# Stop barking?



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

How do you teach a dog to stop barking once he's started? I'm talking about when they're barking at someone in the yard or at the door. We want them to bark, but then at some point we want them to shut up. I know the standard advice is to teach them to bark on command and then it's easy to get them to stop, but all my dogs have barked on command, but that doesn't mean they were easy to stop.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I just say 'ok, no bark'-but that doesn't always stop Kacie. She barks when my 18 yr old son comes down the stairs! 
My sons friends tell her to quiet when they come in(kids are coming and going all the time, they can never sneak in or out here!)She does quiet when told, unless she doesn't know the person.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

The problem is that Rocky is barking from fear/nerves/anxiety/whatever you want to call it. I _really_ don't want Kopper to learn that when somebody comes to the door or walks in the yard, we bark uncontrollably and don't shut up, but I'm afraid that's what he'll learn from Rocky's nervous/anxious barking.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Kacie and Onyx are way more reactive than Karlo. He does not bark when they do...different thresholds and temperaments. He does bark now and then but not nilly willy like they do and when I say quiet, he obeys, because of his biddability.
Hopefully Kopper will show the same as Karlo!


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

I would pick the worst barker and correct them, the others will follow. I started this at home because all 4 dogs were barking at the window when people rang the bell or running outside to bark at the fence. My trainer said to "claim the spot" and tell them No or leave it or some trigger word. It took about 2 wks and my dogs have mellowed out a lot. It's actually crazy quiet now, very nice.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i taught my dog "quiet" and "no barking".
my dog stops barking on either command.


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## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

Can you redirect with a treat and another command? Give them a "stop barking" command (whatever word you choose), show the treat, and ask for a sit. Give the treat when the dog complies. Repeat as necessary.


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

I use "enough" and when I said it very firmly, he would pause and look to me and I would mark and reward...caught on pretty quickly.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

When Stosh is inside, he's allowed 2 barks to alert us that someone's coming in the drive, then he has to stop- I also used 'enough'. He soon learned to whisper bark after 2 loud ones, it's really cute.


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## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

This is a good question. Saber likes to bark at her 'friend' (neighbor dog) out the window. It's a friendly bark but omg she barks the whole time he is in his yard unless I stop her. I started out using "leave it" because she knows that already (click & treat when she comes away from the window) but I think I am going to also teach "quiet".

If your dogs knows the "place" command you might try that when they bark. However that would only work at home or when you have the "place" with you.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

What worked very well for me was to have a dish of treats when some one came to the house. I would have the treats away from the person another room and tell them "quiet" or "quiet gets cookies" just the word alone shut the loudest dog up. The dogs couldn't care less about what was going on after that. We had someone doing work at my house and he was in the next room talking to my husband. All 3 were sitting nicely in the kitchen awaiting a treat. My husband was suprised they remained so quiet and he could hold a conversation with the repairman.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Are you wanting to teach Rocky to quiet on demand, or are you looking for ways to prevent Kooper from picking up on Rocky's behaviour?


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Castlemaid said:


> Are you wanting to teach Rocky to quiet on demand, or are you looking for ways to prevent Kooper from picking up on Rocky's behaviour?


My main priority is to keep Kopper from picking up on Rocky's behavior. But if I can teach an old dog new tricks, I'd love to teach Rocky to quiet on command. n


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## DeeMcB (Nov 28, 2010)

I've been wondering the same...we live across the street from a University so there are folks walking in front of our house constantly. Maxx is kind enough to let me know EVERY SINGLE TIME!


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Keeta was a barker, and it was a huge job to teach her to quiet - but that is a priority for me also - constant barking drives me batty. Gryff would be pretty good exept, as you fear with Kopper and Rocky, he picked up on Keeta's barking habits. I didn't have to specifically teach Gryff to not bark, he just listens pretty well. If all else fails, I platz him (like in protection training - he goes from 100% barking to instant quiet with a platz), but haven't had to do that in the house yet. 

