Dog Training Tips to Get Your Dog to Stop Barking and Add Structure to the Home

In this Denver dog training session we worked with Dax a ten-month-old Poodle and Corgi mix who needed help with separation anxiety and to stop people reactivity.

After I arrived I sat down to chat with his guardian about her main puppy behavior concerns and one of them was getting him to stop barking at people in the office and outside. I taught her how to use the counterconditioning method to change a negative association (Dax barking when he sees unfamiliar people) to a positive association by getting treats for not barking.

When dogs have separation anxiety and are reactive to people they often times feel anxious overall, one way to help with this is to build rules and structure in the home to help alleviate responsibility that the dog takes on themselves. One way to do this is to incorporate the Leadership Exercise, which you can watch below.

As you can see in the video Dax took a little while to lay down. However, this exercise helps him look to his guardian for leadership and direction which will help him reduce anxiety and help him stop barking. Remember to only use the Escalating Consequences if he tries to move into the invisible boundary that was set. In this video Dax did not intrude into the boundary so we didn’t need to disagree with him.

By the end of the dog behavior session Dax was learning how to relax and look to his guardian for direction. He was able to go for a walk without barking at the neighbors and happily took treats for his good behavior. I want to remind his guardian to continue to use the Petting with a Purpose technique to reward him for good behavior and use the Escalating Consequences to disagree with him. We wrapped up this puppy behavior session with Dax’s Roadmap to Success video, which you can watch below.