What can be more obnoxious than a dog who just won’t shut up? Maybe it’s your dog barking at the window at 5 in the morning. Or every single time someone comes to the door — and even long after the person leaves? Or all day after you leave?

You're at home, trying to relax, and then it starts. Your dog is barking a lot, again…

The constant barking is driving you mad. Maybe it also wakes you up at all hours. You don't know what to do about it. You've considering using shock collars, but you don't like something harming your loved dog.

We know what you're going through. It's very frustrating trying to stop your dog from barking excessively when you can't talk to him as you would do with a person. The rest of the dog owners, who don't have this problem, think we are "cruel" people trying to shut our dogs. We clearly know they are wrong.

We love our dogs, but having excessive barking at home can bring a lot of problems in the long term.

We understand this. We have thousands of dog owners coming to us every day, begging for a final solution.

Sometimes the situation truly interferes with quality of life. We had one dog owner with a 2-year-old dog, who barked at his owners all day long — whether they were chatting with each other or even when one of them was trying to have a phone conversation. It was really difficult for them to live a normal and peaceful life under these circumstances. Fortunately for them, they solved the problem within 48 hours of trying our method.

And sometimes the situation can get legal. In communities with stringent noise ordinances, violations could lead to eviction or other action, says the American Veterinary Medical Association, or AVMA.

Up to 7 percent of dogs seen by veterinary behavioral practices are evaluated for excessive barking, but that number “may underestimate the prevalence of this problem,” notes the AVMA. In one survey, the organization points out, “almost 13 percent of owners identified this as a concern.” 

Dogs bark for as many reasons as people talk, many of those reasons built-in genetically. For instance, says Dr. Dodman, terriers bark to save their lives, whereas shelties are simply super-reactive. When it comes tokeeshonds, Dr. Dodman explains, “it’s their job. Bred in the Netherlands as barge dogs, it was once their job to protect their owners’ barges and the property on those barges as the boats went up and down the canals. Barking was a way of driving people off, deterring them,” a warm-blooded alarm, if you will.

As for beagles, Dr. Dodman says, their barking is “for any and no reason.” Some dogs, just like some people, have to keep talking.

Of course, there are also social reasons that dogs bark. They use their voices as a means of communication to inform, attract, or repel. “I’m over here” or “Come back,” or “Get a load of this!”

And then there are the territorial reasons, like the keeshonds have: “Stay away”; “Someone is coming”; and so on. That said, dogs live in a world with people, and sometimes a dog’s incessant or ill-timed barking becomes too disruptive for human comfort. That’s when something needs to be done. But what?

Absolutely no. We are totally against devocalization surgery, also known as de-barking, devoicing, or bark softening, which is an operation performed to resect, that is, remove, varying amounts of the vocal folds or cords, which are composed of ligament and muscle and covered with mucosal tissue. It is inhumane and should never be an option, If you don’t like a dog that barks, get a cat.

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, a branch of the Humane Society of the United States whose membership consists of veterinarians, states that “views of humane treatment of animals in both the veterinary profession and our society as a whole are evolving,” and “many practicing clinicians are refusing to perform non-therapeutic surgeries such as devocalization.” They lump it in the same category as declawing, ear cropping, and tail docking.

“These procedures provide no medical benefit to the animals and are done purely for the convenience or cosmetic preferences of the caregiver,” the association says.

What’s more, according to the AVMA, the procedure has only “variable success and is associated with some risks that are supported by published case studies.” Among those risks: General anesthesia, Postoperative discomfort, and Potential complications like bleeding, swellings, infections, pneumonia, and others.

Behavior modification is key to changing a dog’s habits that you find unacceptable, including the habit of barking excessively. This guide will teach you to completely modify your dog's barking behavior in the long run.

The first step on our list will be the fastest and easiest one. We call it rapid progressive behavior change.

We use this as the first step since it is the easiest to do, the fastest, and the one with the best results.

For this method, we use our BarkMute bark collar. It detects every time your dog barks excessively and produces an ultrasound plus a vibration progressively as a result of detecting your dog barking.

This collar produces no shock, pain, or any stress to your pup. We are totally against shocking collars, we think harming your dog for him to stop barking is a cruel methodology.

We got thousands of dog owners fixing their dog barking problem just by using the BarkMute collar for a couple of days. We are talking about a long-term solution, not just a quick fix. That's why we choose this as step 1: Simple, fast, and easy.

If you need more information about the BarkMute collar, click this link or the button below.

You can read more of them on the BarkMute collar page.

We won't be detailing how the collar works here as the collar already haves detailed information on its page, plus the collar already come with instructions.

Almost all of the dogs that try Step 1 of our Ebook changed their behavior regarding barking completely. If you want to keep working on your dog, you can follow the next steps.

Excessive barking is often the result of pent-up energy. If this is the case, the solution is simple: release that energy in more productive ways. For example, does your dog receive a daily walk? Can you make the walk more challenging with a bicycle, a backpack, or by walking on an incline?

Can you provide more mental challenges, such as herding, agility training, or simple obedience games? There are many, many ways to increase the challenges in your dog’s life. Find one that you enjoy that your dog can participate in safely.

