For this Brentwood Dog Training session, I worked with Charlie, a 1-year-old Pekingese, on stopping him from barking at strangers.
Since Charlie is mostly an indoor dog who didn’t attend puppy classes and doesn’t get many visitors at home, I decided to meet him at Clover Park. When working with dogs that are anxious or fearful, meeting outside can be super helpful. The outdoor space, with its sights, sounds, and smells, helps distract the dog and makes them feel more comfortable, instead of focusing on the stranger invading their home.
At our first session, Charlie was a bit confused. He’d bark like crazy either to tell me to move away or because he wanted the treats I had, but I made sure to keep a distance so he couldn’t reach me. I threw him plenty of treats, but his guardian helped by managing the distance. Over time, we got closer, but I made sure to start with a respectful distance.
We went over the basics, like introducing a clicker and marker word, rewarding good behavior, and some general dog behavior tips. Once Charlie calmed down, I took him by the leash for a short walk around the park. The hour flew by.
From my experience as LA’s Dog Behavior expert, I’ve learned that with fearful or reactive dogs, less is more. It’s better to leave the dog wanting more interaction with you than to overwhelm them.
For our second session, we met outside his home. After Charlie settled down, I took him for a quick walk to the end of the block. This was a great way to build trust and a bond with him, while his guardians stayed back at home, letting me develop an independent relationship with Charlie.
We worked on more dog behavior fundamentals, like hand targeting, reading dog body language, and recognizing dog consent. This session ran almost 90 minutes as we answered questions, but by the end, Charlie got a bit irritable, probably because he was tired. Even dog behavior specialists make mistakes! As soon as I noticed this, I wrapped up the session, knowing we’d work on stopping barking at strangers next time.
How to Stop a Dog from Barking at Strangers
For our third session, I kicked things off with another walk with just Charlie and me. When we got back to his home, his guardians had a few questions that I needed to answer before we could head outside and I could show them how to teach Charlie to stop barking at people he doesn’t know.
By managing the distance between Charlie and the neighbor, and clicking every time he looked at her, I was able to begin changing his emotional response. It’s really important to help a dog feel good about the things they bark at if you want to stop the barking. Too often, people try to stop a dog from barking without considering how the dog feels emotionally.
The best part of this exercise is how simple it is. It’s a great way to stop dogs from barking at things they’re scared of or don’t like. The key is to go slow. Stopping the barking doesn’t happen overnight. You need to set up a few scenarios where you control the environment, making sure the dog feels safe and can practice not barking at people.
After we finished filming the video showing the positive barking stop technique, I coached Charlie’s guardians through the same steps until they got the same response. Like any new skill, they’ll get better with practice. They just need to manage the distance so Charlie doesn’t bark. If he does bark, it means he’s too close to the person or the person is being too intense. In that case, they need to move away, wait for Charlie to calm down, and then practice again from a further distance.
Once we wrapped up the stop barking exercise, we went inside so I could give Charlie’s guardians some homework. I suggested they practice this exercise in short 5 to 10-minute sessions a couple of times a week. Repeated, successful practice is really important.
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It would be helpful if they could invite a friend or neighbor to join them for a couple of minutes during each session. That way, they can control the other person’s movements. This is much better than practicing in public, where you don’t know what the other person might do or say. Setting up these controlled practice scenarios is key when you want to stop a dog from barking.
Charlie’s guardians want to schedule a follow-up session in a couple of weeks after they’ve had some time to practice everything we’ve covered. I’m excited to check in on Charlie’s progress then!
