How To Stop My Dog From Barking At Strangers

Dogs are incredibly instinctual beings and most of the time they act based on what their instincts tell them. Although your dog may think that this is a good thing, this habit of barking at strangers can get annoying, really fast.

If your dog is anything like my dogs were, you may want to continue reading. I have comprised a list of several training tactics, tools, and tricks on the exact methods that I use to get my dogs to stop barking at strangers.

Tip #1 – Dog Training Collars

Whether you are proactive on dog training or not, implementing a dog training collar (link to Amazon) on your dog will help to stop your dog from barking at strangers. Contrary to popular belief, using a training collar or a shock collar on your dog or puppy is 100% safe and will not injure your dog in any way if used as directed.

Most dog training collars come with a multitude of settings such as shock, tone, or vibration settings that will activate whenever your dog barks or does an action that is displeasing to you.

Tip #2 – Calming Massage

I have found that simply doing things like rubbing your dog’s head, back or stomach will work in trying to calm your dog down if they are barking relentlessly at other people. Your dog is feeling threatened or nervous about the individual they are barking at and want them to stay far away.

Massaging your dog when he is showing signs of aggression, will quickly calm them down and ease their nerves. This is a quick fix solution to get your dog to stop barking at strangers, but this technique will usually not correct your dog’s barking habit in the long run.

Tip#3 – Human Social Interaction

Does your dog spend a lot of time being around other people besides you? It is common to find a dog that becomes very defensive with other people, mainly because they really never get to see other people. They are only comfortable with seeing you.

Try taking your dog out more on walks or inviting some people over where your dog can meet other people. Doing this with your dog will allow them to see new faces and learn to interact with other humans without the need to bark, growl or become defensive.

If you find that your dog is barking at everyone, he/she sees while on your walk then it is best for you to take a step back. This may be too much for your dog to handle all at once and can be a bit overwhelming for them.

An overwhelmed dog will react in an unfavorable manner which will leave you feeling embarrassed and apologizing to others for your dog’s poor people skills.

Tip #4 – Calming Tools

For years, dog owners have been using calming tools to calm down much more aggressive dogs. I consider calming tools to be one of the faster approaches to getting your dog to stop barking at strangers.

Using tools like calming sprays, calming collars, or calming treats (links to Amazon) on your dog will allow you to take your dog on walks more frequently without them trying to keep the entire town away from you. The tools are also able to calm your dog down on a long-term basis even when not in use.

I have used both calming sprays and calming collars on my dogs, and they have proven themselves to be effective dog training tools time and time again, especially when it comes to dog bark suppression or training your dog to ignore other dogs.

Tip #5 – Sharp Tug Method – If you ever find yourself out on a walk with your dog and he/she is beginning to show signs of aggression due to somebody walking towards you, then it is appropriate to execute the sharp tug method.

The sharp tug method involves quickly and sharply tugging on your dog’s leash. The purpose of this technique it to get your dog to correct behavior before it even starts.

Do not exercise this technique if your dog is wearing a collar because tugging at a dog’s collar can injure their throats and cause bad bruising. This will usually end up in your dog having a harsh-sounding cough signaling that there may be some damage to their throats.

It is recommended that your dog is wearing a harness (link to Amazon) before you attempt to use this technique because a harness is around the dog’s body and not their throat.

Why your dog barks at strangers

Dog’s are very protective over their loved ones. You will find that your dog will attempt to keep anybody away from you whether you are at home and they hear a knock at the door or whether you are outside taking them on a walk.

Their only goal is to make sure that you are safe and protected at all costs.

Dog Training

If you are a dog owner, it is essential that you make it a priority to train your dog to act in a responsible manner when around other people. I have outlined many dog and puppy training tips and tricks here on this blog that will act as a tool in guiding you to reach your dog training goals

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I hope that this article has been helpful and insightful to you and shortens your learning curve in training your dog and eventually gets them to stop barking at strangers inside or outside of your home.

Interested to learn more about tips and tricks of taking care of your new puppy? Click Here.