How To Make Your Chihuahua Stop Barking
In general, chihuahuas make adorable and extremely likeable pets, but there might come a time when you’d like to make your chihuahua stop with its incessant barking.
That high-pitched yapping can become very annoying specially when you’re trying to concentrate or even sleep. There are many ways to stop this annoying chi behavior, but it’s first important to understand why they do this.
Chihuahuas are very active for such small dogs and sometimes they bark because they’re bored or they like to hear themselves bark. To help your chihuahua stop barking out of boredom, give it ample exercise or even take it out for a stroll. Since it is a toy dog, chihuahuas can be taken almost everywhere, even in malls. The sights will excite them and distract them from their fondness of barking, even just for a while.
Chihuahua pups are notorious for being hard-headed. If they’re around other dogs you’d see that they sometimes challenge the authority of the older dogs. You’ll also see that the older dog would usually respond by growling or barking, which puts the pup in its place. This is called the canine hierarchy and as pups grow, they learn to acknowledge it. The best way to make chihuahua stop barking is to assume the role of alpha dog. This makes it easier for you to give your pet barking training, and any other types of training you might try out in the future. In general, being alpha dog helps the chihuahua stop any untoward behavior, not just barking. The difficulty of this feat varies from dog to dog as some chi will accept you as alpha dog immediately while others, specially those a bit older, may challenge your authority at first.
So what do i have to do to make my Chihuahua Stop Barking?
Making your chihuahua stop barking takes a lot of patience because once you start training, you have to be consistent throughout. Each time your pet barks for the wrong reasons, scold him always, because if you scold him sometimes and sometimes you don’t, your pet will become confused as to which is correct. While scolding your dog is important, it is equally important to reward your pet if you plan on making your chihuahua stop barking. Whenever your pet stops barking immediately after you reprimand it, praise it and maybe even give it a treat, if it is making great strides in its training. Remember, you don’t want it to completely stop barking. You still want it to bark when there’s an intruder nearby or if it senses danger. Never cuddle or soothe your barking dog as a way of getting it to stop. Your chi will associate barking as a way to gain affection and will just do it more often.
If the behavior persists, you can step the training up a notch by issuing a single command that stops barking. Words like “quiet” or “silence” are good, because words like “stop” and “no” can be vague and apply to more than just barking. When your dog is barking incessantly, you can close its mouth with your hand while you repeat the command word over and over again. Make sure not to hurt your pet in frustration though, because although discipline is important, proper discipline can never be attained if you are mean to your pet or hurt it.
ebook!!
Join our Newsletter today and get a FREE eBook (usually $29.99)
Learn how to stop Chihuahua obedience problems: Stop Aggression, Digging, Barking, Biting, Jumping and more. Join our newsletter now and claim your FREE eBook in seconds!