Dog Training: Here’s A Quick Way To Stop Your Dog From Barking

Website design By BotEap.comIt was five in the morning and Timmy wouldn’t stop barking. Timmy is a Jack Russell Terrier and belongs to my mother-in-law. We were watching him over the weekend and his barking was already driving me crazy.

Website design By BotEap.comI rolled over in bed and informed my wife that Timmy would learn the word “Hush” today.

Website design By BotEap.comBarking is a normal and natural behavior for dogs. Barking becomes a problem when it becomes excessive. You can control your dog’s barking. The easiest way to do this is to teach your dog the word “Hush.”

Website design By BotEap.comIf your dog is barking and you start yelling “Hush”, “Shut up”, “Stop barking”, all you are doing is paying attention to the barking that can reinforce the behavior.

Website design By BotEap.comTraining comes down to applying a consequence to any word or command you give your dog. The general rule of thumb is that when you want your dog to behave for you, i.e. sit, sit, stay, etc., you apply a positive consequence. When you want your dog to stop performing a behavior, that is, stealing, begging, jumping or barking, apply a negative consequence.

Website design By BotEap.comLet me tell you that when you decide to apply a negative consequence you must be careful. The application of positive consequences has no side effects. Apply negative consequences yes.

Website design By BotEap.comBack to the barking. Your dog is doing a behavior that you want to stop, so let’s apply a negative consequence. The easiest negative consequence to apply in this situation is the breath spray.

Website design By BotEap.comGo to your local drugstore and buy some binaca breath spray or Listerine breath spray. Now you can pair the word “Silence” with the negative consequence of the breath spray.

Website design By BotEap.comYou see, your dog won’t like the sound, smell, or taste of the breath spray. It is a simple negative consequence that will not harm your dog. Now when your dog starts barking, you can firmly say the word “Hush” and then reach down and spray into your dog’s mouth.

Website design By BotEap.comRepeat if your dog starts barking again. It is important to remember that we want your dog to learn the word “Silence”. This is done by pairing the word with the spray. “Hush”, spray, “Hush”, spray. After a few times, your dog will get the picture.

Website design By BotEap.comOnce your dog learns the word “Quiet” and you don’t need to use the spray, your dog will have learned the word. Once this happens, you can start rewarding your dog for not barking. So if you say “Quiet” and you don’t need to use the spray, you can reward your dog by saying “Nice quiet” and give your dog a reward.

Website design By BotEap.comNeedles to say, little Timmy learned the word “Hush” and we had a much more enjoyable visit with him.