It’s so darn frustrating! You finally got your newborn to sleep, and your dog’s barking woke them up again! Why do they have to do this? Why does your dog keep barking at your baby? Can loud dog barking hurt babies’ ears? What if they start barking after the crying? Why do dogs bark when baby cries?

Today, we’re going to help you end this irritating problem by answering all of these questions. Including, of course, how to stop your dog barking and waking up your baby. Soon, your dog will stay quiet when your baby’s sleeping! Keep reading below for our article “Dog Barking Waking Up Baby? Here’s How to Stop It!

How to Stop Dog Barking Waking Up Baby

To stop dog barking waking up baby:

1. Teach your dog the “quiet” command to use whenever they bark while your baby’s sleeping or at any other time you need them to be silent.
2. To accomplish that, take your dog to a place you know they’ll probably bark like the park with plenty of small treats.
3. When your dog starts barking, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they listen to you and become silent while also giving you their complete attention immediately reward them with praise and a treat.
4. But if your dog keeps barking or quickly starts back up, then hide a treat within your fist.
5. Put your hand right next to your dog’s nose. They’ll still be able to detect the scent even inside of your hand and will pause their barking to sniff it.
6. Once they’ve stopped barking and are giving you their complete attention, again say “quiet,” and then open your hand to give them a treat and praise.
7. If they continue to be silent and are paying you their focus, keep rewarding them with treats and praise.
8. But if they again resume barking or are not paying attention, repeat the process of hiding a treat within your fist, placing it by their nose, and waiting until they stop their barking and give you their focus.
9. Always be sure to pause until they’ve stopped barking and are paying you all their attention, and then say “quiet” before you give them any praise or treats.
10. This forms a positive connection for your dog with the “quiet” command, and with being quiet and giving you their attention.
11. With time, practice, and patience, you will be able to get them to respond with only the “quiet” command, and you’ll no longer need to place your hand by their mouth.
12. When your dog is responding well with only the command, then you should begin increasing the duration of time you wait until you give them any rewards.
13. Begin by waiting for about 2 seconds, then as they do well increase that to about 5 seconds, and so on.
14. Before long, it will no longer be necessary to reward your dog with food and praise, and they will be silent and give you their focus just by you giving the command.

These steps should help you make a lot of progress with getting your dog to not bark while your baby’s sleeping, but you still need to address the fact that they ever thought this was an appropriate response to any feelings of anxiety and dominance they were experiencing.

To properly address that, we must first discuss what makes dogs tick deep down. I’m sure you’ve heard before that dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.

But every time that your dog barks while your baby is napping and won’t stop when told, they are definitively showing you that they have no trust for you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t keep barking when instructed to be quiet. They wouldn’t engage in any other types of anxiety or dominance-related misbehavior. And they would immediately obey your commands at all times, and they would do so happily.

Make it clear to your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but one worthy of respect, and you’ll make all of these terrific transformations a reality.

You’ll win for obvious reasons. But your dog will be the real winner here because you’ll have freed them from all of the worry and confusion that their issues with dominance and anxiety are currently saddling their little shoulders with every single second of every single day.

That sounds wonderful, right?

“Yes, sure, but how do I do any of this?”

You should watch an incredibly useful free video series by a renowned trainer named Dan which is on this exact subject: how to be your dog’s pack leader. In Dan’s series, he explains absolutely everything in ways that are very easy to follow and teach to your own dog, and he gets right to the point so that you can start seeing these important changes in your dog before things escalate any further.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And don’t worry, because no, you’re not going to have to yell or be mean to your dog. Dan uses only 100% humane and loving teaching methods at all times. Not just because they’re the right thing to do, but also because they’re the fastest way to achieve permanent changes in your dog’s behavior.

Why Does My Dog Keep Barking at My Baby?

Your dog keeps barking at your baby due to the anxiety they cause them, dominance issues, and possibly even both. The noise the baby makes could be stressful to your dog (remember that they have very sensitive hearing), causing your dog to lash out by barking. They may also feel dominant, that it’s their duty to protect the baby, and are trying to alert you.

There can also be other simpler factors like your baby has a toy that your dog wants. This would be rooted in dominance issues. It can even just be that your dog wants to play with your baby the same way that they do with you (chase, tug of war, etc), but they don’t understand that this isn’t possible yet.

But regardless of whether it’s due to anxiety or dominance, if your dog barks at your baby and then refuses your orders to stop, they are showing definitive signs of disobedience. You need to address this problem right away or your struggles with your dog are only going to get worse, as they’ll see it as tacit approval of the way they’ve been acting.

Barking at your baby will soon become barking at other things too. You’ll find that your dog barks at your friends, barks at joggers, barks at your mailman, or barks to demand their ball. All of this while completely ignoring you when you tell them to stop. Imagine living like that!

To learn how to stop your dog barking at your baby and anything else as well, go back to the first section now where we’ll go over an easy-to-follow step-by-step process that will help you.

Can Loud Dog Barking Hurt Babies’ Ears?

Loud dog barking can hurt babies’ ears. Being exposed to loud noises for prolonged periods of time can be significantly damaging to a baby’s long-term hearing and is known as noise-induced hearing loss. Dog barks, which can reach 120 decibels, would certainly qualify.

If you have a problem with your dog barking around your baby or at your baby, it’s important that you take care of things immediately. It’s not just annoying for you and stressful for your baby, it could also be extremely problematic for their long-term health.

Go back to the first section now and we’ll teach you how to get your dog to stop barking at your baby on command.

Why Do Dogs Bark When Baby Cries?

Dogs bark when babies cry for many reasons. Some are trying to alert you to come help, while other dogs may feel annoyed and are barking at the baby in a futile attempt to get them to stop. Other dogs can even just be confused and feel like joining in on the noise.

Whatever the reason, it’s crucial that you’re able to quiet your dog immediately when they bark at your baby. A dog’s loud barking can be damaging to a baby’s hearing long-term, so you need to be able to stop them right away whenever they get started. Go back to the first section now and we’ll teach you how.

I’m sure you’re ready to not have your baby woken up by your barking dog anymore, so I’ll let you get started now. Best wishes with all of this, and thank you for checking out our article “Dog Barking Waking Up Baby? Here’s How to Stop It!”