It’s getting tough to find someone to watch your home while you’re gone because your dog barks at house sitters every time you’re away! Why do they have to do this? Why do dogs bark at house sitters? Should you board your dog if they won’t stop barking at house sitters? Should you have your house sitter use a bark collar on your dog to keep them quiet?

Today, we’re going to answer every single question you have about this aggravating issue. Most importantly, we’ll cover what you really came here for: how to stop your dog from barking at your house sitter. Soon, you’ll be able to go on vacation without stress! Keep reading below for our article “Dog Barks at House Sitter? Here’s How to Stop It!”

How to Stop Dog Barking at House Sitter

To get your dog to stop barking at the house sitter, you’ll need to teach them to become quiet on command. To make this happen, bring your dog somewhere you know that they like to bark such as the park, with lots of small dog treats. Keep them on their leash and stay a fair distance away from the other people and animals at the park.

When your dog begins to bark, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they give you their focus, then reward them with a small treat and praise right away. But if they quickly start up barking again or never stop at all, then you should place a treat inside of your hand.

Place your hand right next to your dog’s nose. Your dog will still be able to detect the treat even within your hand and will stop their barking to investigate the scent. Once they’ve gotten silent and are also giving you their complete attention, again issue the “quiet” command and then open your hand to give them their praise and a treat.

If your dog continues to stay quiet, keep rewarding them with a treat and praise. But if they start barking again, regardless of whether it’s at someone at the park or at you, repeat the steps of placing a treat within your first, putting it right by their nose, and then waiting until they’ve gotten silent.

Be sure that you’re waiting until your dog has become quiet before you reward them. This helps create a positive connection for your dog with paying attention and being silent any time you say “quiet.” Reward them right away with praise and treats when your dog is responding well.

With practice, patience, and consistency, your dog will become quiet solely by being given the command, and it won’t be necessary to put your hand by their mouth. You should then begin increasing the amount of time before you reward them. Start with just 1-2 seconds, then increase that to 5 seconds, and so on.

Before long, the praise and food rewards will no longer be needed and your dog will stop barking at the house sitter or at anyone else solely by being given the “quiet” command.

This should stop your dog barking at house sitters, but you’ll still need to address the underlying issue which was causing all of this in the first place: your dog’s territorial dominance and anxiety. If you ignore that, your dog will continue to suffer, and you’ll find that your dog keeps misbehaving in other related ways.

And for us to properly go over that, we must first discuss what makes dogs tick and has for thousands and thousands of years now. I’m sure you’ve heard before that dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.

But when your dog barks at house sitters, they are clearly proving to you that they don’t trust you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t bark at your house sitter and ignore anyone who tells them to stop. They wouldn’t display any other types of territorial dominance or anxiety-related misbehavior. And they would obey commands at all times — happily — and they would do so immediately.

Make it clear to your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but a deserving and capable one who they must respect, and you’ll make all of these terrific things your 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 dominance and anxiety problems are currently placing on their little shoulders every moment of every day.

Sounds terrific, don’t you agree?

“Yes, absolutely, but how am I supposed to do this?”

You should watch an incredibly useful free video series which is on this very subject — how to be your dog’s pack leader — by a renowned trainer named Dan. In the series, he explains absolutely everything in ways that are very simple to follow and teach to your own dog, and he gets right to the point so that you can start seeing these critical changes in your dog in no time.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And don’t stress, because no, you’re not going to have to be mean or yell at your dog. Dan uses only 100% humane and loving teaching techniques 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 Do Dogs Bark at House Sitters?

Dogs bark at house sitters because they’re experiencing both territorial dominance and anxiety. They feel the need to protect their home from this strange person who is not leaving, and it’s even worse because this is combined with the anxiety they feel from you not being there. This all builds until they lash out and bark at the house sitter to try to get them to leave.

Your dog, however, needs to learn to respect that you know what’s best, and that you can determine who should be in the home and who can be trusted, even when you’re not around. If your dog barks at house sitters no matter how many times you tell them they’re okay, or ignores anyone’s commands to quiet, then you have a serious behavioral issue developing.

Dogs need to be obedient and to trust you when you tell them that someone’s okay, and to then also respect the leadership of this person. This includes becoming silent when commanded to do so, whether it’s by you or your house sitter. If they refuse these commands and you allow it to continue, your dog will believe it’s okay and the problem is only going to get worse.

Soon, your dog will be barking at all sorts of people that you need to be in the home and to be interacting with your dog. You’ll find that your dog is barking at workmen in the house, barking at the window cleaners, and barking at the housekeeper. I’m sure you can now see why this can’t be allowed to continue, and why it needs to be addressed right away.

To learn how to stop your dog from barking at the house sitter while also respecting your leadership and that of the people you trust, go back to the first section now where we’ll teach you exactly what to do.

Should I Board My Dog if They Won’t Stop Barking at House Sitters?

You should not board your dog simply because they won’t stop barking at house sitters. You need to address what is causing them to bark at this person to begin with, which is territorial dominance and anxiety. Boarding your dog allows the problem to continue, and it will still show itself at other times with other people who will be in your home.

It’s likely that if your dog is barking at your house sitter that they’ll also be barking when you board them, as they’ll still be experiencing a lot of anxiety there. Kennels and dog hotels will also be incredibly stressful to many dogs (and also expensive), so it’s best to allow your dog to stay at home with a house sitter while also handling what causes them to want to bark.

Should I Have My House Sitter Use a Bark Collar on My Dog?

You should not have your house sitter use a bark collar on your dog. This is a quick-fix solution that actually makes things worse. Bark collars work by delivering a painful shock or unpleasant smell to your dog any time that they bark, which is both cruel and inhumane. They also do absolutely nothing to address what was causing their barking, while also ruining their trust.

Under no circumstances should you or your house sitter use a bark collar on your dog. They will not solve a problem, they merely move it down the road while making it significantly worse. You’ll also have much more trouble addressing it at this point because your dog is going to have a very hard time trusting you from now on.

I’m sure you’re looking forward to leaving your dog with the house sitter without worrying about what they’ll do, so I’ll let you get started on things now. Good luck, and we hope you found our article “Dog Barks at House Sitter? Here’s How to Stop It” helpful!