, stop the barking before it starts by removing their view of the trigger through the use of curtains, shades, window clings, etc.
  
  
• For a dog that barks in excitement when they hear something, stop the barking before it starts by removing their ability to hear the trigger through the use of music, television, talk radio, a noise machine, a fan, etc.

Training

Like with management, training around excitement barking only needs to be done to preserve your sanity or the sanity of others, or to limit excessive and prolonged excitement barking.

Training Strategy #1: Teach a “Quiet” Cue
Dogs have a hard time understanding the concept of “don’t bark,” as it’s a request for the absence of a behavior… which is weird. It’s much more effective to give your dog something active to do, especially if this activity is mutually exclusive to the behavior you want to see less of. To read more about teaching “quiet,” look at Strategy #2 above, in the frustration barking section.

Training Strategy #2: Give Your Dog an Alternative to Way to Express Their Excitement
There are lots of great alternatives to excitement barking. Here are just a few.

Ideas for Alternate Displays of Excitement

• Teach your dog to get a toy when they are excited, and either play with it or parade it around. This works particularly well for dogs with oral fixations. (Cough, Labs, cough.)
  
  
• Try giving your dog a “binkie ball” or stuffie to carry on walks. This works as a kind of “fidget” for your dog to help them regulate. It’s also harder for a dog to bark while something is in their mouth.
  
  
• Some dogs adore showing off any skills you have taught them when they get excited. Training offers a great outlet for energy and excitement. Teach your dog to spin in both directions. Play a round of nose-booping. Train your dog to hop on their hind legs.

Training Strategy #3: Teach Emotional Regulation
Working on emotional regulation/impulse control/remaining relatively calm is a GREAT strategy, especially for high-energy and high-drive dogs. Help your dog learn to generalize the importance of remaining in control by giving them many opportunities to earn their desired reward through various calming behaviors. 

This kind of training utilizes the Premack Principle, encouraging a less dog-desirable behavior by rewarding it with a more dog-desirable behavior. Simply put, the Premack Principle uses life rewards, or the freedom to engage in a desirable activity. Here are a few examples:.

The Premack Principle in Action

• Teach your dog that all doors open if (and only if!) they are calm, cool, and collected.
  
  
• When playing fetch, teach your dog that you only throw the ball after a minimum of five seconds of silence on their part.
  
  
• Teach your dog that they only get their dinner time food puzzle when they are sitting and taking deep breaths.
  
  
• Capture calming behaviors like yawning, shaking, stretching, and sniffing to increase the probability of them happening with more frequency. Consider devoting some training time to getting one or more of these behaviors on cue and then proofing them around gradually increasing distractions.

MENTAL OR PHYSICAL PROBLEM BARKING

Sometimes barking can signal an underlying medical condition. If you cannot make headway with any of the training solutions above, it may be beneficial to have your pup evaluated by a veterinarian or a veterinary behaviorist. 

Dogs do not always show pain or distress in the ways humans do; even though there may be no overt signs of pain such as limping, whining, crying, or guarding a specific area of their body, your pup may be hurting, and expressing their pain through barking. There are also several mental disorders to consider, such as anxiety, OCD, and (in senior dogs), Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. 

Seek professional help if needed. If your dog’s barking is not lessening, despite your efforts, consult with a professional dog trainer or behaviorist for personalized guidance.

Lesson Activity

Recommended Media for Barking

• Watch: Dog Training Pattern Games, Leslie McDevitt, Clicking for Confidence and Connection, YouTube
• Watch: When Sh*t Hits the Fan: Defensive Handling or Emergency Scenarios, Michael Shikashio, Aggressive Dog
• Watch: The Calm Settle for Dogs and Puppies, Emily Larlham, Dog Training by Kikopup, YouTube
• Watch: Rewarding Calm and Settled Behavior, Guide Dogs for the Blind
• Listen: Get Your Dog To Calm Down With This Common Sense Protocol For Relaxation, Susan Garrett, Shaped by Dog
• Listen: Dogs Should be Seen and Not Heard?, Dr. Holly Tett, Letters from your Dog
• Listen: Should I ignore my dog when they bark, whine, cry??, Dr. Holly Tett, Letters from your Dog
• Listen: Did You Know? Barking is a Reflex, Sarah Stremming, Cog Dog Radio
• Listen: How Do I Help My Dog to Settle, Dr. Holly Tett, Letters from your Dog
  (skip to 2:30 for content)
• Nerd Out by Listening: Leash Reactivity with Jessica Wheatcraft, Michael Shikashio, The Bitey End of the Dog
• Nerd Out by Listening: Brito’s Story and… Barking!,  Denise Fenzi
  (skip to 18:30 for associated content)
• Nerd Out by Listening: Settle Down, Hannah Brannigan, Drinking from the Toilet
• Read: The Magic of Management in Dog Training, the Academy for Dog Trainers
• Read: Teach Your Dog to Settle Down, Pat Miller, Whole Dog Journal
• Read: Reactive Dog Training: Tips to Help Your Dog Get Better, SpiritDog Training
• Read: Choosing the Best Dog Feeders and Puzzles, Cathy Madson, The Preventative Vet
• Nerd Out by Reading: Legit Luring the Treat Magnet, Hannah Brannigan, Drinking from the Toilet
• (Task sheets for the protocol can be found here.