Why does my dog bark when I’m in the shower?

If your dog barks when you’re in the shower, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of common causes and what you can do to get it to stop.

So, why does my dog bark when I’m in the shower? Possible reasons why your dog barks when you’re in the shower are that it thinks you’re in danger, it has some separation anxiety or that the behavior has been encouraged.

There are some things you can consider when figuring out the main cause and there are some things you can do about it.

Why your dog barks when you’re in the shower

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

It thinks you’re in danger

The reason why it does it might be that it thinks you’re in danger. This would be more likely if it does it when anyone is using the shower, if it only starts barking when you turn the shower on and not before and if it seems anxious when you get out of the shower. To prevent this, it would help to give it positive reinforcement training as mentioned below.

Separation anxiety

The cause could also be that it has some separation anxiety. This would be more likely if it starts barking or becoming anxious when you are going into the bathroom and if it also barks when you don’t let it follow you into other rooms as well such as your bedroom at night.

It might be worth following the tips given in this book on Amazon about dealing with dog separation anxiety. There are also more tips below.

Encouraging the behavior

It could also be the case that you have been encouraging the behavior by giving it things it wants when it barks. If you give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention, when it does it, it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it behaves the way you want it to and to wait for it to stop barking for a while before giving it rewards.

Things to consider

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

What else happened when your dog first started barking when you’re in the shower

If your dog did not always bark when you’re in the shower, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it.

If it did start doing it suddenly, it might be because of a stressful event that occurred involving the shower such as if you slipped in the shower or if you gave it a shower and it did not like it.

If your dog does not always bark when your in the shower

It would also help to consider if it always barks when you’re in the shower.

If it does not do it when other people home, it would make it more likely that it does it due to separation anxiety.

How to get your dog to stop barking when you’re in the shower

Below are some things you can do to get your dog to stop doing it.

Positive reinforcement training

Positive reinforcement training is where you encourage your dog to behave a certain way by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way.

To use it to get it to stop barking when you’re in the shower you could do as follows:

• Make it seem like you’re going to the shower and reward it for not barking
• Touch the door/curtain on the shower and reward it for not barking
• Turn the shower on for a short duration and reward it for not barking
• Build up to having it on for longer and longer periods
• Whenever it starts barking, go back to a previous step and build it up to harder steps again

Avoid encouraging the behavior

As mentioned above, it might be the case that it has learned it gets rewards when it does it. Instead, it would help to ignore it until it stops barking and then to reward it then.

Distract it while you are taking a shower

Another option would be to give it distractions when you are in the shower. Things you could give it would include bones or toys. You could also get it to stay in a room that is far from the room you shower in so that it is less likely to react to it.

Block the noise of the shower out with other noises from your phone

Another option would be to play another noise, on your phone, in the room it stays in so that it cannot hear you in the shower.

Deal with separation anxiety

As mentioned above, it might be the case that it does it due to some separation anxiety. It would help to try to reduce its separation anxiety by doing things such as giving it calming chews when you’re in the shower.