There are three ways to deal with your noisy dog. First, you can do nothing. In this case, the dog will keep barking whenever he feels like it and you may end up enemies with your neighbors, evicted or a victim of chronic headaches. Second, you can correct your dog whenever he goes on his noise-making marathons. You can even pretend to leave and sneak back to the house. Then, when the concert begins, you can break in on him, yelling “No, No, No, No”, while shaking him by the collar.

The third possibility is that you can teach the dog to do what he is doing on command, therefore gaining control of the activity. This is because when you issue a command, the dog focuses on you, and you will readily be able to stop what you have started. Thus the dog who speaks on command shuts up on command as well. The command “Speak” is what turns him on while the command “Enough” will turn him off.

Once your dog looks at you and whines with you, you can add a word to your madness, the word “Speak.” Now, after your dog will “Speak” on command, with and without you, begin to intrude on this activity, whether you have started it or not, with the magic word “Enough.” If your dog continues to sing, grasp the collar, command “Enough” once more and then gently shake him, adding harsh eye contact to your correction. Of course, you may have unintentionally trained your dog to whine, cry and bark by reinforcing this annoying behavior. To find out, make a checklist of what makes your dog whine and bark and how you respond when he does:

1. Your dog barks. You give him a treat to quiet him.

2. Your dog barks when you’re on the phone. You lean over and pet him to quiet him.

3. Your dog whines while you’re in bed reading a book. You let him up on the bed to quiet him.

Follow the methods above, teaching your dog to bark on command and then stopping him with “Enough,” a harsh eye contact and a shake. Never give your dog anything, including the time of day, when he’s barking, whining or crying for it. Use the long down once a day, tighten up your training and make sure the dog is quiet before you feed him, walk him, and pet him. If the dog bothers you while you are watching TV, reading, or dining, squirt him in the mouth with water or lemon juice and go on about your business.

Noise making may seem a lesser crime than biting or destructiveness, but it can have serious consequences. In fact, it may be a sign of escalation. To stop that, as well as for its pure annoyance, it should be put under control as soon as possible.

Housebreaking is the most indispensable thing your puppy must learn. Common sense should tell you why. Do you want your house to stay spic and span? Handle your puppy’s housebreaking well. Aside from the maintenance of your household hygiene, trained dogs are happy dogs. As creatures of habit, it’s in their nature to keep schedules as pack animals. Here is how you should housebreak your puppy:

Ideal Housebreaking Age

When your puppy reaches the age of 8 to 12 weeks old, it’s high time to begin housebreaking. Remember that adage that old dogs can’t learn new tricks? It is true so why take chances?

Crate Help

Dog trainers suggest using a crate in housebreaking your puppy. A crate is like a cage, with see-through bars and a locking door. Its size should accommodate well the dogs size for it to move around in. It should be used like a dog’s bedroom. It is advised to not confine your puppy in his crate for more than two hours at a time.

The reasoning behind using a crate in housebreaking your puppy is that dogs will not dirty their sleeping areas. However, he may do so if you lock him in somewhere for longer than he can hold it in. Never use a crate to punish your dog, it will backfire. Generally, pups that are three-months old must eliminate every 3 hours, so you should lead him to a special outdoor comfort place more often.

Make Your Puppy Learn Routines

Another tip is to leave the house through one door only. This door should be the one that you want your dog to scratch to warn you about his being called by the nature.

Taking your pup out at around the same times every day will be very beneficial for the both of you. This will help in establishing a routine, and will make him learn to hold it in until you become available to take him out.

Look For Clues

If your un-housebroken dog is accustomed to roaming freely around the house, search for signs that show you he needs to do it. Be really observant enough of his behavior, i.e., heavy sniffing, circling an area, staring at the door with an intense look on his face, etc. If you catch him WHILE doing it, stop him with a quick grab of his collar and pull it up while saying “No” using your deep, stern tone (don’t forget to use a deep, gruff voice when stating commands). Then, take him outside and let him finish what he is doing. Lastly, pat him on his head while saying “Good (his name)!” It is a must to make your dog get used to being praised whenever he does anything that makes you proud. Giving him food as a reward when he does his business in the appropriate spot can help, too.

Patience is a Big Virtue

Like any training endeavor, housebreaking requires a lot of patience. If you definitely despise cleaning your dog’s waste off your Persian carpets on an hourly basis and having your whole house smell like a public bathroom, you want the housebreaking to be successful in a wink of an eye, if not sooner.

Common Sense Makes a Lot of Sense

The use of common sense will aid you big time in dealing with your puppy’s housebreaking. Logical thinking should inform you to not give your dog water before bedtime if his tendency is to pee often at night time. Catering to his schedule first will prove to be very helpful in making it gradually change into yours.

Aside from patience and common sense, consistency is also one of the important factors of this dog training activity. If you suddenly forget about the routines yourself, don’t blame if your dog if he starts committing accidents more often. Remember that the stakes are high (dirty and malodorous house). If you would like succeed in this housebreaking feat or just about in any other training drills, don’t treat it as a game. Allot enough time and commitment on your part.

Best of luck!

Why your dogs barking might be telling you something.

1. Continuous rapid barking, midrange pitch: “Call the pack! There is a potential problem! Someone is coming into our territory!” Continuous barking but a bit slower and pitched lower: “The intruder [or danger] is very close. Get ready to defend yourself!”

2. Barking in rapid strings of three or four with pauses in between, midrange pitch: “I suspect that there may be a problem or an intruder near our territory. I think that the leader of the pack should look into it.”

3. Prolonged or incessant barking, with moderate to long intervals between each utterance: “Is there anybody there? I’m lonely and need companionship.” This is most often the response to confinement or being left alone for long periods of time.

4. One or two sharp short barks, midrange pitch: “Hello there!” This is the most typical greeting sound.

5. Single sharp short bark, lower midrange pitch: “Stop that!” This is often given by a mother dog when disciplining her puppies but may also indicate annoyance in any dog, such as when disturbed from sleep or if hair is pulled during grooming and so forth.

6. Single sharp short bark, higher midrange: “What’s this?” or “Huh?” This is a startled or surprised sound. If it is repeated two or three times its meaning changes to “Come look at this!” alerting the pack to a novel event. This same type of bark, but not quite as short and sharp, is used to mean “Come here!” Many dogs will use this kind of bark at the door to indicate that they want to go out.

Lowering the pitch to a relaxed midrange means “Terrific!” or some other similar expletive, such as “Oh, great!” My cairn terrier, for example, who loves to jump, will give this single bark of joy when sent over the high jump. Other dogs give this same bark when given their food dish.

7. Single yelp or very short high-pitched bark: “Ouch!” This is in response to a sudden, unexpected pain.

8. Series of yelps: “I’m hurting!” “I’m really scared” This is in response to severe fear and pain.

9. Stutter-bark, midrange pitch: If a dog’s bark were spelled “ruff,” the stutter-bark would be spelled “ar-ruff.” It means “Let’s play!” and is used to initiate playing behavior.

10. Rising bark: This is a bit hard to describe, although once you’ve heard it, it is unmistakable. It is usually a series of barks, each of which starts in the middle range but rises sharply in pitch - almost a bark-yelp, though not quite that high. It is a play bark, used during rough-and- tumble games, that shows excitement and translates as “This is fun!”