Dog Obedience Training Tips

Barking is something that can be tricky to deal with.  It is the only means your dog has to communicate and in some situations you might encourage barking.  This can be so confusing for your miniature schnauzer.  He doesn’t always easily understand why sometimes he can bark and sometimes he cannot.  This makes it challenging to put an end to annoying barking.

Reasons for Barking

Obviously, barking is most often done to communicate something.  A dog could be trying to warn you, greet someone, express emotion or simply just wanting to let other dogs know he is around.  It is a very natural behavior that all dogs will do.

Barking becomes a problem, though, when it is excessive or annoying.  Some dogs tend to bark for no reason at all and they can become a nuisance, especially to neighbors.  Many times such annoying barking comes from boredom.  A bored dog is often a barking dog.

With a miniature schnauzer, barking is often a side effect of a lack of stimulation.  If your dog stays alone a lot then they will likely develop a barking problem.  Your dog needs socialization and when he doesn’t get it he will try to get your attention by barking.  Chances are when his barking gets annoying you yell at him, so gets the reward he wants.

How to Stop the Behavior

One rule of putting an end to barking is never to yell at the dog to stop.  Yelling gives them attention and in some cases, may make the dog think you are talking back to him.  If you start with a puppy and you yell every time they bark, then you are setting yourself up for trouble as the puppy is basically being taught barking gets a response so keep doing it.

Here are some tips on how to deal with barking:

-        While it may seem counteractive, teaching your pup to speak on command can actually help stop barking.  This is because once they learn to speak you can teach them to respond to the command for quiet.  The way to do this is to use a reward.  Show them the reward and teach them to speak.  When they speak give it to them.  Soon they will bark every time they see the reward.  At this point you can show them the reward and they will bark and then you will teach them the command for quiet.  When they stop barking they get the reward. Eventually they learn that the reward comes when they are quiet.

-        If your dog barks a lot when you are not home, try leaving on a radio or the TV.  The sound often soothes them and makes them feel like they are not alone.

-        Make sure your dog gets regular exercise.
Barking can be controlled.  Most owners who have trained their dog and keep them well exercised will not have issues with excessive barking.  You will have to work on training your dog and curbing the behavior, but eventually you should be able to teach your dog to respond with a simple quiet command.