Never reward barking

We have a five-month-old puppy that is starting to bark for attention. We don’t want this to become a habit, how can we stop it?

Dogs will usually bark as a warning, when playing and when excited, as a form of attention-seeking or in response to anxiety and boredom, or as a social behaviour in response to other dogs. The puppy needs to learn when it is appropriate to bark and when it needs to be quiet.

If your puppy is barking for no good reason and, as you say, simply to get your attention, start working on the problem as soon as you can.

The longer you wait, the harder it will be to stop this behaviour. Give your puppy adequate interactive exercise so it has less pent-up energy. Avoid overexercising a young dog; the aim is simply to burn off excess energy, not exhaust the puppy.

Avoid leaving it alone for too long a time. Train the puppy to be left for increasingly longer periods of time; initially for very brief periods. Don’t increase the length of time you leave the puppy until it has learnt to settle quietly for short periods.

Never comfort nor feed the puppy when it is barking for attention; this is simply rewarding the unwanted behaviour. Don’t shout at the puppy to stop barking as this may cause it to bark even more. Try getting its attention with a clap or use the whistle. The moment the puppy is quiet, redirect its attention to something productive and rewarding (like a toy) and after getting its attention, practise simple commands, such as sit or down, in order to shift its focus. TB

Exercise is to release pent-up energy, but should not exhaust the puppy