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What we first need to understand as dog owners, is that we brought a wild animal into our home and domesticated them. They still have natural dog instincts, and because they used to have packs out in the wild. They make our household a pack in their lives. Out in the wild dogs bark and howl to communicate with others in their pack. Well, they do the same thing to communicate with you.

Since we as humans don't like being yelled at by our dogs with their barking and howling, we need to teach them to bring their voices down. When your dog is being loud, sternly rebuke them, and then pay no more attention to them. No even more discipline is OK at this point. Your dog can't associate being loud with any sort of attention. Whether it be positive or negative attention they associate it with. Then, when your dog has come down, and is being quiet praise them. Praise them a lot. Dogs love praise. They'll pick up on that fact that being quiet is associated with lots of love and attention, making them do it more often.

It's extremely important that you don't punish your dog for barking. It comes naturally to them, and the way people punish their dog for barking only confuses them. Most people make the mistake of yelling "No!" at the dog, and then they smack the dog on the nose. This confuses them extremely since they have already stopped barking from the yelling, they don't need to be smacked. The associate the smack on the nose with the fact that they stopped barking.

One form of aversive training that does work is the no-bark collar. No-bark collars are often criticized as being a harsh form of negative reinforcement, but they are a safe and effective quick-fix to a howling or barking problem. A no-bark collar's sensors detect the dog's barking or howling and either emits a sound or spray of citronella - letting the dog know what's coming next. If the barking does not stop, the collar then emits a short, mild electrical shock. The dog then knows that it is time to stop. There are even some no-bark collars that lack the electric shock and just use the citronella spray. There have been reports that these collars are just as effective, if not more so, than the shock collars.

Dogs learn quickly, that the sound or the smell of citronella means that the barking is NOT OK . After sometime has passed you can even remove the collar and the dog won't have the desire to bark since they have already associated the action with a negative response.

It is natural for your dog to want to communicate with you, and if you want to help the process along you should start noticing what their body language is trying to tell you. The more you know what your dog wants, and needs the quicker you can get it to them before they feel the need to vocalize it to you.