Dog Obedience Training Blog

Quick Tip For Curing "Fear" Barking

November 13th, 2009 by Chet

One common problem people run into when trying to stop dog barking is fear. It is very common for your dog to bark at things that he’s not used to seeing. In my Hands Off Dog training course I showed you how I addressed this issue with my Golden Retriever Bauer.

When I brought my dog home he was 8 weeks old, and we had just moved into a new neighborhood where there was LOTS of construction going on.

While this could have been annoying to some dog owners, I treated it as a fantastic opportunity for learning.

My dog had never heard air compressors, or see men walking on top of roofs or using staple guns before.

It was all very scary to him… so I taught him the “go touch it” trick.

To teach the “go touch it” trick I first trained my dog to touch something on cue, this is called targeting.

I would practice telling my dog to touch all sorts of objects, in exchange for a treat.

While most of us really cold care less if our dog touches objects or not, it is a phenomenol tool to use when you notice your dog becoming afraid of something.

I found this helpful video on youtube that shows the process with a live dog.

Enjoy!