How to stop a dog barking at home

A dog barking at a passer-by, another dog, a car, etc., is basically saying this is a problem. It wants to protect the home and the pack. The dog’s job is to alert you if it sees a problem, but it is your—the leaders job—to decide what to do about that problem. Hence we need to acknowledge that the dog is doing its job and let it know what needs to be done about it. In most cases that means, nothing.

How to stop a dog barking at home – What to do:

Step 1 – Thank: When your dog is barking at something—passers-by, another dog, a car, etc.—just say something like “Thank you, that’s all right,” without looking at your dog. You can do this from a distance.

Step 2 – Look: If your dog keeps on barking pretend to have a look by going close to where the dog is barking. Show it, that you are investigating the perceived danger and say something like “Don’t worry, that’s ok.” Again, do not look at your dog directly, instead you are pretending to check out the “danger” or “problem”.

Step 3 – Isolate: If your dog keeps on barking after this, it is not respecting the decision you made, which is that you everything is fine. In this case isolate your dog (see “Leadership – Using time-out / isolation”).

Please note: The words you use are not important at all, but the energy they carry is. You basically want to convey in a calm and affirming way that your dog is doing a good job, but in this case nothing needs to be done. It is more a matter of fact statement than a direct communication to your dog. It is important to not give your dog attention through eye contact, otherwise it might start to use the barking as a way to get your attention in the future.