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I’m sure this has happened to everyone at some
point in time. You park your car and get out,
thinking about the groceries you need to buy
or the ticket you need to pay, and suddenly
you are frightened out of your mind by a
tremendous “Woof!”. You didn’t see the dog
behind the dark window of the truck you parked
next to, but she saw you, and in typical
doggie humor, waited
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until your face was good and close to her window before
scaring you into an undignified, if brief, dance of
momentary terror.
If you happen to have a dog with such a sense of humor,
or the kind who continues barking at every passer-by
from the safety of your automobile, you can train her
using the same Bark Prevention Training. Just move the
training venue to your car. Ideally you have two
trainers in this situation, although you can do it
alone. If you have a friend who’s willing to help (every
day for at least a week), you can put the dog in her
usual seat, and get into the driver seat yourself. Then
get out of the car just like you usually do, and walk to
the back, behind the car. Now, your friend walks up to
the car as the unsuspecting pedestrian and receives the
bark. When your dog barks, run around to the window
where your friend is, and give your dog the “Hush”
command. When she quiets, give her a treat. Then repeat
as many times as it seems feasible (until your friend
looks at his watch and declares he can’t believe the
time). Try to do it every day until you’re sure your dog
has gotten it. If you can, take it on the road as well,
driving to the store or the library and practicing the
new skill.
If you want to work with your dog alone on this project,
you can get in the back seat with her (or if she rides
in the front passenger seat, stay in the driver’s), and
wait for passersby to come along, then quiet her when
she barks. You’ll have to experiment: some dogs won’t
bark at strangers if their human is nearby, either
because they figure if the lead dog (that’s you) isn’t
barking they don’t need to, or because they know they
shouldn’t be barking and only do it for fun when you
aren’t around.
Article
Summary
If your dog barks from the car, train her in the car
with the help of a friend.
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