One thing I feel that almost everyone can agree on is that obsessive barking is not fun. When you are sitting quietly and someone walking their dog goes by and your dog starts going crazy. Now I can bet trying to stop them you either yell or pull them back while they just get louder.
When we first had Zandra as a pup, we also had Missy. Missy, a wonderful dog, had a horrible barking issue. As I was still learning about my dogs I figured out the source of her bark. I did not want Zandra to start doing the same thing. So, we decided to cover her eyes when Missy would go into a barking fit. This kept Zandra from seeing what the bark was all about. This worked great!!! She is well controlled with her bark today. Now we are working with Bu baby. Right now, he thinks he is the man!! So now, he must be reminded that, yes, it is okay to bark and be alert, but then he needs to stop when told.
Just as much as he needed to learn that when he was told to stop or quit -- the kids also needed to learn something about yelling and controlling themselves.
I had to teach both Bu and the kids that all this noise was unacceptable.
So, I had to let them in on a secret.
A dog’s bark is the equivalent of them yelling.
It was like seeing the light click on!!
When you sit there and scream at them you also become loud. So, you are barking at them. So, try something new by changing their thinking. I told the kids what they are to do from now on is to command Bu to look at them. The key here is to give a command that they know well. You don’t want to tell them to do something when they are already frustrated at something that is causing the bark. Make sure you say their name -- the attention grabber -- then say the command you want. This, of course, is one of many ways to try to get that under control.
Of course there are other factors that you need to consider:
1. Why are they barking, and,
2. How do you feel when people come over or strangers walk by?
Most say "I like company," or "I don’t have an issue with strangers walking by" then, by all means, say that. If you do say that you have none of the above issues so that cannot be it, well then we need to figure out why. Pay close attention to the situation when the barking starts. Honestly, I did this with myself and found that I was the root of the barking. Once I changed my outlook my dogs followed. This goes back to me and Missy. I plan on sharing all of this in the upcoming classes. I never understood what was wrong until I thought long and hard. I pay attention to myself and her at the same time. Once I got to the core of my issues it showed through her. She was talking when I would not talk for myself - She made me understand me, a dog made me open my eyes to what I was missing. She was my strength when I was weak, and that is when my path was clear. I became stronger because of her, and I became self-aware and now I feel pretty good with my dog training adventure.