If your mastiff puppy or dog is barking excessively, it could be from many different things. He or she could be getting caught on, or under a fence. He or she could be barking at other dogs in the neighborhood, or they could be lonely and feel depressed.
Dogs bark for many many reasons really. It would be impractically to think that your puppy or dog would never bark again, because some barking is actually good for a dog, and you!
Dogs bark to alert their owners or danger, or a suspicious person lurking around. But a dog that just barks and barks, and you don’t seem to know why, not only bothers you, but it usually always disturbs the neighbors as well.
One of the first things you need to find out is why your dog is barking in the first place. Does he or she see a squirrel or cat in a tree everyday, and bark at that? Or does your puppy or dog not get enough exercise, and is left alone outside for long periods of time, and they are barking from boredom. After you find out why they are barking, it is much easier to correct the problem then.
Puppies will naturally bark if they are playing and running around, it is in their nature to playful bark that is normal. If you can not notice what your dog is barking at, sometimes they can see or smell things that you can not, so you might need to take a closer look again. You should also make sure you have your mastiff puppy or dog checked out by a vet, to make sure he or she is fine, before you try to correct the problem.
It is good to have a nice place for your dog to sleep, like a dog house, a dog bed, and a nice place to make their own. You would not like it, if you had to sleep outside, and no one gave you a house or bed to sleep in, so be good to your dog.
Here are some ways to help curb your dogs barking. If your dog is barking, and you open the door to let him or her in, you are just reinforcing them to bark, each time they want to come inside. When they bark, they know you will come to the door and let them in, and the barking is working for them.
If you go to the door and stand there and scream at them like a raving lunatic, they will think you are joining them in the celebration, and they will want to bark even more! You are barking to them, so they want to bark also, and join in!
If you mastiff puppy or dog it barking, and you come and baby him, and give him or her treats, that is no good. They will take that as a sign that barking is what they need to do, to get more attention from you, so you should never reward this type of barking.
There are several ways to teach your dog that barking is not rewarded. If you are gone all day, and you are aware that your dog barks excessively while you are gone, he or she most likely thinks that if they keep barking, you will show up. Eventually when you show up, you immediately go to the dog, and the barking might stop then. In your dogs mind, he or she has been barking to bring you home, and it worked, you are home finally.
To cure this type of barking, when you get home, do not immediately go to your dog. Let the dog know that you are not rewarding him for barking. Do not go to the dog until after he or she has settled down, and then you can go to him or her, after the barking has stopped and does not start again for a bit.
If our dog barks when the phone rings, or your cell phone goes off, teach them to ignore it. You could do this by having a friend or family member, call your phone repeatedly, and you just sit their and don’t answer it. With repetition, your dog will bark less and less, and then get bored with the phone all together.
One of the easiest things to remember when training your dog, is to praise or reward your dog when he or she does something you like, and give a negative response to something you do not like. Over time, your dog through repetition will learn what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable. He or she will be a much better member of the family, and good for them also!
There are several ways you could train your dog not to bark when you leave your home. You would need something loud, like a can of rocks, or marbles inside the can, or a garden hose, and you would use these for the negative suggestions. You would leave your home, and then you quietly come back, and just hide outside somewhere in front.
When you hear your dog barking, use the hose to just put the nozzle over the fence, and squirt him or her, or throw the can of rocks or marbles in their general direction, careful not to actually hit them. The loud noise will scare them, and they will associate the barking with getting wet, or having loud noises come at them, they will eventually tire of the barking.
You could also use a treat and the command Quiet or Stop. When your dog is barking, you give the command Quiet and when he or she stops barking, you give them a treat and praise, and eventually you would just give them praise.
With just about any dog, it will never happen over night. It takes consistence and patience. Your dog will make great progress, and then fall back sometimes, that is only natural. They will move forward again, with patience and good dog training, you can make your dog an excellent family member.
Sometimes a dog likes to bark at a mail delivery person, or delivery person that comes around. In your dog’s eyes, this person is coming into their territory and is an intruder, an unwelcome guest, and your dog barks continuously at this person. The person usually does leave in a short period of time, and the dog thinks that his barking has made the intruder go away, and he or she has done a good job!
If you wanted to cure this type of barking, and you were friends with your mail person or delivery person, you could tell them your training method, and give them a bag of snacks to carry with them. Each time they would come to your house, they could give the dog a snack over the fence, and the dog would come to think of this person as a welcome guest, instead of an intruder, and the barking would settle down after a bit.
The best way to train any dog is for you and your puppy or dog to enroll in obedience classes together. You will have a much better understanding of just basic dog techniques, and you would bond with your dog even more!