For Keeta - oy! What a job that was. Since she was a rescue, she had no idea on what listening and obeying meant - nothing in her brain was connecting that I was telling her something, and she had to do as I say. So I understood from the get-go that she did not understand anything and will take a bazillion repetitions for her to "get" it. 

So, what I did (for several weeks, it seems) was the instant she started barking at something, I dropped everything and ran to her, and gently but firmly held her muzzle shut while saying "Quiet". I let go and in the few seconds she kept her muzzle shut I would praise, and give treats. Start all over again and distract from wanting to bark. But it had to be a priority - no matter where I was, what I was doing, I would drop it and do the quiet thing with her muzzle held close. In a couple of weeks she was making the connection, I could see the wheels in her brain working. I always made a big deal out of her being quiet. Soon I just had to show up and say quiet - then it worked from a distance. The biggest breakthrough was catching stuff that I knew would get her barking and giving her a quiet before she even started, (she might "harumph" a bit, but I'm fine with that). I praise her for not barking, so sometimes it seems like she is being praised for doing . . . nothing! 

It has worked really well. Most of her barking in the house is at other dogs she hears (I live outside of town, lots of outdoor dogs in the area). There is a different quality to her barking for when there is a car/people coming up the driveway, or when she is alerting to a tresspasser, like a fox, a loose dog, or a moose. In those cases, I let her bark until I check it out, and thank her for alerting me - when she sees that I am aware of the issue and I have now taken control, she will stop barking on her own and actually looks quite pleased with herself!

Though if you are dealing with an older fear barker, I don't know if the same methods would work - though might be a good time to start working on Kopper. I have found that with time, after quieting Keeta a megakilomillion times, she just barks less in general - as if it isn't even fun to start if she is just going to be shushed anyways!


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Castlemaid said:


> ...
> So, what I did (for several weeks, it seems) was the instant she started barking at something, I dropped everything and ran to her, and gently but firmly held her muzzle shut while saying "Quiet". I let go and in the few seconds she kept her muzzle shut I would praise, and give treats. Start all over again and distract from wanting to bark. But it had to be a priority - no matter where I was, what I was doing, I would drop it and do the quiet thing with her muzzle held close. In a couple of weeks she was making the connection, I could see the wheels in her brain working. I always made a big deal out of her being quiet. Soon I just had to show up and say quiet - then it worked from a distance. The biggest breakthrough was catching stuff that I knew would get her barking and giving her a quiet before she even started, (she might "harumph" a bit, but I'm fine with that). I praise her for not barking, so sometimes it seems like she is being praised for doing . . . nothing!


Thank you for these very specific instructions . . . I was planning to attempt round one today during garbage pickup. Wouldn't you know it, neither dog barked today. I'm sure other opportunities await but I was ready for it this morning! 

My dogs aren't horrible barkers but I really want them to stop barking on command.


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## webzpinner (Mar 7, 2011)

Jakey stops indoor barking, whining, or any other "naughty" behavior with a snap of the fingers. A finger snap is a "stop what you are doing and wait for redirection". Seems to work great. My wife or I will snap our fingers, tell him to go lay down, or go get a toy, etc, followed by lavish attention for a job well done etc. 

Jakey's still a work in progress. He doesn't stay put when put on a "task" for very long.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when my dog was whining or barking
excessively i would put my hand around his
mouth and say "quiet" or "no barking".
when he stopped he got pets and praise.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

I use "SSSHH" and it distracts her long enough to stop. Sometimes I have to repeat to let her know I mean it. Another thing I do sometimes is mock her by barking and she looks at me like I am nuts. (she may be right)


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i taught a dog to bark by barking at it.



PaddyD said:


> I use "SSSHH" and it distracts her long enough to stop. Sometimes I have to repeat to let her know I mean it. Another thing I do sometimes is mock her by barking and she looks at me like I am nuts. (she may be right)


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## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

Been working on this with Saber, as she barks at dogs out the window. When she pauses the barking, I say "quiet" and click. She turns around and comes to me for her treat and I say "good quiet! very good" etc... usually she settles now.


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