Why does your dog have to constantly bother the other animals on your land? Why do dogs bark at llamas? Will they just ignore it, or are llamas scared of dogs? Is this a problem you’ll always have to deal with, or can dogs and llamas get along?

Today, we’re going to answer all of the questions you have about this issue on your farm. Most importantly, we’ll cover what you’re really interested in: how to stop your dog barking at your llamas. Soon, this frustration will all be behind you for good. Keep reading below for our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Llamas!”

Why Do Dogs Bark at Llamas?

Dogs bark at llamas most likely because they’re curious and get overexcited, which leads to barking. While dogs are natural predators and could misinterpret a llama as prey, it’s not probable since they’re seeing them often if they live on the same property. This should also rule out territorial barking because your dog knows the llamas belong there.

With llamas being around often, they might not intimidate your dog. This leads to your dog seeing them as a potential playmate, but they just don’t understand why that’s probably not going to be possible. Llamas, however, may see a dog like they see a coyote — as a potential predator — and will get aggressive so you should keep them separated.

But if your dog is barking at your llamas and ignoring your commands to stop, then you have a dominance issue on your hands. It’s not unusual for a dog to get a bit overexcited and to show this through barking, but refusing your directive to stop can’t be tolerated. If you allow this belief to continue, your dog’s misbehavior will only get worse.

You’ll likely find your dog uncontrollably barking at other animals, both on your property and in the wild. You’ll see your dog is barking at your alpacas, barking at your goats, barking at your sheep, barking at your cows, or barking at your chickens. If you take them to the park, they’ll likely be barking at the ducks and barking at the geese — all while refusing to listen to your orders to quit.

To stop your dog from barking at your llamas and other animals on command, skip to the last section now where we’ll give you the exact steps to follow.

Are Llamas Scared of Dogs?

Llamas are not scared of dogs. They will, however, see them like they see coyotes — as predators — and will respond accordingly. This means your llamas will be aggressive to your dogs and will sound a loud alarm and likely run at your dogs as well. If they feel the need to protect other animals of yours, they will attempt to get between those and your dog.

Can Dogs and Llamas Get Along?

Dogs and llamas can get along, though you should be very careful and patient before allowing them to be together. Take things slowly, and ensure that both animals are okay with the other’s presence. Keep a fence between the two while they’re learning that the other is not a threat, and what boundaries they must respect.

Your llama naturally will see your dog as a predator and might feel the need to protect themselves or other farm animals from them. Your dog probably has seen them enough to know the llamas aren’t prey, but may see them as a potential playmate. Your dog’s way of inviting play, however, will likely look like a possible attack to your llama which would cause them to charge your dog.

But even once they’ve learned to get along, you should keep them completely separated when the llama has young animals around, regardless of whether they’re also llamas or of another species. Your dog will see them as prey, and your llamas are going to be very protective, so even if they normally tolerate each other fine, they’ll need to be kept apart during these times.

How to Stop Your Dog Barking at Llamas

To stop your dog barking at llamas:

1. Teach your dog the “quiet” command to use when you need to calm them around your llamas or at any other time.
2. Practice by taking your dog to where you keep your llamas with lots of small treats.
3. If your llamas get very stressed by the dog, then instead go somewhere that you know your dog barks also (like the park) while you practice.
4. When your dog begins to bark, say “quiet” in a positive voice. If they respond and give you their attention, reward them a treat and praise right away.
5. But if your dog continues to bark or quickly resumes, then place a treat inside of your fist.
6. Put your fist near the nose of your dog. They’ll be able to smell it even within your hand and should quit barking to sniff it out.
7. When they’ve stopped barking and are giving you their complete attention, again say “quiet,” and then open your fist to give them praise and a treat.
8. If they keep staying quiet while giving you their attention, continue to reward your dog with a treat and praise.
9. But if they again begin barking or not paying attention, repeat this process of putting a treat in your fist, placing it near their nose, and pausing until they stop barking and pay attention.
10. Always make sure that you wait until your dog has silenced and is paying attention, and then say “quiet” before rewarding them with any treats or praise.
11. This forms a positive connection in your dog’s mind with the “quiet” command, and with being silent and paying attention to you.
12. With patience, consistency, and repetition, you should be able to get them to respond with just the “quiet” command, and there won’t be any need to place your hand by their mouth.
13. When your dog is doing well with only the verbal command, then you should start lengthening the time before you give them their rewards.
14. Start by pausing for just 2 seconds, then as they do well move that up to 5 seconds, and so on.
15. Before long it won’t be necessary to reward your dog with any food and praise, and they will quiet and give you their attention just by you giving the command.

The issue which was causing all of this to begin with — your dog’s feelings of dominance — will still remain and need to be addressed, however. They’ll continue to display this through other ways of misbehaving, so it’s important that you handle this problem at its root before things escalate.

And to do that, we should first quickly go over what makes dogs function to begin with. You’ve likely heard before that dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader. But when your dog barks at your llamas and refuses to stop, they are clearly showing that they don’t respect you in this role.

If they did, they wouldn’t be barking at your llamas or at any of your other animals. They would not engage in other types of dominance-related misbehavior. And they obey your commands at all times — immediately — and they would do so happily.

Prove 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 things happen.

You’ll be better off. Your llamas will be better off. But your dog will be the biggest winner here because they’ll no longer be lugging around all of the stress and confusion that they’re currently burdened with 24/7 due to their pack leader and dominance issues.

Sounds like a heck of a thing then, right?

“Yeah, absolutely, but how do I do this?”

You should watch an excellent free video series by a renowned trainer named Dan which is on this exact subject: how to be your dog’s pack leader. In his series, Dan explains everything in ways that are very easy to understand and teach to your own dog, and he gets immediately to the point so that you can start seeing these crucial changes in your dog before things get any worse.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And no, you’re not going to have to yell or be mean to your four-legged little buddy. 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.

I’m sure you (and your llamas) are looking forward to your dog behaving around the farm, so I’ll let you get started now. Good luck with everything, and thank you for reading “How to Stop Dog Barking at Llamas.”