Barking in the house....

[Tammy and Violet]

Any suggestions on barking in the house... Violet sees people, dogs outside and barks loudly..I have tried ..no hush....but she can not hear me because of her loud bark ...Thoughts ?

[Pat and Traveler]

Laurie, you want more daughters and dogs??!!  What a brave woman you are!  :)

[Adina P]

As with most commands, you have to train them out of the heat of the moment or set up a mild situation so you are ready to teach.  Doesn't matter what words you use, if they aren't trained to respond to those words, it won't work.  Can you get in front of her, grab her collar, or keep a leash on her so you can physically block her from what she's barking at?  A long time ago I taught Rosco to quiet down to the phrase "Thank you, that's enough."  It sounds nice to say.  Granted, I haven't kept up training for a couple of years so it's long untrained, but I really liked using that phrase and I think I taught it with treats. 

[Bonnie and Kona]

Brilliant! I put a leash on Owen in the house when he is barking. We call it "the silencer". The minute I put it on he lays down and goes to sleep next to me. Go figure. It's not his walking leash but I think it just reminds him he is not in control.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We work on this a lot. We have been very successful. It was a gradual progression and we train with this daily.
1. We taught speak
2. We taught whisper, by whispering back to the dog. Spud lowers his bark way down.
3. Shhhh- meant no speak. With no speak, I do use the hand sign whisper with a verbal -' shhh'

It's never 100%. That would be like you never speaking all day, but still trying to communicate with your family.
My feelings are that sometimes the dog really is trying to communicate with you.
I see many people just want it to STOP. But what might work better is to find out what or why they ate barking.
When I immediately respond to what he is barking at and give another command it helps.
For example, Spud was very upset by a giant toad the other night. He would NOT pass the toad and continue inside. He just stood there barking. When I found out WHY he was barking, I gave the commands, leave it, then the command ' go around'
He was barking because he did not know how to handle the intruder.
This won't work though if you aren't with him. Say for example, you are at work all day, live in an apartment.
Do you know how to teach 'Look'? Or ' watch me' ?
I really think the dog is doing what a dog is suppose to do!! Barking is a good thing, however teaching focus and adding a few commands will help.
We like that he alerts us. We let him know, 'it's okay' ' that's enough' shhhh and turn and walk away.
This takes trust. And takes a lot of practice

[F, Calla & Luca]

I agree with you. I don't want to stop my dogs from barking. What I would like is a more effective way to stop them when they bark because they hear a neighbors car door or someone has the audacity to walk past our yard. I need to work on getting them to speak I think so I can work on Quiet, the command I use.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

F., EXACTLY!
In our situation my husband works some of the worst and inconsistent hours.
He is a light, very light sleeper. It is hard on all of us, including the dog. That said, Spud is a chatter box and I think that's great too!
So it can be taught. It can be taught to appropriate timing, situation, circumstance.
Funny, but we even have a time when we just let him go outside and all-out Bark.
Bark bark bark :) We tell him
Enough- shhhh and end it. But we do allow him his say every now and then :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

F- whisper. Say 'quiet' in a really soft tone. Continue saying it softyly until their bark lowers. Reward. That's the beginning. Dogs do respond to voice fluctuations, tones, pitch. For us, it came easy.
If course- don't friggin JUMP never has. So no, not all dogs are alike.
PS- I would also add a hand signal when teaching this one! Very important because they really don't always hear you especially at first.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Ha, maybe shouting quiet is not the best idea but surprisingly it works ome times. No doubt shouting treat would work more often : )

[Adina P]

I wouldn't mind NOT hearing barking inside my house.  It's that first ear-drum exploding bark or two that makes my heart jump and blood pressure sky rocket and frustration mount.  I can stop them, but I hate having to. 

If dogs could better evaluate what to bark at, that would be awesome: moms with kids in strollers, elderly people on a walk, postal worker, squirrels, dogs on walks with owners, cats friends coming over, and other safe visuals are OKAY...vs....Masked Men, Potential Robbers, Foes, Stray Dogs, ...NOT OKAY--GO AHEAD AND BARK! 

[Tammy and Violet]

You guys are all so smart.. my own personal trainer.  Thanks again !

[Kevin]

Has anyone tried a bark collar? I know my father-in-law used that on their pup and she is a dream. Never barks and is very tame.

But are bark collars humane? What are people's thoughts?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Very inhumane IMHO. And you never know when a dog barking just might save a life.