Have a pup that just doesn’t like being alone, find that every time you leave your pup your neighbors begin to complain due to your dog barking?
This can be frustrating to deal with but, no worries. In this article, we go over effectively training your dog not to bark when left alone.
Training Your Dog Not To Bark When Left Alone The Simple Answer:
To train your dog not to bark when left alone ensure your pup is tired, has a chew toy, and you practice coming and going for short periods while you leave your dog alone.
Why Do Dogs Bark When Left Alone?
The first step in training your dog not to bark when left alone is to first uncover why your dog barks in the first place when left alone!
Many dogs bark when left alone for one of 3 reasons:
Unknowingly Reinforced:
The first reason your dog may bark is that you may have unknowingly reinforced your dog for barking without even realizing it!
The way to reinforce a dog for barking when let alone is by giving your pup attention.
For instance, if you leave your dog in your room alone, your dog barks, you enter the room your dog is in. Then you just reinforced your dog barking. Your dog may have learned that if he/she barks long enough then you will come back.
Left Alone For Hours:
Many times where the barking issue arises is when dog owners leave their pups alone for hours on end every day this is especially true with new pups.
The reason this causes an issue is that if every you leave your pup alone you leave for hours on end your pup quickly realizes that every time you leave your dog will be left alone for hours and hours on end.
Separation Anxiety:
This last reason why your dog may bark when left alone is due to a clinical reason called separation anxiety.
If you suspect that your dog has separation anxiety some sighs to look for are extreme destructiveness, anxious whining, self-harm, excessive grooming, and more.
The truth is many dogs don’t truly, have clinical separation anxiety and, more often than not just fall into the first two reasons.
Training Your Dog Not To Bark When Left Alone
Now that we know some of the reasons why dogs bark when left alone. Here is a sure proof way to train your dog to stop barking when left alone!
Set Your Pup Up To Succeed
First, since we are beginning to break down an old habit and begin teaching your pup a new one, we want to ensure that we set our pup to be in a position to be as successful as possible when it comes to stopping your pups barking when left alone.
Exercise
To set your pup up for success you want to ensure that in the beginning your pup is physically fulfilled, that means you don’t want to leave your pup alone pent up with energy because that will just be a recipe for failure.
Instead, ensure that you are fulfilling your pup’s exercise requirements. For instance, if you have a german shepherd then 5-10 mins of walking probably aren’t enough of an outlet for your dog.
Self-entertaining Puzzle/ Chew Toys
Now that your pup is physically fulfilled the next way to set your pup up to be successful is by providing your pup something to do while he/she is alone.
I recommend; chew toys and puzzle toys! These two will ensure your pup isn’t just bored doing nothing being alone. Puzzle toys are great because they not only keep your pup busy when you’re gone but also provide your pup with mental stimulation while alone!
Chew bones are great because chewing is the equivalent of watching tv for dogs, just entertaining!
If you find that your pup has tons of toys laying around and still doesn’t like any of them the easiest thing to do is pick up all his chew toys and puzzle toys only giving your pup access to one toy at a time.
What tends to occur a lot if you allow your dog to have access to all his toys all the time those toys begin to lose value. Instead, give your pup one toy at a time and swap that toy for another when you notice your pup is losing interest.
Also, make sure your pup only gets his favorite chew or puzzle toy exclusively when left alone.
Here are some chew toys and puzzle toys we recommend:
Getting Your Pup Comfortable Being Alone
Now that we know how to set your pup up to succeed we want to begin training your dog not to bark when left alone; here’s how.
- – Place your dog in his crate or room
- – Give your pup his puzzle toy or chew toy
- – Walk out of the room
- – Wait until your pups stop barking
- – Walk-in and give your dog a treat.
- – When in the room remain calm no excitement
- – Walk out the room for just a second then walk back in and reward
- – Walkout again, this time wait about 15 seconds
– Walk-in and reward
After doing this a couple of times there should be a period where your pup isn’t barking. From that point on we want to begin randomizing when we come and go.
For instance, you can leave for 1 minute or 7 minutes. Our goal here begins teaching your dog that when we leave he isn’t going to be left for hours on end. As your pup progresses begin gradually increases the time your pup is alone. The more you do this the more your pup won’t know if you’ll come in 2 minutes or 20.
For this to work you should dedicate a day to practice this before you do need to leave your pup alone.
Fine Points
You want to provide your pup with small amounts of alone time every day even if you’re in the next room watching tv. When you do this your pup will become more and more comfortable being alone.
You can also get a pet camera like the Furbo which has 2-way audio and bark notifications. You can use the camera to keep an eye on your pup and even talk to your pup through the Furbo app and ask your pup to be “quiet.” when In this article, we go over effectively training your dog not to bark when left alone.
Conclusion
Training your dog not to bark when left alone is as simple as putting in some time with your pup to ensure your dog begins to feel more and more comfortable when left alone. That way when you leave, it isn’t a big deal for your pup or your neighbors!
To awaken your dog’s true potential contact us here or Give us a call!
Receive your free dog training consultation and set your pup up for success!
