Even though dachshunds are a hound breed and not a watchdog breed, they do love to bark. This poses the logical question of training a dachshund not to bark quickly and easily. Dachshund barking can feel almost impossibly loud at times, considering how small their bodies are. It’s almost as if their elongated torso is amplifying the sound of the barking.
Unfortunately, wiener dog barking can be quite a problem, especially if you live in an apartment. So, here are our 6 tips for training a dachshund not to bark.
Training A Dachshund Not To Bark – 6 Easy Steps
When trying to figure out how to stop a dachshund from barking, the keyword is “Patience”. The process can seem tedious and even undoable at times. However, rest assured that any Doxie can be taught not to bark. All you need is patience, consistency, and to adhere to the 6 steps below.
Also, note quite a few of the 6 steps start with “Don’t” rather than “Do”. That’s because teaching a dachshund not to bark is unlike teaching the dog to perform a trick. Instead, it’s about teaching the dog not to do something.
1. Don’t Encourage Your Doxie To Bark
This can seem logical but a lot of people don’t realize that they are encouraging their dogs to bark on accident. A lot of dog owners will try to calm down their barking dog with pets, by talking to the dog, or even by giving it treats.
This is the exact opposite of what you should be doing. This is similar to how comforting a dog that’s afraid of a rainstorm “teaches” the dog that it’s right to be afraid of the rainstorm. In the same way, petting a barking dog teaches it that “barking is good”.
So, what you should do instead is distract the dog as it’s barking with something completely unrelated. This could be throwing a ball, jingling a toy, going to the kitchen and calling your dog there, or anything of the sort. Once the dog is distracted and stops barking, then you should reward the silence with a treat, a pet, or a word of encouragement.
2. Don’t Just Let Your Dog Bark Itself Tired
A different mistake dog owners make is thinking that if they ignore the problem, the dog will learn on its own that barking is pointless. While “the ignore method” often works with cats, it really doesn’t really work with dogs.
The only thing a barking dog “learns” as it barks at something outside the window is that the barking “worked” in scaring the thing away. Every time the mailman comes, gets showered with barks, puts the mail in the box, and leaves – the dog thinks that it’s “won” and it has “Scared the evil man away”.
So, just letting your dog bark itself out doesn’t work. Instead, you should refer to our first tip and keep distracting the dog when it starts barking and then rewarding the silence or a different behavior. That’s why people who work from home often have barking dogs – because their dogs are just left home alone to bark at imaginary threats all day.
3. Don’t Yell At Your Barking Dog and Never Ever Hit It!
Yelling is generally a bad idea with dogs but it’s especially counterproductive with a barking dog. The only thing that you’re accomplishing when yelling at your dog is teaching the pooch that “Loud is good” and that there was indeed something to fear.
The same goes tenfold about hitting your dog. Not only is that animal cruelty, but it’s also 100% ineffective. All your dog will learn is that you hate it and that you punish the dog when something else is the problem (the mailman, the neighbors, etc). This will make your dog even more fearful and aggressive toward strange noises and other people. Even if the dog stops barking in your presence, it will only be out of fear of you.
As for “dachshund bark collars” and other such tools – we are as much against these types of negative reinforcement as we are against hitting and yelling.
4. Give Your Dachshund Plenty Of Exercise and Playtime
A well-exercised Doxie is a Doxie that’s too tired to bark at strange things, people, and noises. And once your dog realizes that not barking at the mailman didn’t cause the apocalypse, it will be less inclined to bark the next time the mailman comes around.
Learn more about: A Quick Guide On How To Stop An Older Dog From Peeing In The House
5. Proper Socialization Helps In Training A Dachshund Not To Bark
This is especially important with young pups. However, even if your dachshund is of age, proper socialization can still be vital. Such socialization should be done both with humans, other dogs, and even other pets such as cats. Dachshunds have a strong prey drive so they are especially inclined to bark at cats and all non-dog animals around them. So, teaching your Doxie that the neighbor’s cat is actually neither food nor the enemy is a good way to stop your dog from barking at it.
6. Training A Dachshund Not To Bark Through Crate Training
Dog crates are one of the best tools in a dog owner’s arsenal. When you crate train your dachshund you should teach it that the crate is a safe and quiet place. Once the crate training is done, you can put your dog in the crate whenever it starts barking. This wouldn’t be a punishment if you’ve crate trained your Doxie well – it will be a calm and pleasant time-out.
Why Do Dachshunds Bark A Lot?
It’s perfectly logical to think that only watchdogs and guard dog breeds are supposed to bark. However, the dachshund is neither of those types of dog. Instead, these little dogs were initially bred as badger-hunting hounds in Germany.
However, while they were never taught to bark to protect their owner’s territory, they were expected to bark during hunts. Scenthounds used their excessive barking to scare and chase the prey back to its burrow. Once there, the Doxies would utilize their small and elongated bodies to get into the badger’s burrow and “finish the hunt” so to speak.
So, even though they are mostly bought as family pets today, dachshunds still have their instinct to bark at anything that catches their attention. Plus, there are other possible reasons for a Doxie to start barking. These include:
- Attention-seeking
- Boredom
- Anxiety or fear
- Letting you know something is happening
- Defending the home/space
At the end of the day, they are dogs so barking is just natural to them. But, if you start early and patiently stick to the 6 steps above, then training a dachshund not to bark should be fairly easy.
