How to stop a dog barking at other dogs when playing?

Whether your dog is afraid of others and cowers away, or gets too excited which causes fear, improvements can be made to improve their behaviour and mental wellbeing. Always consider the emotional state of your canine companion when out and about. He or she can only learn if they are calm and not in a distressed state or jumping around in excitement. If you’re ever concerned, increase the distance between you and the other dog so they’re not distracted. Don’t test their behaviour, always build for success and stick to the training plan. Take charge but in a gentle way and always be positive. If your dog is displaying any of these behaviours, you should arrange to see your vet as there may be a physical cause for the behaviour. It’s common for dogs to react this way if they’re in pain, it’s their way of warning others to back off to protect themselves from further harm. Another reason might be that they are highly sociable and enjoy playing with dogs, so if they’re on a lead and spot another dog, this causes over-excitement, resulting in frustration which is expressed as barking.

If you have a dog with a barking problem, you need to first identify why the dog is barking in the first place. But knowing the why is crucially important when you want to change a dog’s behavior. An easy way to stop dog barking is to create a positive association with whatever it is that they are barking at. By creating a situation where Cooper was comfortable being around the other dog by managing the distance, we were able to give him treats while looking at the other dog. Basically we were rewarding him for looking at and not barking at the other dog. This is a great way to stop dog barking if you make sure that you are monitoring the situation properly. The goal is for the dog to practice being around the other dog without barking because the human is managing the situation. Both of these methods are excellent ways to stop dogs from barking at other dogs. I recommended the guardian continue to practice avoidance, crossing the street or going in the other direction when she sees a dog and is not ready to play the engage disengage game. I made sure to point out to the guardian that this exercise is a very intense emotional response, and that she should practice in short successful sessions.