Barking At Strangers
Though barking is perfectly normal behavior, even a desirable one in some circumstances, in our modern world it can prove problematic. It can be embarrassing, and often annoying, to have your dog bark at everything and anyone in view. For friends and neighbors that don’t like dogs, a barking one is an awful and even scary experience.
The good news is that this behavior is completely fixable. The bad news is that it won’t be the easiest thing to teach. But with enough time, patience and these approaches, you’ll get your pup relaxing – even when strangers knock on your door!
What makes a dog want to bark at strangers?
There are numerous things that cause your dog to bark. Some of them are learned behaviors, while others have been bred into them over centuries – which as you can imagine can be tough to train out!
The biggest factors are the following: Their territorial Instincts, excitement and in many cases, fear. Getting to grips with these factors is the first step in learning how to overcome them, and understanding how hard it can be for your dog not to bark in these situations.
Territorial Instincts
This is especially true for certain breeds of dog. For example, guard dogs like Dobermanns or German Shepherds have been bred to bark at potential threats. Though this may sound like your dog is aggressive, it can simply be the dog alerting its “pack” that someone new is coming towards them. This’ll usually take the form of the dog taking a stiff pose, raised ears and potentially, in severe situations, lunging.
This trait is great for a guard dog, but can otherwise be unwanted. A strange dog barking can both pester neighbors and alarm anyone that is not used to dogs.
Excitement
The exact form this will take will vary from dog to dog. Some will approach seemingly happy, with a wagging tail and relaxed ears but will still bark.
Though this behavior may look threatening to some, it’s just the pup being overwhelmed with excitement to the extent it bursts to the surface. I think we can all relate to that!
Of the three major factors, this is definitely the most positive as it’s just your dog being a people-pupper, but can be just as scary for strangers as the others.
Fear
Just like the rest of us, new things and new individuals can be scary. New people can be a potential threat, especially if your dog has had negative encounters with people.
Similarly, it’s possible that your dog has been getting positive reinforcement when they bark at people that then leave, like mail men. If your dog only barks at strangers and not people they know, fear could be the dominant factor in why they’re barking.
How to fix it!
Unlike other aspects of dog training, like sitting or crate training, teaching your pooch not to bark requires an adaptive approach depending on when and where they bark.
If your dog only barks at strangers during walks, it will require a different strategy than if they only bark at home, or at the vets.
Avoidance
This is a good tactic to use in the short term, or if you have an unexpected guest you couldn’t have prepared for. Either by keeping the dog in another room or outside, you can prevent your dog from seeing and rushing to your guest.
While this avoidance tactic may seem like, well, avoiding the problem, it can be invaluable in maintaining the consistency that is so important with training. You’ll want to ensure that you’re prepared for any training session and ready for each meeting your dog has with a stranger while this problem persists, as much as is feasible.
Distraction
One way to deal with the issue is an approach called the distraction method. Though it’s similar to the avoidance method, it can work wonders long term, especially in an outdoor situation with a stranger that won’t be interacting with the dog.
When a stranger is approaching, distract your dog with a noise to refocus their attention on you. This can be anything, from calling to them, dangling your keys or using a clicker if your dog is used to that. Once your dog’s attention is on you and they’re no longer barking, make them sit and remain focused on you. Showing them a treat is a great way of doing this. Once the stranger has passed, reward the dog with a healthy dog treat and lots of praise.
With enough reinforcement, your dog will eventually stop associating strangers as being more interesting than you, and that barking doesn’t produce a reward!
This method is less useful for strangers that will likely interact with your dog, and therefore isn’t as recommended if you’re dog is barking at home. For that, you should try:
The “Spot” trick
Similar to crate training, having a safe, calm area for your dog is a great way to make your dog feel safer towards a new experience. This will only work if your dog already knows “sit” or “lie down” and “stay”, so focus on those first if your pooch hasn’t nailed those.
To start, choose a spot that you can send your dog when someone new arrives. It can be anywhere, but ideally will be away from the front door.
Begin to train your dog to “go to his spot”, by throwing a treat to his spot where you want him to stay. You’ll likely need to repeat this but eventually your dog will associate the phrase with the positive reward. To reinforce this behavior without a treat, simply pretend to throw a treat and then give plenty of whatever positive reinforcement your dog loves when they go to the spot!
With this, when a stranger arrives tell your dog to go to his spot. This can be done to introduce the stranger to the dog in a safe space, but it can also be used to send your dog to a calm space if they do start barking.