September 6th, 2010 by Jenny

You are exhausted.  Your neighbors are frustrated all of the time.  You have a recurring headache.  You are exhibiting all the leading indications of a frustrated pet owner and now you need to learn how to train your dog to stop barking at night.  Just like cat’s meow and rooster’s crow, dogs communicate through barking, and it’s arbitrary and impractical to expect your dog to never bark.  However, it’s actually possible to educate your dog when it is appropriate and incongruous to bark.  Controlling your dog’s bark should be an obedience command instead of an unpredictable reprimand for something done wrong.  

Whether you know it or not you are probably in part answerable for your dog’s barking problem.  There are potentially times where you tell your dog no, other times where you ignore him, and potentially other times where you’ve even inspired him to bark.  This leaves your dog confused not being certain whether barking is good or bad.  

When your dog starts barking, dangle a treat in front of him after the first couple of woofs and let him know “stop barking”.  Most dogs will stop instantly when they see the treat.  

After a few seconds of no barking, praise the dog and give him the treat.  Continuously work with your dog and increase the quiet time with each repetition before handing over the treat.  With a little patience, you are going to be able to get to a pair minutes of quiet time and your dog will begin to understand what the command means.  Just remember that breaking an old habit can be tricky, so you will need to work on this training habitually if your dog is in the practice of barking at insignificant things.  

If you want to train your dog to stop barking at night, then it may be necessary to bring him indoors while you work on his training.  Often placing a radio near your dog can help to keep it from being alarmed and barking at each slight noise it hears.  Ensuring your dog gets lots of exercise and attention in the day can help too.  A happy, relaxed dog is less sure to bark than a nervous, anxious one.  Eliminating a bad barking habit will take time, but keep it up.  It’ll be worth it.

Go to my Chihuahua training blog get much more articles on training a bulldog.