Excessive howling or barking can be a real nuisance with dogs. The key to understanding your dog's howling and barking is to understand its roots. Dogs are pack animals that use howling or barking to communicate. Because we have brought dogs into our homes and lives, we have become a part of their pack. As a result, they communicate to us just as they would other dogs. Sometimes this is through inappropriate dominance behavior, but sometimes this is through vocalization.

Because we generally don't enjoy being barked or howled at, our dogs need to be taught to ignore their nature and turn down the volume a bit. By praising your dog when they are quiet, you teach them that their quiet moments are when they get the most attention from you. When your dog does begin to howl or bark, sternly rebuke them. When they calm down, praise your dog. Your dog lives for your praise and will pick up on things quickly.

It's also imperative that you don't punish them for doing the desired behavior, which is to stop barking or howling. Most people's first instinct is to stop the inappropriate behavior and then punish the dog after stopping the bad behavior, like saying 'No!' then smacking him on the nose after they already stopped, for example. This kind of aversive training simply does not work and merely serves to confuse the dog.

Another way to get your dog to stop barking or howling is a no-bark collar. They sense when your dog is barking and emit a sound or a spray of citronella. If the dog continues to bark it sends out a brief and mild shock. If this disturbs you, they also have no-bark collars that lack the shock and just continue to emit a sound or spray the dog. These collars are just as effective when it comes to stopping your dogs excessive barking, if not more effective than the shock collars.

Dogs are remarkably quick learners. After just a few barking incidents, your dog will know that when they hear the beep or smells the citronella, that it is time to stop barking. After a short duration, the no-bark collar can usually be removed, as the dog will be broken of the undesirable behavior.

At the end of the day, all you need to remember is that although a dog is a man's best friend, they were originally meant for another purpose one that may conflict with what you want out of your dog. Dogs enjoy communicating with you and with each other through howling and barking, but we humans don't enjoy it quite so much. Fortunately, you can control your dog's natural inclination to bark or howl through prevention via positive reinforcement at an early age or with a gentle form of aversive training, such as a no-bark collar.

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