Free Tips to Stop a Dog Barking Problem Towards Strangers

For this Omaha dog training session we helped 6 year-old Dachshund Parker; pictured center with his roommates, 11 year-old Oscar and 6 year-old Pepper.

Parker’s guardians set up this in-home training session to work on his dog barking problem.

How to Stop a Dachshund From Barking

We taught Parker the focus exercise to help his guardians redirect him and stop him from barking at people.

Parker was very upset when I first arrived for this session. I had to wait a long time outside the door for him to calm down. I used some dog behaviorist tricks and within 20 minutes we were best buds.

Stopping a dog from barking and lunging at people starts with identifying why the dog is acting out in the first place. The dog was acting aggressive to new people due to thinking he was in charge of the house and humans. As a result, we spent a good portion of the session going over the day to day routine. I made a number of small suggestions to create a healthy leader follower dynamic.

To stop dog aggression, I shared some tips on greetings and setting the dog up for success. I also went over a great way to teach a dog to focus in a way that can reduce their stress. Best of all anyone can do this, even if you are not a professional Dachshund dog trainer. All you have to do is watch this free dog training video.

As you can see in the video above, the goal was to teach Parker to focus and redirect his attention to help manage stop dog aggression. Instead of using traditional luring techniques, I used a method where the human holds a treat in their hand and encourages the dog to make eye contact.

Tips for Preventing a Dog Barking Problem

By holding the treat at eye level and not moving it away, Parker must look up to get the reward. This approach encourages the dog to produce positive hormones like oxytocin and serotonin, which counteract the stress hormone cortisol, helping the dog calm down.

I marked the desired behavior with the word “focus,” and over time, Parker learns to respond more quickly and consistently. I also emphasized the importance of practicing this exercise with different durations of eye contact and in varied environments.

Initially, this is done indoors with minimal distractions, but once Parker masters the skill, the exercise can be moved outdoors and on walks, and the guardians can eventually use just the verbal cue “focus” to prompt the dog to look. This method can also be used proactively during walks to prevent reactivity to potential triggers like people or other dogs.

The key to success is consistent practice, and after about a month, if the dog still struggles with reactivity, more advanced techniques can be introduced. I recommend that all members of the household practice this exercise with the dog. It’s important to work with one dog at a time to avoid confusion, especially in multi-dog households. With patience and persistence, this method can help reduce unwanted behaviors like barking and nipping, and improve overall focus and attention.

The guardians will need to practice this exercise frequently to stop their dog from barking and nipping people who come to visit the home. I’d love to see them arrange to have a friend or neighbor come by every day for 1-2 weeks to significantly gain some traction. Dog behavior modification is very much a numbers game.

I hope the lifestyle changes we discussed will help reduce the aggressive dog behavior. If it continues in a month, I asked the guardians to call me. We can then schedule a follow-up session to explore the issue further.

To help the guardians remember all the positive dog training tips we covered in this in home Omaha dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video.