Training rescue dog to stop barking
We’ve had our rescue dog for 9 years now (she’s 10). Despite all the horror stories you hear, she’s been absolutely magic.
There’s just one thing we aren’t able to fix. She barks excessively. We have a garden that overlooks a field and she can’t be left outside alone because she just constantly barks. And when she starts, she just won’t stop. It was largely fine, as the house next door to us had been dormant for 6 years. But we’ve recently had a family with another dog move in, who have decided to put decking out at the end of the field and our dog goes crazy. They recently made a passing comment that she barks too much and I am not sure what to do. I think we have got used to it, so it doesn’t affect us as much, but it must be really annoying for them as she just barks at them when they sit outside.
We’ve tried positive reinforcement to stop her barking, but it hasn’t worked, and I’m loathe to try a citronella collar because I’ve heard that it’s really hit and miss, and also don’t like the idea of punishing a dog for negative behaviour, but I really want to break this so we can all just sit in the garden and enjoy ourselves! Any advice would be really appreciated!