You just want to have your pal over, but you can’t because your dog keeps barking at your friend. Why do they have to act like this? Why does your dog bark at your friend? What if they’re taking it further? Why is your dog barking and growling at your friend? And what if your dog barks at friends in the house only?

Today, we’re going to help you through this by answering every single one of these questions. Obviously, we’ll also tell you how to stop your dog from barking at your friend. Soon, they’ll be able to co-exist peacefully! Won’t that be nice? Keep reading below for our article “Dog Keeps Barking at My Friend!”

How Do I Stop My Dog From Barking at My Friends?

To stop your dog barking at your friend, they need to learn to become quiet on command. To accomplish this, bring your dog somewhere you know they’ll want to bark such as the park, with plenty of dog treats. Leave them on their leash and stay a good distance away from the other people there.

As soon as your dog starts to bark, say “quiet” in a calm, positive voice. If they give you their focus, then reward them right away with a small treat and praise. But if they quickly start barking again or never stop at all, then you should place a treat within your fist.

Put your hand very close to your dog’s nose. Your dog will still be able to smell the treat even inside of your fist and will stop their barking to investigate the scent. Once they’ve become silent and are also giving you their attention, again issue the “quiet” command and then open your hand to give them their praise and a treat.

If your dog continues being quiet, keep rewarding them with praise and a treat. But if they start barking again, regardless of whether it’s at you or at something at the park, repeat the steps of placing a treat in your fist, putting it next to their nose, and then waiting until they’ve become silent.

Make sure that you’re waiting until your dog has become silent before you give them any rewards. This helps create a positive connection with your dog with paying attention and being silent any time you say “quiet.” Reward them with treats and praise immediately when your dog is doing what they should.

With repetition, consistency, and patience, your dog will get silent simply by you giving the command, and you will no longer need to place your hand near 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.

It won’t be long before the food rewards and praise won’t be needed anymore and you can get your dog to quit barking at your friend or at anything else and all you’ll have to do is give the “quiet” command.

This should stop your dog barks at your friend, but you’ll still need to address the underlying issue which was causing all of this in the first place: your dog’s issues with 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.

To properly address 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 all dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.

But when your dog when your friend comes over and ignores you when told to stop, they are without a doubt showing you that they don’t trust you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t bark at your friend and refuse your direction. They wouldn’t engage in any other types of dominance or anxiety-related disrespect. And they would obey your commands at all times — happily — and they would do so immediately.

Show 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 wonderful transformations a reality.

You’ll be better off for obvious reasons. But your dog will be too because you’ll have freed them from all of the worry and confusion that their anxiety and dominance problems are currently placing on their little shoulders every single second of every single day.

Sounds terrific, don’t you think?

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

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 all you’ll need to know 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 crucial changes in your dog before things escalate any further.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And don’t stress, 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 Bark at My Friend?

Your dog barks at your friend because they make them anxious, and they likely also feel that it’s their duty to protect both themselves and you. They then respond by adopting an aggressive stance and barking at your friend in hopes of scaring them off. In some cases, they could simply be looking to play though.

To know the difference, look for clues from your dog. If their barking is accompanied by growling and they have a rigid body, then they’re being aggressive and your friend should stay back. If they’re wagging their tail, bouncing around, and doing play bows, then your dog is just looking to play and your friend should feel at ease.

But in either case, if your dog barks at your friend and doesn’t listen when you tell them to quit, you have a serious disobedience problem on your hand. Your dog feels dominant over you and believes that they — and they alone — get to decide how they act and when their actions will end. Obviously, this is not acceptable.

You need to address your dog’s misbehavior immediately or your problems with them will only get worse. You’ll see them disobeying you more and more often, and in worse ways. Your dog will bite people who visit, your dog will bark when you say no, your dog will bark for breakfast, and your dog will bark at people just jogging by. These are just a few examples of what you may see.

I’m sure you can see how frustrating this could make life for you and the ones you love to spend time with, so it’s important to get a handle on things right away. To learn how to stop your dog barking at your friend while also addressing their other issues, go back to the first section now.

Why Is My Dog Barking and Growling at My Friend?

Your dog is barking and growling at your friend because they are feeling very aggressive towards them. They have moved past the warning stage and are close to attacking, so your friend should not approach your dog. Immediately command your dog to stop, and take them to another room or their crate to calm down.

It’s possible that your dog had a negative experience with your friend in the past, or with someone that your friend reminds them of, but in either case, they can’t be allowed to behave this way. If your dog doesn’t listen and continues to bark and growl at your friend, then they feel dominant over you which is a serious behavioral problem.

The fact that they’ve reached this stage is very concerning, so you need to take action immediately before they bite someone you care about or a stranger. Doing nothing gives your dog tacit approval that this barking and growling, and then ignoring you, is okay. They will then only get worse. Go back to the first section now where we’ll teach you how to handle this.

Dog Barks at Friends in House

If your dog barks at friends in the house, then they are displaying territorial dominance. Your dog feels that is their responsibility to protect the home, and that only they are up to the job. They do not trust you to handle things, so they bark at these “intruders” to get them away from you and “their” territory.

If they do not quiet immediately when commanded, you can feel certain this is the case. The barking at friends in the home in addition to ignoring your commands to quit are both clear signs that they feel dominant over you. You can’t allow them to continue to feel this way or things are only going to get worse.

Your dog barking at friends in the house could quickly become your dog biting them, which obviously no one wants. To learn how to stop your dog barking at friends in the house while also addressing their dominance problem, go back to the first section now.

I’m sure you’re looking forward to having your friend over without your dog going crazy, so I’ll let you begin now. Good luck with everything, and thank you for reading our article “Dog Keeps Barking at My Friend.”