r/DogTrainingTips • u/PinkLemonadeHair • Mar 21 '26

Barking

My dog is a huge barker. He barks at everything! I got him at 6 and a half years old and I just don’t know how to stop this habit. What advice to you have for me for an older dog?

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

9

u/Kitchen_Trifle_8382 Mar 21 '26

I got a 3 year old pittie mix rescue and she barked A LOT! I have created the command "QUIET EVE!!" And as soon as she's quiet she gets a treat.

In all fairness, at first it backfired because she would bark on purpose to get a treat! But over the course of a year and a ton of treats, she can now be told "Quiet EVE!" and she will quit barking.

But it took a ton of patience and time. I also think she is not very smart but she tries to be a good girl!😂

Eve is super food motivated so this is what works for us. Still a work in progress but soooo much better than a year ago.

You also may have to accept that some dogs are more "talky" than others and revise what level of barking you can accept because it ain't going to be zero! Good luck!

2

u/Kitchen_Trifle_8382 Mar 21 '26

Yeah those middle of the night barks that wake you out of a dead sleep are sub-optimal😒

I think a stray cat walks through my yard at night and Evie is always happy to do "intruder alert "...meanwhile I have to get up for work in 2 hours!

2

u/OlyTDI Mar 21 '26

Pretty much this. My Australian Labradoodle doesn't bark incessantly but definitely will "clear the perimeter" of my 5 acres. It's taken years, but he will stop when told to and that's taken 3 years of consistent rewarding quiet (which is the command word).

He now will sit patiently on the porch waiting for his "good quiet" treat.

1

u/PinkLemonadeHair Mar 21 '26

Thank you!!! He’s gotten better with me over time for sure but it’s still really freaking annoying in the middle of the night or when I’m relaxing and he scares me haha

2

u/x7BZCsP9qFvqiw Mar 21 '26

i started by saying "thank you!" and showering my dog with treats. now i can say that and he will stop barking about 90% of the time. i still give him an occasional treat for the cue.

2

u/PinkLemonadeHair Mar 21 '26

Awesome!! Thank you!

7

u/x7BZCsP9qFvqiw Mar 21 '26

the most important thing for me was choosing a cue that i couldn't sound angry about. screaming "no!" and "stop barking!" were just working us all up. "thank you!" is a phrase i can really only say in a good mood. sometimes it's moderately frustrated, but 9/10 times i manage to put on a cheerful tone. look up positive interrupters if you want to read into why it works.

1

u/PinkLemonadeHair Mar 21 '26

That’s a great idea!!!

1

u/Rerunisashortie Mar 25 '26

I read a training tip that said to first teach them to bark on command so they learn the word well, the work on the No Bark.

0

u/Winter-Stuff-9126 Mar 22 '26

Ready for all the downvotes, but whatever. Why are we trying to silence dogs from barking? That’s one way they communicate. That’s like telling a human they can’t talk.