I bought a new dog and he has a deep loud bark, so when he hears some dog barking in the distance, he starts barking too, then my other dog starts barking because of him (not really at him, just barking randomly) and I have to go out to calm them down every time or wait 1,2 minutes for it to finish, of course this mostly happens when it shouldn’t, at late evening/night,etc, so it is really annoying.
What are some good ways to deal with this? (apart from “selling the dogs” or something)
Hire, the “Dog Whisperer”. No, seriously, I’ve watched the show numerous times, and he can do things with dogs that I figured were impossible. I’m sure there is that kind of training available for dog owners.
I always have some music playing, just to drown out a fraction of the distant noises my dog could react to. It’s not a very original idea, but in my experience it helps.
What I have been told is to wait until the dog starts barking, then show her a treat. Wait for her to stop barking for several seconds and then give her the treat. Keep doing this, extending the period of silence required to get the treat until she stops barking.
I think it has worked OK with my terrier. I say I think because he was a puppy when we started this with him, and it may just be that he is getting older. He’s almost 2 years old now.
This post reminded me of my sister’s dog of decades ago. At a rural location in West Tennessee, it would just get up off the floor at random times and stark barking. Nobody could figure out why, there usually wouldn’t be other dogs barking at the time, nobody was coming up the drive, it seemed very random.
We finally figured out that Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was less than 100 miles away and when they would have artillery training, if things were very quiet and you listened very carefully, you could hear the explosions. Of course, if you were inside, with the TV on, or just talking, you couldn’t hear it, but the dog could.
I haven’t thought of that dog in many years. Fond memories.
Oh, the best solution I’ve seen so far has been what zimaane has suggested. That might run into problems in execution if the stimulus (the other dog barking) will often stop before you administer the reward (treat!).
My dog will often have barking contests with distant dogs, particularly when it is outside at night. The distant dog will bark three or four times, then my dog will respond. This gets the distant dog to repeat, which my dog is more than happy to respond. And again. And again. It will go on and on, sometimes with other dogs joining in. Fortunately, I have been able get my dog to stop by going outside and just telling him “No Barking”. This breaks the rhythm and both dogs stop. I used to have to do this fairly often (once a week or so), but it doesn’t happen much, anymore.
Good Luck!
The first bark, go out and put him on a short tether. Next bark, bring him in. You can let him out again later if you wish, after a short timeout.
Do it consistently, ( as often as required!), for a week to ten days and your problem, will be solved I expect.
Good Luck!
Train the dogs to bark only on schedule.
At least that solves the “random” part of the problem. 
My husband’s hunting pack-o’-beagles are in a pen not far from the house. If they hear a pinecone fall in the next county a chorus of beagle barking and yodelling ensues. Loud and long! Of course my 2 little dogs inside go somewhat berserk at these times. Treats don’t work, they now just bark for treats. I tried the time honored ‘teach them to speak and then you can turn them off’ trick. Bad idea. I, now, just yell at them to shut up. It’s usually quiet around here, I am mostly a quiet person, so me raising my voice is a novelty. It’s working at the moment. Yesterday evening it started with the beagles barking, both my pups looked at me pointedly before starting to bark. We will see how long yelling works.
Moderator Action
Since this is more of an advice and opinion question than a factual question, let’s move it to IMHO. Factual answers like cites about what types of training work best are of course still welcome.
Moving thread from GQ to IMHO.
Option 1 - don’t keep the dogs outside at night
Option 2 - bark collars
I seriously doubt you’ll be able to keep outside dogs from barking at night absent one of those 2 solutions. If you feel that bark collars are inhumane, I will tell you what I was told by an SPCA person when I asked for their opinion: noise complaints are one of the main reasons animals are surrendered to shelters, and they would rather see the collars used appropriately so that dog can stay with their families.
My vote is that you should bring them inside with the family. If you give serious consideration to the bark collars, I can make a recommendation for a collar brand. The ones sold at the big chain stores are not very good and will shock randomly.
I agree with Sunny, outside dogs are going to bark, no matter what you do. I don’t find it unpleasant except for the indoor barking it causes. I have no neighbors to complain, so that’s not an issue.
My friend who lives in a rural neighborhood and has penned beagles is in a long term feud with his neighbors about barking. They have tried to sue him. The county had fined him and had a humane organization check him out. His dogs are well cared for, they just like to bark. People don’t realize how much beagles bark. And for their small size they have loud voices.
Doesn’t really sound like a big deal to me, tbh. If it just lasts 1-2 minutes and they stop sooner when you go out and calm them, l wouldn’t waste a lot of time on training or shock collars. I bet it slows over the next while as your new dog realizes the far away dog’s bark doesn’t mean anything and you come out to stop him all the time. If he sounded like a dedicated barker/howl answerer then I would try some training but in this case…
Get the bark collars. The dog will learn quickly not to bark unnecessarily.
“don’t keep the dogs outside at night” sounds about right. Look at it from the dog’s perspective; he’s hanging around outside at night, another dog barks at something. So since there may be something, he barks too so as to announce his presence, deter the something from getting close to him, or whatever (depending on his particular doggy personality). A solution is to make the dog feel safe by providing some assurances that mystery somethings can’t get to him or his current territory, as he perceives the concept. Once inside, combine with some combination of reinforcement and/or reinforcement training (“Quiet. Good Quiet! Here’s a reward!” / “Quiet! Cut it out right now!”). Train the dog that he’s safe from things outside when he is indoors, and the dog won’t have a motivation to bark quite so much.
I’m wary of bark collars. If I’m intruding on a dog in some fashion and making him feel uncomfortable/unsafe/displeased, I want him to bark at me as a means of expressing himself. So I don’t want to suppress a dog’s instinct to bark because it’s a useful communication tool. A dog’s other means of expressing displeasure are usually more hazardous.
Yep. Doesn’t hurt them, and they learn PDQ. Good for everyone’s sanity.
They don’t wear them all the time. They wear them in situations, like being outside at night without their owner, when you don’t want them bothering the neighbors. The rest of the time, the collars are off. If you leave them on all the time, the dogs will get sores. They’ll learn pretty quickly that the collar means “no bark” and that they can bark when the collar is off.
I assume bark collars are out of the question? I tried one on my terrier once, but he involuntarily freaks out when sirens go by, which set off a very pitiful chain reaction that I couldn’t bear.
Idiot Boy apparently had encountered those before because after I showed him the implement he wised up and reduced his Foolish Barking Syndrome, which had continued long after he was repaired.
Try a bark collar.
You want one that responds to vibration, not just noise, and with increasing sensitivity.
My dog was a barker; when we moved to an apartment building we had to resort to a bark collar. After a couple of days, she stopped seeming sad and confused when we got home, and the neighbors stopped complaining, so I guess it worked.
She developed a lovely low, threatening growl, just below the volume necessary to trigger a hit, I assume.
How do you keep the wristwatches from slipping off their tiny paws?