How to Stop Dogs Barking When You're Not Around

There are a lot of issues that might crop up with your dog, and most of them can be solved when you're home.

However, if your neighbours inform you that your dog is barking all day when you're not home, what can you do to reduce that barking and keep them from giving you angry stares?

Before you dive right into a variety of behaviour correcting actions, make sure that your dog has everything they need when you're not home.

Give them water, make sure they are fed, and then give them a comfortable place to sleep and relax.

Most dogs will simply sleep while their owners are away. If they don't have somewhere they feel at ease sleeping, they may grow restless and bark in their boredom. Dog crate training can be a great tool for this, though it needs to be done while you are home.

Teaching Your Dog to Be Alone - How to Control Your Dog Barking Problems

The key to reducing the barking is to teach your dog how to be alone. It can be hard and it can be made harder if they have anxiety problems, but it is doable with a little focused effort. To start with, stop reassuring your dog when you leave or return home.

If you praise your dog and give them attention constantly before and after you leave, you create a sense that they can affect whether you are home or not and they will often bark when you leave. They will want you to return to get that attention and will keep barking until you do return.

However, by holding back that attention 10-15 minutes after you return, the dog will learn that you are in fact not going to give them attention whenever you return. They won't have anything to be anxious about and will learn to relax while you're away.

Additionally, you should reduce how much praise and attention you give to your dog for not particular reason. If you constantly give your dog attention when they have not done anything, they start to feel like it is always coming.

Alternatively, if you teach them that you will only give them attention when they have earned it, they will know that they are not missing out on anything when you go away to work for the day.

Training Your Dog to Be Alone

All the dissociative training in the world will do no good if you don't take the time to train your dog to be content when you're away, and to know that you'll return. First, make sure they get enough exercise between your time away. That means walking them each morning.

It also means spending time with them, playing and exercising before and after you leave and return each day. If they are bored, they could be barking for the sake of barking. Second, you need to train them to be alone and prevent dog barking issues.

Do this by leaving them in a room or their crate for short periods of time. You should never give them attention if they whine or bark on their own, however. Put them in their safe space, and then leave them alone for 1-2 minutes. Come back and let them see you've returned.

Then, stretch the time you're away up to 3-4 minutes, then 10 minutes, and so on until you can leave for hours at a time without the dog getting upset.

The last thing you should ever do when your dog barks or gets upset with you leaving is to yell at it. They'll either think you're joining in on the fun, or that you're giving them the attention they're asking for.

In either case, you're defeating your own efforts by giving them even that little bit of negative attention. Ideally, a bit of training and some careful efforts will make it easy to leave your dog alone in just a few days.

If you're still struggling after following the information contained in today's newsletter, then I recommend you get yourself a copy of "How to Train Your Dog or Puppy" as it contains detailed advice including step by step photos, video and they even give you a private online consultation with their dog training team to help resolve your dog's specific behavioral problems.

* http://ebook.gooddogtrainingadvice.com