Dog Barking Indoors

How can I stop my dog from barking inside the house? I started a thread about a month ago as we received a threat from a neighbour regarding the dog barking. We decided to never leave the dog alone outside. Whilst she is happy in the house, it hasn't really stopped the problem.

She still barks at everything and anything. If someone walks past the front of the house, she will bark (she can't see them, but she can hear them). If someone closes a car door, she barks. If a tractor goes past the house, she barks. If the neighbour Jack Russel starts barking, she will bark louder. Once she starts barking, she will continue for at least 15-20 minutes.

The main issue is that I work from home, and I can often be on the phone when she suddenly starts barking. This obviously appears unprofessional and my new boss has asked if it's going to happen all the time. Not a good start to a new job.

I appreciate it's usually best to remove the cause of the barking, but without moving house to the top of a mountain in Scotland, I don't think we can remove the cause.

How can I train her to not think she needs to bark at everything near the house?

Many Thanks
Andy

One method can be to teach a dog a "speak" and a "quiet" command. By putting the bark on cue, it can be easier to make her realise the difference between that and the quiet command.
If the sight of people going past makes her worse, you could try window film to block her view without blocking all the light, we have it at the current house and will be buying some for the new house too.


If she is an anxious dog then a DAP plugin/spray/collar may help make her a bit less edgy about her surroundings.

This is easily trained out, although this behaviour has now become a habit, a dog that barks for this long would drive ME nuts never mind anyone else.

I live on a busy corner and my dogs have learned that normal traffic, whether pedestrian or motor, is to be ignored.

Look here, for a tried and tested solution, and as you are at home this is simple for you to sort

http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...nicbarking.htm

Thanks, I will give that a try. It's probably going to take us some time, but we (I) have to do it.

From reading that link, I assume I need to work in the word before any noise is around? What happens if someone walks past the house, I use the word but she ignores me? Do I keep using the word, or leave it?

Yes say the word "Thank you" and give her food.

If your dog is now barking so much and for so long in the house you may be at risk from a Noise Abatement order from the EHO if your neighbours complain again.

Hi, good thread - I have a similar situation to the OP where I work from home most of the time, and am on conference calls a lot.

Our previous dog pretty much never barked (ever!) but our new dog Coco can be a bit barky, especially when he hears people walking along the street outside

Sometimes a radio left on or other background noise will stop them hearing every single thing out there.