Every time you’re in the car together and you hear the siren you know what’s about to happen: your dog barks at the ambulance like they’re going insane. Why do dogs bark when they hear an ambulance? Are dogs scared of ambulances? Are the sirens too loud? Do ambulance sirens hurt dogs’ ears?

Worry and wonder no longer, because today we’re going to answer all of these questions. Most importantly, we’ll teach you how to stop your dog barking at ambulances using our easy-to-follow steps. Soon, this will all be a thing of the past. Continue reading below for our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Ambulance!

How to Stop Dog Barking at Ambulance

To stop dog barking at ambulance:

1. To get your dog to be silent whenever they start to bark at an ambulance, teach them the “quiet” command.
2. To do this, take your dog somewhere you know they’ll likely bark such as the park with lots of small treats.
3. Once your dog begins barking, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they listen to you and get silent while also paying attention reward them with praise and a treat immediately.
4. But if your dog keeps barking or quickly starts again, then hide a treat in the palm of your hand.
5. Place your fist right next to your dog’s nose. They’ll still be able to smell it even inside of your fist and will stop barking to investigate it.
6. Once they’ve quit barking and are paying attention to you, again say “quiet,” and then open your hand to give them a small treat and praise.
7. If they keep being silent and are giving you their attention, continue rewarding them with treats and praise.
8. But if they again begin to bark or are not giving you their attention, repeat the steps of hiding a treat inside of your fist, placing it by their nose, and pausing until they stop their barking and pay attention.
9. Make sure to always pause until they’ve stopped their barking and are giving you all their attention, and then say “quiet” before you reward them with any praise or treats.
10. This forms a positive connection for your dog with the “quiet” command, and with being silent and giving you their full attention.
11. With consistency, practice, and patience, you should be able to get them to behave only with the “quiet” command, and it won’t be necessary anymore to put your fist next to their mouth.
12. When your dog is responding well with only the command, then you should begin lengthening the amount of time you wait until you reward them.
13. Begin by pausing for 1-2 seconds, then as they do well move that up to about 5 seconds, and so on.
14. Before long, you won’t need to give your dog any praise and food, and they will become quiet and pay attention to you just by you giving the command.

Still, to make real, long-lasting progress you need to ultimately address the problem at its root. Right now, your dog is basically doing whatever they want, losing control of their emotions, and most importantly: not listening to you or your commands to stop an unwanted behavior (barking at ambulances).

To properly cover that, we must first talk about what makes dogs function deep down. You’ve probably heard before that all dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.

But when your dog barks at an ambulance, they are clearly showing you that they have no respect for you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t ignore you and continue to bark at ambulances. They wouldn’t engage in any other types of anxiety and dominance-related misbehavior or disrespect. 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 a capable one who must be respected, and you’ll make all of these great transformations a reality.

Obviously, you’ll win. But your dog will be the even bigger winner here because they’ll no longer have to deal with all of the worry and confusion that their dominance and anxiety issues are currently burdening their little shoulders with every moment of every day.

Sounds wonderful, does it not?

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

You should watch a tremendous free video series which is on this exact subject — how to be your dog’s pack leader — by a renowned trainer named Dan. In the series, he explains 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 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 be mean or yell at your dog. Dan never uses those types of methods. Not just because loving teaching techniques are 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 When They Hear an Ambulance?

Dogs bark when they hear an ambulance because the siren is very loud. This makes many dogs get very anxious and they then react by barking. Dominant dogs will also bark to attempt to warn the source of this distressing sound to stay away from the both of you.

It’s not unusual for a dog to feel discomfort when hearing something as loud as an ambulance siren (after all, they have very sensitive hearing), but if they’re doing so and then ignoring your commands to stop you have a problem to deal with. Allowing this type of misbehavior will give your dog the idea that it’s okay and they’ll then just begin doing it more often.

You’ll find that your dog barks at police cars, barks at fire trucks, barks at tractors, barks at semi trucks, and barks at garbage trucks. Anything that’s confusing or induces anxiety will be enough to get your dog barking and they won’t stop until they feel like stopping. Imagine how frustrating that will be!

Fortunately, though, this is a problem that can be quickly handled — and not just by getting your dog to stop barking at the ambulance, but by also addressing their root problem(s) of anxiety and possibly dominance. To learn how to accomplish all of that, go back to the first section now and we’ll walk you through everything step-by-step.

Are Dogs Scared of Ambulances?

Dogs are scared of ambulances in many cases. It will depend on the dog’s own individual temperament, but it’s very common. Ambulances are large, often moving very fast, can be surrounded by people who are worried and distressed, and frequently blare a very loud siren and horn. All of these things can be very agonizing to a dog.

Do Ambulance Sirens Hurt Dogs’ Ears?

Ambulance sirens do hurt dogs’ ears. Producing sounds ranging from 110 to 129 decibels, the siren of an ambulance comes very close to the 140 decibels which are necessary to cause immediate hearing damage to a dog. Though it may not cause permanent injury, those levels are obviously more than enough to produce extreme discomfort.

As soon as you’re able, get your dog away from an ambulance siren. They’re likely very stressed and worried, and the flashing lights (while also not damaging) will not be pleasant either. They’ll likely also be troubled by all the commotion and possibly panicked people around, which may make your dog react in the same way.

I’m sure you’re sick of your dog barking at the ambulance siren, so I’ll let you get started now. Best wishes with everything, and thank you for checking out our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Ambulance.”