Other Causes Of German Shepherd Barking Problems
German Shepherd barking problem is one of the most common and annoying problems that German Shepherd dog owners have. I remember when my dog was 7 months old, he gave me quite a headache by barking at every dog that he met outside the house.
Out of confusion, I punished him and that made his behavior even worse. That is my first lesson: never punish, shout or using bark collar to control your dogs excessive barking. All of those methods will create negative feelings in your dog, the negative feelings that will turn into even worse aggression.
So I started to search for the causes of his barking. Heres what I found:
Summary German Shepherd Barking Problems
German Shepherds were originally bred as herding and guard dogs. For this reason, barking is a breed-specific function for German Shepherds.
They are not known for excessive barking for no reason. If your German Shepherd is barking a lot at anything that moves or every sound they hear it is a training or other behavior issue.
The tips and techniques discussed above will help to identify the causes and triggers of their barking and find a way to solve the issue.
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Exercise Your German Shepherd
One of the best ways you can stop your german shepherd from barking throughout the night is to make sure youre exercising them enough.
If possible, you should let them off the lead every day for an hour, however, for a lot of people this isnt possible. When you cant get them off the lead make sure youre still giving them a good long walk.
Walking is not only good for their body but also good for their mind. If youve ever stayed inside all day, you know how frustrating it can become and its no different for your german shepherd!
As well as walking them, it can also be a good idea to play with them throughout the day and give them puzzle toys to keep them entertained.
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Your German Shepherd Feels Threatened
If your German Shepherd feels threatened in any way, you can expect your dog to start barking.
The same holds true if your dog perceives that you are being threatened. Because the German Shepherd has such as strong guarding and protective drive, your dog will always be on the lookout for potential threats and will likely bark as a way to alert you.
German Shepherd Barking At Night Heres Why
When your dog starts tobark loudly at night, it can cause a lot of problems. Everyone in your homestarts to struggle with sleeping well. And if the barking is loud enough, yourneighbors may start to get annoyed as well. Learning what causes your dog to bark,and how to prevent these late-night outbursts, will help make everyone a littlehappier.
When your German Shepherd barks at night, there are manyreasons. They may have separation anxiety, feeling lonely, or they hearsomething outside the window. Moving your dog to a new room, giving them plentyof exercises to wear them out, and setting up a routine can make the barkingstop.
This article willexplore a few of the most common reasons your dog is barking in the first placebefore we start looking at a few of the steps you can take to prevent barkingat night.
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If you work long or inconsistent hours you may worry about how long you have to leave your dog home alone. How long can dogs hold their pee? Are you going to come home to an accident? Letâs take a look at some of the factors that can help you make the best and safest choices for your pooch.
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How To Stop My German Shepherd From Barking At Strangers
Find out how to stop my german shepherd from barking at strangers. Learn how you can prevent barking and help your dog act calm around guests and visitors to your home.
A German Shepherds bark is usually his way of trying to communicate with his human companion. Some people appreciate their German Shepherd barking to alert them if someone is at the front door. But if a German Shepherd is barking excessively, it may be a sign that your dog mistrustful or uncomfortable in the presence of strangers. The best way to stop your German Shepherd from barking is by using training methods to control the dogs barking so that he doesnt bark excessively in front of strangers. The main reasons why a German Shepherd barks include
1. Genetics2. If he is trying to greet someone3. If he is trying to warn a threat4. Fear of humans5. If he is excited6. Boredom8. If he is in pain9. If he was trying to get his human companions attention10. Loneliness
A German Shepherd might start barking excessively at strangers if he is trying to greet the person or he might be trying to be territorial or he might be afraid of humans.
STEPS TO FOLLOW IF YOU WANT TO TRAIN YOUR GERMAN SHEPARD TO CONTROL HIS BARKING AT STRANGERS
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A New Sleeping Arrangement
This is a common issuefor barking. When you change the sleeping arrangement for your dog, they willstart to miss the comfort they are used to. This may make them bark. If youcan, let them go back to their normal sleeping arrangements, and the barkingwill stop.
As your dog gets older,their body and minds may regress. This can result in dementia. When thishappens, your dog may bark randomly, and it may continue through the night.This one is a hard one to fight again.
