How to Not Lose It When Your Dog Won’t Stop Barking

You could practically hear it as you read this headline, couldn’t you? A high-pitched howl strong enough to shatter eardrums, followed by the insistent blaring of a thousand short, staccato barks. The noise warps time and space, making seconds feel like years. The longer your dog screeches, the more you begin to wonder, Is this ever going to end, or is this just my life now? 

Rest assured, if your dog loves to bring the ruckus, you don’t have to live like this forever. But training your dog to stop barking will require technique, patience, and, more than anything, empathy. When our dogs bark, they’re trying to tell us something. It’s up to us to figure out what they’re feeling and how we can help. 

You can train your dog to turn down the noise.

When confronted with a particularly vocal dog, certified professional dog trainer Courtney Bayer always returns to the same mantra: Your dog isn’t trying to give you a hard time; your dog is having a hard time.“ I tend to tell myself that a lot,” Bayer says, “so I’m not taking it personally.

If you can feel the frustration building up, remember that your dog isn’t trying to annoy you. Do some deep breathing and try to redirect their focus. Bayer suggests physically moving the dog somewhere else to reset their brains and give them something better to do. In the long run, you’ll want to come up with a plan to limit your dog’s triggers and train them to channel their feelings another way.

Training is never a one-and-done solution. Certain tips and tricks might help, but at some point, you’ll likely find yourself right back where you started, plugging your ears and resisting the urge to pull your hair out. Whenever impatience sets in, Bayer suggests thinking of your dog like a toddler who’s trying to express big feelings but can’t find the words. “It kind of puts you in a better mindset than, ‘Oh, my dog is embarrassing and making me frustrated and angry,’” she says.

That framing can help you better manage the task at hand: figuring out what’s freaking your dog out, and then, how to fix it. Bayer has a handy acronym for this process: “M.E.A.T.”

• Management means working with the environment to eliminate stimuli. (Think: closing the curtains when your dog barks at strangers he sees through the window.)

• Enrichment means making sure the dog has enough exercise and mental stimulation to avoid boredom throughout the day.

• Associations means identifying how your dog feels about certain objects and creatures (like birds, cars, or strangers) and desensitizing them to their fears.

• Training involves coming up with gentle, reward-based strategies to modify your dog’s behavior.

As you begin training, try to be compassionate toward yourself and your dog. This will be a learning process for both of you. Find other people who are dealing with the same thing, either within your local community, in a training class, or online. These groups can be a vital source of communal support as you all find one-on-one time to work with your dogs. “It doesn’t have to be specific to barking,” Bayer says. “It helps with bonding. Training will go faster.”

Depending on why your dog barks, your training process may vary.

Why is my dog barking?

Want your dog to bark less? Start by figuring out why they are barking in the first place. Then, you can address their emotional needs.

Alert barking

These are the kinds of barks that catch us off guard when we’re on an important Zoom call and the mail carrier arrives. Some dogs see themselves as the protector of the house, and they take that job very, very seriously — no matter what else we might have going on. If you want them to bark less, try thanking them for their services. 

No, seriously. Consider “thank you” as a training cue to let your dog know they’ve done a good job and can stand down. Bayer suggests using a warm tone — something like, “Thank you for letting me know the UPS guy is here!” Then, you can reward them for coming away from the window or door and engaging with you. 

“Anecdotally, I feel like that helps them feel recognized,” Bayer says. “Like, ‘OK, I’m doing my job, and I’m getting rewarded for it, but I don’t have to continuously bark and lunge at the window.’” If your dog is barking out of fear (say, of other dogs), try desensitization training.

Bored barking

If your dog is barking out of boredom, that’s on you to fix. “If they’re bored, that means they’re not getting enough exercise and enrichment,” Bayer says. When your dog starts, say, barking in the yard after sitting outside for a few hours, punishment is not the appropriate response. Instead, step up your pet-parenting game and engage with them in a constructive activity, like exercise or playtime.

Demand barking

This one, Bayer admits, is “everyone’s least favorite.” Your dog wants something and will stop at nothing until they get it. Unfortunately, rewarding this behavior by giving them whatever they want all but guarantees they do it again.

“You have to take away what the dog wants, which is eye contact, touch, speech, or whatever you’re holding,” Bayer says. “Remove yourself, like a reverse timeout.”

Fair warning: If you try this, your dog will likely resort to an “extinction burst,” barking even more in a desperate Hail Mary. Usually, Bayer says, “that’s when people give up or give in, and they say the training isn’t working.” But if you stick to your guns and push through this stage and occasionally reward your dog for his silence, you’ll get the behavior you want. 

Frustration barking

This one’s similar to demand barking, Bayer says, except that in these cases, your dog is focused on something other than you. Maybe they want to play with one of their dog friends on the other side of the fence, or they lost a toy under the couch. Whatever it is, they want it and can’t get to it. 

In these cases, Bayer says, you’ll want to withhold your assistance much like you would with a demanding dog. Train your dog to come to you for help instead of barking at the source of their frustration.  

When should I see a vet?

If your dog barks out of separation anxiety — meaning, they essentially have a panic attack any time you leave the house or a room— speak to a vet as soon as possible. In these cases, training alone is often not enough. “There almost always has to be some kind of medical intervention if it’s true separation anxiety and not just boredom,” Bayer says.

As mind-numbing as barking can be, the right solutions will bring you and your dog closer than ever. And if you and your pup ever need a break, there’s always dog yoga.