It might’ve been cute when it first started happening. Another animal, probably a dog, comes on the screen and all of a sudden your dog is barking at the television as if the object of their desire was right there in your living room with you two! But when it keeps happening and interrupting your shows, you know that it quickly stops being funny.

“How do I get my dog to stop barking at the television? Can it be trained away or will I have to put my beloved doggo in another room whenever my favorite show comes on??” No worries, because yes you can get your dog to stop barking at the TV, and it’s a pretty quick process! Keep reading, and we’ll fill you in on exactly how to do it.

How Can I Stop My Dog Barking at the TV?

To stop your dog barking at the TV, try teaching them this quiet command:

1. If you can put a leash on your dog without them going crazy, put it on when you are watching television.
2. If your dog barks at the TV, take the leash and lead them back to you. If you were unable to put their leash on, lead them back very gently by the collar.
3. Let them see and sniff at a treat in your hand, but do not give it to them yet.
4. Once your dog has stopped barking at the television for about three seconds, give them the treat, some pets, and praise.

This should help your dog to realize that they will be rewarded for not barking at the TV. Pretty quickly you should be able to get your dog to stay quiet while watching television without needing to use the leash or treats.

But if your dog keeps barking at the television and is not responding to the command, then you’ve got a large behavioral issue that needs to be addressed. When your dog is barking at the television and doesn’t respond to your attempts to get them to stop, they are not respecting your authority.

It could be that they feel the need to protect you from whatever they’re seeing on the screen, or it could just be that they’ve learned that they don’t need to listen to you. Either way, your dog continues to bark and won’t listen to your commands because they’ve decided that they are in charge.

You’ve probably heard before that all dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there will be a pack leader. Your dog barking at the television and at other times despite your command to stop is a clear indication that they’ve decided they are the pack leader.

After all, think about the pack leader’s responsibilities: protecting others in the pack, themselves, and their territory. Your dog has trouble telling the difference between real life and television, so it’s natural that seeing things on TV (particularly other dogs) will prompt them to bark to protect everyone.

The good news is that even if your dog doesn’t respond to your initial commands to stop barking, they will respond when you go deeper and work on fixing their pack leader confusion. Let them see that you are the one in charge, and they will respect your authority, meaning you can stop your dog from barking at the TV and other behavioral issues you’re likely having too.

“Okay, yes, please tell me so I can just watch my shows in peace!”

Of course! This is the type of thing that I think is best learned by watching rather than reading, because you can see all the exact things you should be doing with your own dog. That’s why I’d check out an excellent free video series on becoming your dog’s pack leader by a renowned trainer named Dan.

And don’t worry if you’ve had no experience or success with training previously, because Dan’s videos are made exactly for people like you. They’re very easy to understand and teach to your own dog, and he doesn’t waste time — he gets right to the point so you can start seeing real positive changes with your dog fast!

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. Before you know it, you’ll be able to stop your dog barking at the television, end other barking issues, and say bye bye to other behavioral problems you’re likely having like pulling on the leash, refusing commands, and aggression.

Why Is My Dog Obsessed With the TV?

Your dog is obsessed with TV because just like humans, they’re interested in all the sights and sounds. Your dog is intelligent enough that they can recognize different things that they know from real life.

Animals, even ones that your dog has never seen before, will be particularly interesting to them. Many will have trouble recognizing that it’s not real life, however, and will react in the same way that they would to an animal they were actually meeting. So if your dog barks at other dogs, growls, or tries to play — they’ll do it while watching television too.

Is It Normal for Dogs to Bark at the TV?

It is normal for dogs to bark at the TV. We’ve discussed that they’re interested in television in the same way that we are, and that they’ll react the same way that they would to real-world stimuli.

For many, this will mean your dog barking at the television. If it’s just an occasional thing, you can probably write it off as just a cute thing from your dog. When it’s happening often, however, you’ll want to fix it through behavioral training before it gets out of hand and they learn to bark at strangers and everything else.

We told you about a quick leash trick and the long-term training method you should be using to stop your dog barking at the TV in the first section of this article.

Why Does My Dog Bark at Every Animal on TV?

Your dog barks at every animal on TV because they have trouble telling the difference between real life and television. A 2013 study showed that dogs can pick out other animals and humans on screens, but do particularly well with other dogs.

Still, your dog will have trouble telling the difference between what’s really happening and what’s just happening on TV, which leads them to react in the same way that they would in reality.

If your dog will bark at other dogs in real life, then your dog will bark at other dogs on television. But this can easily be addressed both in the short and long-term, which we covered in the first section of this article.

I’ll let you get to things now because I’m sure you’re eager to see all these results with your own dog. Imagine being able to enjoy your favorite show with your quiet dog by your side! Good luck and thank you for reading our article “How Do I Get My Dog to Stop Barking at the Television?”