Desensitize Your Dog To The Stimulus
Gradually get your dog accustomed to whatever is causing them to bark. Start with the stimulus at a distance. It must be far enough away that they dont bark when they see it. Feed them lots of good treats. Move the stimulus a little closer and feed treats. If the stimulus moves out of sight, stop giving your dog treats. You want your dog to learn that the appearance of the stimulus leads to good things !
Example: Barking at other dogs
- Have a friend with a dog stand out of sight or far enough away so your dog wont bark at the other dog.
- As your friend and their dog come into view, start feeding your dog treats.
- Stop feeding treats as soon as your friend and their dog disappear from view.
- Repeat the process multiple times.
- Remember not to try to progress too quickly as it may take days or weeks before your dog can pay attention to you and the treats without barking at the other dog.
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How To Teach Your German Shepherd Quiet
One great thing you can do is teach your german shepherd quiet. This command can be used every time you want them to be silent, such as when theyre barking when they shouldnt be.
However, before you learn to teach your german shepherd how to be quiet, youre going to have to teach them how to speak.
Teaching Them To Speak
To teach them to speak do the following:
- First of all, trigger barking in your dog. This can be by getting them excited or showing them something that normally causes them to bark.
- When they bark say speak or whatever you want the command to be. Once youve done this, give them lots of attention as a reward. (German shepherds enjoy barking anyway, so it may not be a good idea to give them a treat.
- Keep doing this, and eventually, theyll begin to associate the command you give them with barking.
Teaching Them To Be Quiet
Now that your german shepherd knows how to speak, the next step is to teach them to be quiet.
- Start getting your german shepherd to speak. Do this a few times until theyre excited again and keep barking.
- Now place a treat under their nose and say quiet. When they stop barking feed them the treat.
- Keep doing this over the course of a few days and after a while, theyll soon learn what quiet means, and more importantly, that they get a positive experience from it.
While this is just a brief explanation, you can get more in-depth training from Brain Training For Dogs!
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Why Is My Gsd Barking Constantly
To control that annoying barking sound your GSD makes, you will first need to get to the root of it.
You cannot stop your dog from barking if you dont know whats causing it to bark in the first place. Many GSDs constantly bark because they do not like being alone. If you leave your dog alone for long hours and sometimes off the schedule, your GSD will react to it. It is natural for a dog to get upset if you do not give it the time it needs.
Your GSD might also bark when:
- It sees new faces in the house.
- It feels threatened by someone or something.
- It sees strangers.
- It sees a stranger entering your home.
- It hears another bark.
- It feels isolated or lonely.
- It wants your attention.
- Its suffering from separation anxiety.
- It is locked outside the house.
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How To Stop A German Shepherd Barking
Fortunately, if your german shepherd is barking there are plenty of ways you can stop them. However, the method you choose should depend on the reason your german shepherd is barking.
Here are some of the best ways you can stop your german shepherd barking.
Training Them
If you havent trained your german shepherd properly, then this is the perfect time to start. Whatever bad behavior your shepherd has, whether its barking, biting or growling, using the right training program is the key to having an obedient and happy pup.
The training program I love and highly recommend is Brain Training For Dogs.
With Brain Training For Dogs youll save yourself a ton of time and effort. Instead of banging your head against the wall trying to figure out why your dog wont listen, youll follow a path that has been tried, tested, and most importantly, thats given proven results. Not to mention the fact, youll be able to fit the course around your schedule, not fit your schedule around a trainer or obedience class.
So instead of worrying about whether theyre going to be well-behaved or not, youll only have to worry about how much fun youll have with them!
And in most cases its still going to be:
- Cheaper than hiring a professional.
- Cheaper than replacing everything they might break.
- And definitely cheaper than a lawsuit against you, if they decide to bite someone.
Exercise Them More
Some great games to play include tug of war and fetch.
Acclimate Them
Socialize Them
Remember Punishment Isnt The Answer
The truth is you shouldnt be punishing your dog. When theyre barking, theyre not doing anything wrong, rather just following their natural instinct.
What you should be doing is teaching your dog how to act appropriately. This doesnt involve harsh punishments, but rather putting the time in and showing them the right way to behave. Not only is this a lot kinder for your german shepherd but it also yields much better results.
And not only is punishment cruel, but it can also result in increased aggression, violence and an inability to learn in the future.
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How To Tell If Your German Shepherd Is Barking Aggressively
You can usually tell if your German Shepherd is barking aggressively, by the tone of their bark, their body language and the situation.
