It’s oddly satisfying and a great way to freshen things up, but it’s still so frustrating because your dog barks at the power washer every time you use it. What’s going on here? Why do dogs bark at power washers? Should you keep them away? Are dogs safe around power washers? Are pressure washers too loud for dogs?

Well, worry no longer, because today we’re going to answer all of these questions for you. Obviously, we’ll also teach you how to stop your dog barking at the power washer too. Soon, you’ll be able to do all the pressure washing you want without stress. Continue reading below for our article “Dog Barks at Power Washer? Here’s How to Stop It!”

How to Stop Dog Barking at Power Washer

To stop dog barking at power washer:

1. To get your dog to be silent whenever they begin to bark at the power washer, teach them the “quiet” command.
2. To accomplish that, take your dog somewhere you know they’ll likely bark like the park with lots of small treats.
3. When your dog starts barking, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they listen to you and get silent while also paying attention to you immediately give them a treat and praise.
4. But if your dog continues to bark or soon starts again, then hide a treat in the palm of your hand.
5. Place your hand right next to your dog’s nose. They’ll still be able to smell it even inside of your hand and will stop barking to investigate it.
6. As soon as they’ve stopped barking and are paying attention to you, again say “quiet,” and then open your hand to reward them with praise and a treat.
7. If they continue to be silent and are giving you their focus, continue rewarding them with treats and praise.
8. But if they again start to bark or are not giving you their attention, repeat the steps of hiding a treat inside of your hand, placing it next to their nose, and pausing until they stop their barking and give you their focus.
9. Be sure to always wait until they’ve quit barking and are giving you all their attention, and then say “quiet” before you reward them with any treats or praise.
10. This forms a positive connection for your dog with the “quiet” command, and with being quiet and giving you their complete attention.
11. With repetition, time, and patience, you should be able to get them to respond solely with the “quiet” command, and it will no longer be necessary to place your hand near their mouth.
12. Once your dog is doing well with just the command, then you can begin increasing the duration of time you wait before you reward them.
13. Start by pausing for about 1-2 seconds, then as they do well move that up to about 5 seconds, and so on.
14. It won’t be long before it will no longer be necessary to reward your dog with praise and food, and they will be quiet and give you their focus solely by you giving the command.

These steps will get your dog to stop barking at pressure washers, but it’s important to remember that the underlying behavioral issues (anxiety, dominance) that were causing all of this to begin with will still be present. And until you address those, any positive changes you see are only going to be temporary.

“Okay, how do I make these changes stick?”

By getting your dog to truly choose to follow your direction, that’s how. I tried many times to write out how you can do that before deciding it made more sense to just link you to the free video series that explains it better than I’d ever be able to.

The series is by a man named Dan who is one of the world’s leading dog obedience trainers. In it, he teaches you how to put an end to things like when your dog barks at the power washer and all other misbehavior using his fast and easy-to-follow methods.

In the first video, Dan will reveal to you why the two most common methods of dog training only doom you to failure. You can watch the video now by clicking here. Follow the proven system he’ll show you in his series and you’ll never have to spend another second worrying about your dog barking at the power washer ever again!

Why Do Dogs Bark at Power Washers?

Dogs bark at power washers because they make them uneasy and anxious. Some dogs might even feel the need to protect you from them. Both anxiety and this dominant need to protect would then cause a dog to bark at this strange, highly powerful threat.

It’s not surprising that a dog might be wary of something like a pressure washer, which they likely rarely see (if ever), and that produces such force. The problem arises when your dog is barking at the power washer and not responding to you when you try to get them to quit.

This is a definitive sign that they don’t trust you as a leader, because if they did, they would obey your command and stop because they would have trust in your direction and in your ability to decide what is and what is not a danger. Though they may still be confused, they would become calm knowing that you can handle everything.

But since they are not behaving by stopping their barking, it is very likely that they feel that are in charge and that they are free to respond to things that make them anxious however they see fit. You must put a stop to these beliefs right away or your dog will come to think that they are correct to feel this way and then their misbehavior will become even more frequent.

Soon, your dog will be barking at power lines, barking at the sprinklers, or barking whenever you say no. Essentially, anything they find annoying or as a challenge to their “authority” could start them barking and they won’t stop until they feel like it’s time to do so. I’m sure you can see how frustrating that could make your life.

You should remember, though, that this will actually be a very pleasurable life for your dog too. They want to trust in you because that relieves the stress and anxiety of feeling like they need to confront all of the confusing things they encounter in life.

To learn how to stop your dog barking at power washing or anything else on command, while also establishing yourself as their leader and treating their anxiety issues, go back to the first section now.

Are Dogs Safe Around Power Washers?

Dogs are not safe around power washers. The cleaning solutions they use can be toxic to dogs, and they may attempt to drink it off of the ground. Many dogs also like to bite at streams of water, so they may think this is the same situation and will attempt to do so with the power washer’s high-pressure stream. These deliver from 1400 to 4000 PSI, which would seriously injure them.

To put this into perspective, the garden hose stream which your dog might be used to drinking from delivers 40 to 60 PSI. Clearly, you can see the difference and just how dangerous that makes pressure washers to your dog. Keep your dog inside at all times when using a power washer.

Are Pressure Washers Too Loud for Dogs

Pressure washers are not too loud for dogs. They produce from 75 to 105 decibels, which is well within the safe range for dogs, who won’t experience immediate hearing damage until 140 decibels. Many will still find the noise annoying, however. Due to that and the extremely dangerous pressurized water stream produced, keep your dog inside when using a power washer.

I’m sure you’re sick of your dog barking when you’re pressure washing, so I’ll let you begin now. Best of luck with everything, and we hope you found our article “Dog Barks at Power Washer? Here’s How to Stop It” helpful!