An Easy Way to Stop a Dog From Barking When People Move
By: David Codr
Published Date: February 25, 2020
For this Santa Monica dog training session, we shared tips to stop a dog from barking when people move to help 2 year-old Chihuahua Coby.
Coby was pretty anxious when I arrived. He barked a lot, darted around and was very suspicious when I offered my hand or a treat. His pupils were as dilated as possible (a sign of stress or anxiety).
Although the lighting in this pic below is harsh, it was taken from the end of the session and the pupil dilation is much better. Pupils that are not dilated is an indication the dog is at ease. Laying down nearby is another indicator a dog is relaxed.
After sharing tips to help Coby see his humans as leaders through Petting with a Purpose and Passive training, I shared tips on how to exercise him quickly and easily. Exercising an anxious dog before its exposed to things it fears or dislikes, or prior to practice and training is a great way to set them up for success.
Next I showed the guardian how to stop a dog from barking when people move. I used some Operant Conditioning, a learning method often used by the best Dog Behaviorists in the world.
This is an easy way to stop dog barking if you go slow and practice often. Best of all, anyone can teach their dog to stop barking at people using this approach, even if they are not a professional Chihuahua dog trainer.
I love sharing these tips to stopping dog barking in videos and our website. People sometimes ask why I post free dog training tips or the secret to stopping dog barking for free. Well its an easy question to answer. With all the “balanced” dog trainers who try to stop dog barking with punishment, bark collars or shock collars, I see this spreading of information as my duty to help dogs and humans everywhere.
Another issue the guardians wanted help with was Coby’s fear of the harness. I decided to tackle this dog behavior problem using a Conditioned Emotional Response or CER.
After we shot the above video on how to help a dog get over a fear of the harness, the guardian successfully used it to get Coby to put on a sweater, another thing he disliked doing before this session. I always love walking a human through these positive dog training exercises and seeing them light up when they help their dog.
To help the guardian remember all the positive dog behavior tips I shared in this in home Santa Monica dog training session, we filmed a roadmap to success video.
Categorized in: Dog Behavior