Imagine being locked in your house all day lying on the couch. There will come a time when you need to discharge energy in some way. Dogs do this by barking excessively; they discharge stored energy.

Try walking your dog once a day for 7 days in a row. Does your dog keep barking constantly? Take it out 2 times a day for 7 days in a row. Is he still excited and barking all the time? Try taking it out 3 times. In the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. You can even go for a run with your dog.

If you are not willing to take it out for a walk or this doesn't work as you thought, we recommend continuing with step 3. If, for some reason, you have not tried the collar yet, we recommend that you try it and see if something improves. Remember that it has free 30-day money-back guarantee.

Constant barking can be irritating, but you won’t be able to correct the dog behavior problem if you are frustrated. Animals don’t follow unbalanced leaders. In fact, your dog will mirror your energy.

If you’re frustrated, he will be, too! And barking is a great release for that frustrated energy. Take a moment to curb your own internal barking first.

This is a crucial step while dealing with excessive barking. Stay calm, remember, s t a y c a l m.

Once you are able to do that, stake your claim to stop the barking. Is your dog barking over and over again at the same object, person, situation, or place? Then you need to step up and claim that stimulus as your own. Use your body, your mind, and your calm-assertive energy to create an invisible wall that your dog is not allowed to cross. Do it with 100% dedication and focus, and the results may surprise you.

Tell your dog to stop barking using a look, a sound, or a physical correction. But don’t stop there. Your dog may pause and then go right back to what he was doing. His body relaxed, but his brain was still on alert. Be patient. Wait until your dog completely submits before you go back to what you were doing.

If you believe your dog is barking to get your attention, ignore them for as long as it takes them to stop. Don't talk to them, don't touch them, don't even look at them; your attention only rewards them for being noisy. When they finally quiet, even to take a breath, reward them with a treat.

To be successful with this method, you must be patient. If they bark for an hour and you finally get so frustrated that you yell at them to be quiet, the next time they'll probably bark for an hour and a half. They learn that if they just bark long enough, you'll give them attention.

Example: Barking when confined

• When you put your dog in their crate or in a gated room, turn your back and ignore them.
• Once they stop barking, turn around, praise them and give a treat.
• As they catch on that being quiet gets them a treat, lengthen the amount of time they must remain quiet before being rewarded.
• Remember to start small by rewarding them for being quiet for just a few seconds, then working up to longer periods of quiet.
• Keep it fun by varying the amount of time. Sometimes reward them after five seconds, then 12 seconds, then three seconds, then 20 seconds and so on.

Gradually get your dog accustomed to whatever is causing them to bark. Start with the stimulus (the thing that makes them bark) at a distance. It must be far enough away that they don't bark when they see it. Feed them lots of good treats. Move the stimulus a little closer (perhaps as little as a few inches or a few feet to start) and feed treats. If the stimulus moves out of sight, stop giving your dog treats. You want your dog to learn that the appearance of the stimulus leads to good things (treats)!

Example: Barking at other dogs

• Have a friend with a dog stand out of sight or far enough away so your dog won't bark at the other dog.
• As your friend and their dog come into view, start feeding your dog treats.
• Stop feeding treats as soon as your friend and their dog disappear from view.
• Repeat the process multiple times.
• Remember not to try to progress too quickly as it may take days or weeks before your dog can pay attention to you and the treats without barking at the other dog.

When your dog starts barking, ask them to do something that's incompatible with barking. Teaching your dog to react to barking stimuli with something that inhibits them from barking, such as lying down on their bed. 

Example: Someone at the door

• Toss a treat on their bed and tell them to "go to your bed."
• When they're reliably going to their bed to earn a treat, up the ante by opening the door while they're on their bed. If they get up, close the door immediately.
• Repeat until they stay in bed while the door opens.
• Then increase the difficulty by having someone ring the doorbell while your dog is in bed. Reward them if they stay in place. 

When you brought this dog into your life, you made a commitment to provide the care he needs. Prevent dog barking, and other dog behavior problems by calling in a canine professional to help him cope with a behavior issue.

If you believe your dog is barking reactively to strangers, family members or other dogs, or if the above steps prove unsuccessful, consider reaching out to a certified professional dog trainer for help.

You really did everything that was on your hands. A certified professional dog trainer has the experience needed to handle this. They usually work with hundreds of dogs a month, so they know how to reduce your dog's barking for sure.

Almost all of our customers solve their dog's barking problem during the first 4 steps. Unfortunately, a minority of our customers don't have the time to do the step after step guide. We always recommend allocating some of your time, maybe 30 minutes per day, to try and do these steps. If you are not able to do it, we definitely recommend hiring a professional dog trainer.

We work with many dog trainers throughout the entire country. Contact us at info@barkmute.com and we can give you the next available trainer in your area.

We know that it is not always easy to train our dogs. We have created this guide after years of experience working with dogs and their owners. We have customers thanking us every day for the change we have made in their lives. We are very proud every time we receive a photo from them with their dogs.

We hope this has been useful to you. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.

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