Your dog's bark is its voice. It is how your dog expresses itself. As a dog owner, you can have a little fun with it too - with the right kind of dog training in place, you can get your little furry friend to bark on command. To have your dog bark when there is an intruder in the house can be particularly useful too. Of course, it can be a problem to have too much of a good thing. Dogs in a domestic setting can over time learn to release pent-up energy with barking that never ends. Dog training methods exist though that can help your dog understand how to bark on command and also how to quiet down when asked to. Sure, you can find as many dog training philosophies as there are trainers. Here is one though that most trainers seem to agree on.
Getting results out of this method can take you the best part two months. You need to give up about a half hour a day training your dog with it, split into two sessions each day. Your first step would be to pick a choice phrase or word to use as your command to get your dog to bark, and another phrase or word to get him to quiet down. Most people like the sound of "Speak" and "Hush", but you can take your pick. Anything will work just as long as it's short and you are consistent with it.
Now when your dog begins to bark, what you want to do is to get his attention to have himfollow your command to quiet down. You could clap your hands or whistle to get his attention, and give the command for him to be quiet. Your dog is going to hesitate for a second, and that's when you give your dog a treat. This should reinforce the fact that you give treats when he stops barking. You can do this several times a day when your dog barks, and hand out treats when he quiets down. Once you dog learns the part where he's supposed to be quiet, you can move on to the next command where you get him to bark on demand.
Getting your dog to bark on command is a little bit easier (they do like the sound oftheir own bark). Have a family member go outside, close the door, and knock or ring the doorbell. This is when your dog will actually want to bark. Right when he's about to bark, you give the command for him to do it. You can show that you are pleased by handing out a treat. When this happens several times, your dog will learn to associate the right command with the barking action. You just need to make sure that you are consistent with your rewards, and that you're genuinely pleased in a way that your dog can see. That's all your dog asks for - to see that you are pleased.
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