Why does my dog bark when I say no?

If your dog has been barking when you say no to it, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of possible causes and what you can do to get it to stop.

So, why does my dog bark when I say no? Reasons why your dog barks when you say no are that the behavior often gets rewarded, it thinks that you’re being aggressive or it’s reacting to your emotions.

There are actually a number of reasons why your dog might be doing it and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are some things you can consider when figuring out the main cause and there are a number of things you can do about it.

Why your dog barks when you say no

Below are common reasons why dogs do it and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

It has been rewarded in the past

The reason why it does it might be that it has been getting rewards for doing it. If you tend to give it things such as treats, toys or other rewards, when it barks, it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is behaving the way you want, to avoid rewarding it when it does bark and to be consistent when training it.

It thinks you’re being aggressive

It could be the case that it does it because it thinks that you are being aggressive. This would be more likely if you say no by shouting and showing aggressive body language by doing things such as standing over it, staring at it and pointing. Instead, it would help to be calm when interacting with it and to train it to behave the way you want with the use of positive reinforcement training.

It’s reacting to your emotions

Dogs tend to be very aware of their owner’s emotions and it could be the case that it barks because it is reacting to your own emotions. This would be more likely if you tend to say no to it in an emotional way that you normally don’t portray. Again, it would help to be calm with it and to train it consistently.

It is not used to you saying no

The reason why it does it might also be that it is used to getting what it wants and it is not expecting you to say no. In order to stop this, it is important to give it training consistently and not to back down when you do say no so that it does not learn that barking will get it what it wants.

Ineffective training methods

It might also be the case that the training methods that you used were either not effective or not appropriate. If you trained it in an environment with lots of distractions it might not have been fully paying attention to you, it could be the case that you were command nagging by telling it to do things that it has not yet learned or it might not have had any incentives to listen to you.

Generally, the training method I recommend is positive reinforcement training which is where you encourage it to behave a certain way by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way. It would also help to start by training it to do easy things and to slowly build up to getting it to do more challenging things.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider when figuring out why your dog has been doing it.

What else happened when your dog first started barking at you saying no

If it did not always bark when you say no, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started.

If it started doing it suddenly, it could be because you started saying no to things that it normally is allowed to do or get. In this case, it would help to be consistent and it should eventually learn that it can no longer get what it wants.

What is different when your dog does not bark when you say no

It would also help to consider what is different when it does not bark since the timing might have something to do with it.

For example, if it only does it when it has not gotten exercise, it might be because it is frustrated that it has not been able to get exercise yet.

How to get your dog to stop barking when you say no

Below are some things you can do in order to get your dog to stop barking when you say no.

Avoid rewarding it for barking

As mentioned above, it might be the case that it has learned that it gets what it wants if it barks and makes a fuss. It is important to avoid rewarding the behavior and to wait for it to be calm before rewarding it. By doing so, it should learn that barking does not result in it getting what it wants.

Positive reinforcement training

It would also help to give it positive reinforcement training by starting with the basics in an environment without too many distractions and to build up from there.

Avoid punishing it

It would also help to avoid punishing it for saying no. If you punish it, you will actually be rewarding it since it is a form of attention and it could result in it learning to bark more. Instead, it would help to ignore it, if possible, and to give it positive reinforcement training.

Don’t be too emotional

When interacting with it, it would help to be calm and to not get too emotional since it will likely react to your emotions.