Can you stop a dog from barking like mad everytime people walk by the house?

You can squirt lemon juice in their mouth every time they do it. The lemon creates a sensation in their mouth or throat that is displeasing to the dog but not harmful to them. What I like about this method is that it is not harmful, it is all natural, and it works fantastically. The other good thing about this is that the “punishment” directly relates to the action which makes the dog have better ‘understanding’ of what they are being “punished” for. My grandmother used it with all her dogs and they never barked unless a stranger actually came on the property. Also remember you must do this while they are barking because dogs memories/minds do not work the same as humans.

I think you have the right idea. Just make sure that when you pick her up to put her in time-out, you also say “No!” very firmly, so she knows that it’s because she’s barking. Reinforce action with words and she should get the idea.

@RedPowerLady I know. Their memories are about like a two year old’s. If a two year old acts up in the store, you can’t wait a half an hour till you get home to discipline them. You gotta do it right then. Hmmm. I will most certainly try the lemon juice. Thank you…and I’ll let you know. Actually, the more I think about it, the better it sounds. It’s more physical but not abusive….

@Val123 I really hope it works, constant barking can be a pain in the butt!

You need a bark control collar to help you attain your non-bark goal.

@RedPowerLady I’ll let you know!! Thanks!

@DrasticDreamer Thanks for responding. I do. In fact, I specify “No barking!” to distinguish between the handful of other “no’s”!

@SpatzieLover Ah!! But lemon juice is lots cheaper!

We remove the dog from the front window, and make him go behind a gate downstairs or we spray him with water. Nothing gets him to completely stop though. He’s a min pin…they never shut up.

@Val123 You can get cheaper bark collars. The rechargeable add ease. Lemon juice is cruel. If I wouldn’t do something to my child, I’d NEVER consider doing it to a pet.

So you would put a shock collar on your child??????

@SpatzieLover how is electricity less cruel than lemon juice?

No, but my child responds to “Time-Out” dogs do not.

It’s the same thing as a “static” shock, not an electric shock, btw.

If this were my dog’s issue (which once & a while it is) I close the blind. No damage done, no further training needed.

The collar is in the same realm as “clicker” training, but responds when you are otherwise unable.

@casheroo The dog is great in so many ways….they both are. In fact, the back door is open as we speak, I’m in another room and I can’t see it, and I know the dogs won’t go off the deck! Not sure how we accomplished that, but we did. I don’t want her to shut up completely. I just want her to control herself.

@SpatzieLover I’ll try it on myself first. I think I’d rather have a bit of lemon juice in my mouth than to be shocked with a shock collar.

@Judi Good point!

I felt so bad when I had a bark collar on my Queensland and then noticed blisters on her neck. The thing went in the garbage.

@Judi Ouch…. :( Very sad.

Results of The Test are in. Tried it on my son. Hope it has a bigger effect on my dog than it did on my son.

just a note about the lemon juice, my gma says squirt it towards the back of mouth not the front, don’t know if it’ll make a difference but thought I’d pass that along

Thanks for caring about this, and keep doing what you are doing to be consistent.

We squirt the dogs with water. It’s even cheaper than lemon juice unless you have a lemon tree and I can and do use it on my son at times. We have several squirt bottles in different parts of the house so we can grab one quickly and perform the correction while the offense is still happening.

I don’t like shock collars and I won’t use them.

I would use water rather than lemon juice. If you miss the mouth and get lemon juice int the dog’s eye it will be quite painful, and you will create a whole other set of behavioral problems.

I have a Jack Russell who is very vocal! Luckily for me she does respond to a “time out” sort of situation. When she is being too vocal I remove her from where she is in order to get her focus off whatever she is barking at and then shut her in the kitchen for a little while where she usually calms down (a bit like crate training only with a kichen!!!). I only leave her there for five or ten minutes and then let her back out again. By this time she has more or less forgotten what she was barking at and I get a bit of peace.

I understand that this may not work for everyones dog and I have also used the squirting with water method that other people here have mentioned on with my other dogs to stop them doing something.

The most important thing is taking the dogs attention away from what it is barking at.

@PandoraBoxx I didn’t think of that—accidentally getting it in her eye. I don’t think it would happen as I plan to use a small eye dropper that doesn’t really squirt. I’ll consider the water, too…...But, I don’t want her to become afraid of water! And yes, it’s ok if she becomes afraid of lemons!

@RedPowerLady I’ve been waiting for someone to freak out that I tried it on my son first and threaten to call protective services on me! Well, he’s 22 and 6’4”. I asked him if I could squirt it in his mouth. Poor kid. He look at me like I’m crazy, but I guess he’s used to it because he didn’t ask why. So I squirted away. No response. “Well?” I said. “Well, I like lemon juice,” he said! LOL!! So I tried it. It was exactly like biting into a sweet tart! You know, you get that ‘shudder’ face! So, I’m thinking anywhere in the mouth will work. Have yet to have a chance to employ it.

@Val123 That’s pretty damn funny :)

@Val123 I was waiting for the same thing. That is too funny!

We do have a dog but she isn’t a barker so we never had the chance to try it. Of course I’ve tried it myself but I too like lemon juice, lol. I suppose if someone was worried about it one could always call their vet and ask about it. I have used the water squirting method on other problem behaviors and it works well, unless of course your dog is like my mother’s who loves water in any form, lol

@Facade Well, he deserves everything I do to him, because of all the times he scared me to death!

