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If you own a dog that loves nothing more than to bark incessantly while riding with you in the car, then you probably understand just how frustrating and annoying this habit can be.
Dogs become very territorial when they are inside of a moving vehicle and all of the thousands of moving objects outside of the window can pose a threat to your dog's mind. As soon as he spots somebody walking on the street, he barks! Then his head turns, and he sees a bunch of tree branches moving from the wind, he barks! As soon as those objects are passed, every car he spots, he barks at them all. This goes on and on, and... you guessed it, on forever!
The first reaction dog owners typically have at their barking dog is to yell at the animal to stop barking. In order to quiet your dog down, the only thing you can think of shouting is "SPARKY, STOP THAT BARKING!!!"
Unfortunately, yelling at your dog will only add to his excitement and anxiety of whatever it is he is barking at. By yelling with a loud voice, your dog will interpret that as you reinforcing his behavior. The louder you shout at him to stop yapping, the louder his barking gets.
The Proper Way Of Handling The Situation The good news is that you can almost eradicate your dogs barking behavior completely with a little time and training. Here are some tips to get you going:
1. The first thing you should do is be the role model of the behavior you wish your dog to have. In other words, if you would like your pet to chill out and stop barking so much inside of the car, keep calm yourself and maintain a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. This is especially important when your dog starts to get excited and begins barking. Trust me, you'll be surprised at just how well this works.
2. To better enforce the rules of barking, do not be afraid of using the old trusty water squirt gun. Most animals cannot stand the feeling of being spritzed in the face with water. In fact, this is a great training tool for many situations. When your dog starts barking like crazy, a few shots of water right in between the eyes is enough to make even the largest of dogs to completely stop whatever it is they are doing and eventually associate that behavior with the unwanted feeling of being sprayed in the face.
3.A third solution that works well is to place your dog inside of a crate within the car whenever you need to drive somewhere. A crate will allow your dog to sit comfortably inside of your vehicle, yet it sets limitations of what he can see and smell from the outside. This may be difficult for larger dogs, but for small and medium-sized dogs, a crate can do wonders when it comes to barking incessantly while driving.
Daniel Waser is a dog lover since his childhood and currently owns two dogs. Visit his website for more information about dog health problems or get his free dog training tips.
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