The tone of an aggressive bark will typically be lower in key and your GSD will be more intently focused on the target they are barking at. Additionally, their body language will be stiff, the hair may stand up on their back scruff and they may even growl or show their teeth.
Sometimes you can also tell if your GSD is a barking aggressively by the situation. If its a situation where they are normally barking out of excitement, like when someone comes over that they like to play with, they most likely arent barking aggressively.
However, if its a totally new situation where your dog doesnt normally bark, and they are presenting all of the symptoms above, then they could be barking out of aggression.
Check out my article discussing whether German Shepherds are aggressive, you may be surprised to learn that aggression is often misinterpreted.
Tips To Stop German Shepherd Barking At Other Dogs
Do you worry about your German Shepherd barking at other dogs a lot?
Wondering how you can put an end to this problem once and for all?
If you are tired of your pooch yapping each time he spots other pups, then it is time to take action.
Fortunately, German Shepherds are smart dogs, and getting him to stop barking unnecessarily should not be an impossible feat.
Today, well talk about the reasons why your German Shepherd barks at other dogs and how you can stop this behavioral issue completely. Lets get started!
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How To Reduce Your German Shepherds Barking
There are a number of things that you can do to reduce how much your German Shepherd barks and the best option will depend on why it is barking.
If you would like some more tips on how to train your German Shepherd, take a look at the .
Give lots of exercise
The first step to take will usually be to make sure that your German Shepherd is getting lots of exercise
If its not currently getting lots of exercise then allowing it to do so will help to make it feel better and to reduce its attention seeking behavior. This should also have the effect of reducing its barking.
You might find that the exercise that you are giving it isnt enough so youll have to find ways to make the exercise that it does get more efficient.
If you find that walking it isnt normally enough to wear it out then you should try to make it more efficient. You can do this by walking faster, walking further, walking in a hilly area or you could make it wear a doggy weight vest that weighs no more than 10% of its body weight.
You could also walk it with other dogs since it will get it to use up more energy by playing with the other dogs.
You could also teach it to play fetch. Its an effective way to give it a lot of exercise since it will get your German Shepherd to do a lot of sprinting without much rest in between. It can be difficult to teach dogs how to play fetch but I have talked about how you can teach it to yours in the past here.
Get its attention onto you
You can watch the video below to see how
Your German Shepherd Is Being Provoked
Sometimes, no matter how much training and socialization you provide and how hands-on you are in your German Shepherd dogs life, they will get provoked by something or someone.
When a GSD is provoked, barking is a natural and instinctive response.
While a well-trained German Shepherd is less likely to get provoked, if the circumstances are perceived as being extreme, it can still happen.
Examples here include these types of situations:
- The nearby presence of a female dog in heat.
- Another dog getting too close to the fence.
- A dog-ignorant person taunting or teasing your dog.
- The sudden appearance of a squirrel or another trigger animal.
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Do Not Reward When You Observe Dog Barking At Night
If your dog is generally quiet at night you should investigate if it is barking at night. Dogs are not heard saving the lives of their entire family as they bark when fires start from the stairs.But you dont want to make a big deal out of your nighttime visit.Otherwise, depending on what your initial reaction was to barking or winning, you may now even have a dog who has found that barking is a much better way to get your attention at 3am.
Example: Barking at passers-by
- As part of Room Management, control the behavior by closing the curtains or placing your dog in another room if they are barking at people or animals passing through the window in the room.
- If they yell at passersby while in the yard, bring them home. Do not leave your dog outside unattended day and night.
How To Get A German Shepherd To Stop Barking
The barking of our German Shepherd or any other breed of dog can become a problem for a variety of reasons.
But as dog owners it would be unreasonable to expect that our dogs never bark. Dogs are made to bark, it is an essential method of communication that dogs cannot do without.
The question is to get excessive barking under control and what we can avoid so as not to cause discomfort and at the same time not to disturb the normal behavior of our German Shepherd.
Before we can work on how to get a German Shepherd to stop barking, we must know and understand the reasons why dogs bark.
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Dont Hide Your German Shepherd
As well as rewarding their dogs actions by accident, a lot of people also choose to hide their german shepherd. Instead of taking them out, they leave them in their homes where they dont get socialized.
As you can imagine this often ends up causing them to become even more problematic. Especially in cases where they are barking because theyre scared or havent been socialized enough.
Not only will the chances of their behavior worsening increase, but theyll also not get the exercise that they need.