@RedPowerLady LOL! Had a chance to try it…you should have seen the look on her face! She was looking at me like I had come from mars or out of the center of the earth or something! She stood there working her mouth all around, looking at me from the corner of her eyes. Then she walked to the edge of the deck, sat down, turned around and looked at me in total disbelief again! I felt kinda, sorta bad…but haven’t heard a peep from her again. Hope she doesn’t develop a taste for lemon juice! LOL!! I think I like it better than the water :)

@Val123 I am an animal lover, let me preface this by saying that. I’m sure you are as well. That story was so funny!!! According to my family there is something particular about the lemon juice that affects dogs that way. It doesn’t hurt them, it just affects them in that odd way.

@Val123, was thinking more like lemon juice is acidic, will burn like all get-out if it gets in her eye, and cause her to both bite you and fear you.

Try lemon juice in your own eye before you try it on the dog. All it would take is one miss because the dog is jumping/jerking around while barking and it could end up in the dog’s eye.

My grandmother used this method her entire life and didn’t once get lemon juice in the dog’s eye. Sure it is a possibility and everyone has accidentally squirted acidic something into their eye, say when eating a particularly ripe orange, so we know it doesn’t feel good. Knowing that I’m sure that anyone who uses the method would be careful to avoid their dog’s eye. I also doubt the dog would bite their owner for a small mishap, I know my dog never would. I mean who hasn’t accidentally stepped on their dog’s tail? It is heartbreaking but the dog sure doesn’t bite for it or even fear you for that matter. Anyhow IMHO it is much more humane than other methods. We could live in “what if” land for any possibility but considering the options my family has found this to be effective, safe, and humane. It certainly does not hurt the dog, that is the last thing we would want.

@PandoraBoxx No worries. It’s not going to get in her eyes. She doesn’t jump and jerk, she just stands there making a commotion. And if I had to, she’s small enough that I can hold her still while she gets her medicine. Also, as I said, I used an eye dropper and dripped it in, rather than squirting it in. It’s just better, and not as cruel as spankings and shock collars.

@RedPowerLady Try a drop of it! If it affects the dog the same way it affects people, I could imagine that could be quite enough of a deterrent. :) (PS…even worse, I had my 4 year old grandson stick his tongue in a bit of juice that I had in my hand! Pretty much the same reaction as the dog! :)

@Val123 Oh i’ve tried it but I love it! Hehe. I was waiting for someone to have a kid try it, seems like something they would like to do, lol.

@RedPowerLady LOL! (Did you ever give your little ones lemons? I know…I was a cruel parent! I also HAD to get a pic of my son crying when he was little because he was so cute when he cried! I also HAD to get a picture of the EMS rescuing his arm from a mail box….they all thought I was nuts. :)

@Val123 Now those would make cute pics. You’ve got to have a lil of everything. We are actually expecting our first healthy baby right now so haven’t tried giving any little ones lemons yet. lol.

When I was a kid we used to steal lemons from the fridge and eat them as is (no sugar added). Not all kids hate the taste.

@Darwin I used to ask for them at the grocery store, lol. I ate them until someone scared me one day and told me they break up your teeth. By that time I hated the dentist. Thus the end to my lemon-eating days.

—@RedPowerLady Is that true, do you know? About eating the enamel off the teeth….sounds very feasible, actually

LOL! You have to wait till they’re about a year old and eating solid foods. Have a camcorder ready!—

@Val123 It is true. I was at the dentist this last week and they had an entire poster about how sour ruins your teeth. The poster was focused mainly on sour candies though.

Here’s a link

Oh, that is something I need to add to my list. A camcorder! :)

@RedPowerLady It makes perfect sense….. Definitely a camcorder!

@RedPowerLady Update. Lemon juice worked for two days, but now it’s worthless. I think she started to like the taste! Either that or she was willing to put up with a little discomfort as long as she could have her freedom to scream. Back to the bathroom.

@Val123 Oh no!!!! Well it was worth the shot. Maybe it’s time to call and ask a vet??
Sounds like you have a stubborn pooch.

One reason we use the water in a squirt bottle is that we can stand in the next room or up on the stairs and squirt the dog without the dog equating us with that sudden cold splash. That way they don’t know why the water hit them, but they do figure out rather quickly what makes it happen (barking).

@RedPowerLady Well…the bathroom seems to work better. I just look at it like, I’ll only have to do this three times a day for only the next 15 years. Sigh.
@Darwin I think I’ll try the water thing next…..

@Val123 The water bottle works for our dog when she does other bad behaviors. It’s well worth a try. Much better than keeping her/him in the bathroom for 15 years, lol.

@RedPowerLady I know! Toss the dog in the dog pound and go out of town. Leave the poor thing in the pound for four days, and have one of your kids get her out, and when she finally gets home you won’t be there and she’ll think “mom” and “dad” have moved and left her behind. That poor, poor thing! But I guess it works. Bleh.

@Val123 ROFL

The Dog Silencer Pro: http://www.tesco-shopping.com/DogSP_detail.htm

(And thanks for trying to discourage your dogs to be less dramatic. It’s cool you care about that)

@Kraigmo Actually…it’s totally selfish. Well, maybe not. It’s totally embarrassing, too. I don’t want to be one of those people the neighbors all talk about!

Heh!

Sorry to mess up the bulletin board there…I just miss RPL!!!! I’m out…