How to Get Your Dog to Stop Barking at the Ball - Effective and Simple Tactics

How to Get Your Dog to Stop Barking at the Ball - Effective and Simple Tactics

A dog barks for many different reasons. Barking is not their way of aggravating or annoying you; it is their means of communicating with you. One of the biggest causes of your dogs barking is excitement. Think of their barks as your laughter, when you are paying attention to them and playing with them that is when they are their most excited.

The Answer to the Question

To answer the question "how do I get my dog not to bark at the ball" you have to first realize that it isn't really barking at the ball. It knows that when you pay attention to them, you are playing with them and the ball. Your dog is barking because it is excited to have your full attention, the ball is a symbol of play time for your pup. With that pointed out there are steps that you can take to teach your dog that barking at playtime is not an appropriate behavior.

One of the most important things that you have to remember when you are trying to get your dog not to bark when they are playing, never raise your voice. If you tell your dog to stop but do so by yelling at them, than they are going to think that you are playing.

They Think You're Encouraging Them

They are being loud because they are excited so it will seem normal for you to be loud too, they will think that you are encouraging them and often will just bark more. Try talking to them in the same voice that they here normally. Even without raising your voice you can talk sternly tell them to "stop barking". If they do not listen and they continue to bark at the ball give them one more chance. Get down on the ground level with your dog and tell them to "stop barking" if they still ignore you and continue to bark get up and walk away without another word.

Your dog is not going to catch on the first couple times that you do this, but eventually they will realize that they are doing something to cause them to lose their play time. Your dog does not want you to be angry with them so most dogs will modify their behavior. It is equal as important for you to remember to reward your do is it is for you to remember not to raise your voice.

When you tell your dog to stop barking and they listen to you, you have to immediately reward them, using a doggy treat to do this will give them something to associate good behavior with. It has been scientifically proven that dogs respond better to positive reinforcement than to negative reinforcement so remember to be patient and understanding with them. You are teaching your dog a modified behavior so it is going to take a little bit longer that it would if you were just training them to do a trick.

If You're Out of Luck

If you have tried and tried and still cannot get your dog to stop the barking, than there are other methods that you can try. For example a worst case scenario would be the stop barking collar. Since these collar use punishment to train your dog, it should be a last action plan.

The collars work by giving your dog and unwanted side effect every time they start to bark. Collars vary on the level of punishment; the least which is what is recommended is a squirt of citrus in the mouth everything they open it to bark, all the way up to an actual electric zap. Your dog will soon associate the discomfort with barking and stop doing it.