How To Stop Dogs Barking Due To Excitement

Understanding Why Dogs Bark (Pt 3) – Learn How To Stop A Dog Barking Due To Being Excited.

Excitement is the state of feeling great enthusiasm and eagerness, which in my opinion are two of a dogs most beautiful traits, however, if all of that enthusiasm and eagerness is unharnessed and is expressed vocally, it can become quite overwhelming.

So, after reading the article ‘Why Dogs Bark‘, you think your dog could be an excited barker, and you’re wanting to know what do you do to curb their need to bark when excited?

As with all expressions of excitement, enthusiasm and eagerness, behaviours tend to be much bigger, more exuberant and less restrained, so in dealing with these behaviours, we must start by teaching restraint!

Teaching impulse control is as simple as teaching your dog to wait, to leave a treat or to walk calmly at your side in an environment where there are lots of exciting things to sniff and play with, so where do you begin?

When teaching impulse control, I always begin by teaching the dog to leave a treat and I do this by having two treats available. I sit on the floor and place one treat on the floor, quickly covering it with my hand.
When the dog sniffs my hand or tries to get the treat, I ignore the behaviour, but when they begin to step back, or look away from the treat I reward the behaviour with the treat from the other hand. After a few repeats of this behaviour, the dog will begin to associate that moving or looking away from the treat will earn them another reward.
The next step is to add in the words or commands, which you would do once the dog reliably responds to the exercise by stepping or looking away. Once the dog can reliably leave the treat on the ground, you can begin to extend the training by making the time that they have to wait longer, or by lifting the treat onto the seat of a dining chair, or indeed moving away from the treat and asking your dog to still leave it.

But how does leaving a treat help to reduce barking, I hear you ask?
By teaching a dog to leave the treat, we are teaching them some self-control, we are teaching them to not impulsively act on their first instinct, to be more patient and to trust that the thing which they desire will undoubtedly be the reward for their patience.

After training them to leave the treat, you may wish to train them to wait at a doorway, to be calm in exciting situations such as greeting new people or dogs and eventually, to not bark as a result of that excitement. This may seem like a very long way around to teaching your dog not to bark when it is excited, but in order for them to learn the restraint necessary, we must start small.

Excitement barking is generally seen in puppies or dogs’ who have not had as much exposure to certain situations, and those with impulse control will quite often be the dog who jumps up to greet people, who runs in willy-nilly at the dog park or who maybe even steals food from the kitchen counters. Teaching impulse control is a sure-fire way to begin the process of helping an excited barker to keep it in the box.

If you have a question, or would like to make a comment, please feel to do so below.

Bec (Pet Behaviourist)

BSc (Applied Animal Behaviour & Training), Post Graduate Certificate in Education.
National Diploma Animal Management.
Aset Care of Animals Award & CENTRA Award in Animal Care.