Ignore your dog’s barking for as long as it takes him to stop if it is attention seeking. That means don’t give him any attention at all while he’s barking. Your attention only rewards him for being noisy. Don’t talk to him, don’t touch him, and don’t even look at him. When he finally quiets, even to take a breath, reward him with a treat.

To be successful with this method, you must wait as long as it takes for him to stop barking. If he barks for an hour and you finally get so frustrated that you yell at him to be quiet, the next time he’ll probably bark for an hour and a half. He learns that if he just barks long enough you’ll give him attention.

Example: barking when confined

• When you put your dog in a confined space such as a pen, den, crate or in a gated room, turn your back and ignore him. Once he stops barking, turn around, praise him, and give him a treat.
• As he catches on that being quiet gets him a treat, lengthen the amount of time he must remain quiet before being rewarded.
• Remember to start small by rewarding him for being quiet for just a few seconds, then working up to longer periods of quiet.
• Keep it fun by varying the amount of time. Sometimes reward him after 5 seconds, then 12 seconds, then 3 seconds, then 20 seconds, and so on.