I've had good luck with an approach to diminish "alert barking," or some people use the term "alarm barking." That is: when the dog sounds a vocal alarm to the family to announce, "Something strange is going on outdoors. You'd better check on it."

I interpret it as a dog's effort to communicate. That way, when I hear the very first bark, I immediately get up from my chair, go to whatever room the dog is in, make eye contact to acknowledge that I heard the bark.

Then I look out the window or the door, turn back to the dog to say, "You're right. Thank you. There is a strange dog walking b  without its Momma. (or} Yes, that's a horse and buggy." (or) "Yes, a car did pull into our driveway. Thank you for telling me."

Invariably, the  dog gives a huge sigh of relief that I recognized what it  had been trying to tell me. The expression of the dog is one that conveys to me, "You understood. That's great. We're a  team, here." 

When I first  recognized that cognitive awareness between us, two species, that the dog was attempting to communicate with me, that experience quite took my breath  away.

Next, I immediately bring the dog away from that attraction to the next room where I have stashed a dog-cookie jar on the bookshelf. I give the dog a cookie treat, and then have it settle on its mat near me, say in the adjacent room I use for my office. In any event, the dog is then away from the attraction that was the stimulus that elicited its bark.

So how does this training work? Dog is rewarded for communicating with one bark, not with repetitive barking. Dog learns that it only needs to bark once to be acknowledged. I've actually been able to chart that diminution in barking over a period of one month. The progress is truly remarkable. I'm trying to convey to you here a wall chart with a line showing the dog's progress, from emitting perhaps as many as thirty or even more barks per day to only one or two parks per day. That's huge progress. Huge..

My clients have enjoyed similar success with this lesson with their dogs. Maybe it's one of the best lessons I teach.

I'm not suggesting for one moment that alert barking is the only type of barking that a dog may do. For instance, some dogs just bark joyfully for the heck of it in the yard; I call them recreational barkers.

Hope  this helps.

© December 24, 2007 All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted without  express written consent from the author, Barbara  D. Brill, North Chili, NY 14514.  Email address:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it