Cattle Dogs

Barking Excessively (Part 4):

How Your Dog Can be Quieted With a Squirt Gun

If you own a pet that barks excessively and will not allow you or the people next door to sleep, it is your duty to work with your dog and devote a small amount of time to give him the message that random barking is not allowed. Only a couple of easy steps are required to communicate to your pet to train him successfully, described below.

Utilizing the Squirt Gun

This system is extremely successful in the training of most dogs. Not only is it simple, it is also more civilized in its attempts to make the animal understand. It is cheap and needs only water, a scheme and little else to finally quiet your dog and satisfy your neighbors and yourself.

Keep in mind that your pet can observe what reactions its behavior produces, whether good or bad, so give him about a week to train. If he is an excessive barker he will need just that much time to finally understand.

All you have to do when he is barking is to put a happy face and shoot your pet between his eyes with the squirt gun. This should be done with a spoken cue like “OUT” or “STOP IT.”

Quietly return to your home and be sure to duplicate this method whenever he acts up. As long as you constantly keep this up and make it your goal, believe that your pet wants you to shoot him again whenever he barks! Follow these three easy procedures to keep him in line:
1. Surprise him with a spray of water.
2. Give a loud verbal cue.
3. Continue whenever your dog barks.

Your Dog is More Intelligent Than you Think

You might not believe that this is actually effective, but try it for a couple of days and you are guaranteed to achieve some great results, and a quieter pet. Suddenly, your dog will understand that barking excessively is not acceptable and will be loathe to be shot between the eyes over and again. He has great intellect and will learn by the repetitiveness of your actions. After seven days, he won’t be having any fun getting squirted and will comply.

He will realize that whenever he is silent, he will not get sprayed with water from the ridiculous toy. When it has been about a week, if he steps out of line again, just repeat the same verbal cues without using the actual gun. He’ll remember when he was squirted along with the loud cues and he will cease to bark.

Content written by Eric Johnston of Oh My Dog Supplies, check out our complete assortment of carriers for dogs online.