What exactly is going through their head when your dog barks at fire trucks? Why do they howl and go crazy? Why do dogs bark at fire trucks? Do fire truck sirens hurt dogs’ ears? Do dogs know that fire trucks mean fire?

Today, we’ll answer all of these questions for you including what you came here for: how to stop your dog barking at fire trucks and sirens once and for all. Soon, you’ll never have to worry about this ever again. Continue reading below for our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Fire Trucks!”

How to Stop Dog Barking at Fire Trucks

To stop dog barking at fire trucks:

1. Teach your dog the “quiet” command to use whenever they bark at fire trucks or at any other time you need them to be silent.
2. To do so, take your dog somewhere you know they’ll want to bark such as the park with plenty of treats.
3. As soon as your dog begins barking, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they listen to you and become silent while also focusing on you reward them with a treat and praise right away.
4. But if your dog continues to bark or soon resumes, then hide a treat in your hand.
5. Place your hand right by your dog’s nose. They’ll still be able to detect the scent even inside of your fist and should pause their barking to investigate it.
6. Once they’ve quit barking and are paying you their complete attention, again say “quiet,” and then open your hand to give them a small treat and praise.
7. If they continue to be silent and are giving you their attention, keep rewarding them with praise and treats.
8. But if they again resume barking or are not paying attention, repeat the process of hiding a treat inside of your fist, placing it by their nose, and waiting until they stop their barking and focus on you.
9. Make sure to always wait until they’ve stopped barking and are paying 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 focusing on you.
11. With consistency, practice, and patience, you will be able to get them to respond only with the “quiet” command, and it won’t be necessary anymore to put your fist by their mouth.
12. Once your dog is doing well with just the command, then you should begin increasing the duration of time you pause before you reward them.
13. Start by pausing for 1-2 seconds, then as they do well move that up to 5 seconds, and so on.
14. Before long, you won’t need to reward your dog with praise and food, and they will be silent and pay attention to you solely by you giving the command.

These steps should help you make a lot of progress with getting your dog to stop barking at fire trucks, but you still need to address the fact that they ever thought this was an appropriate response to any feelings of dominance and anxiety they were experiencing.

For us to go over that, we must first discuss what makes dogs function 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 barks at fire trucks, they are without a doubt showing you that they have no respect for you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t bark at fire trucks and refuse to stop. They wouldn’t engage in any other types of dominance or anxiety-related misbehavior. And they would obey your commands as soon as they’re given, and they would do so happily.

Make it clear to your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but a capable one worthy of respect, and you’ll make all of these terrific things happen.

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 & dominance problems are currently placing on them every moment of every day.

Sounds wonderful, right?

“Yeah, of course, but how do I do any of this?”

You should watch an incredibly useful 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 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 critical 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 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 at Fire Trucks?

Dogs bark at fire trucks because they’re extremely loud and very large. Some dogs may also even know to associate them with danger or fire. All of these would make them feel very anxious and worried, and possibly the need to protect you, which they would then respond to by barking at the fire truck.

There’s nothing out of the ordinary about a dog barking at fire trucks, it only becomes an issue when they will not stop when commanded to do so. This is a definitive sign of disobedience, and it is likely that they also feel that they are free to do anything they want at any time.

This is a dangerous belief to allow to continue in your dog, which is why you need to address it immediately the first time it’s noticed. If you do not, your dog will come to think that they are right to feel this way and their misbehavior will become even more frequent and even more out of control.

Anything could set them off, particularly vehicles that are large and loud. Your dog will be barking when they see a police car, barking when they see a tractor, barking when they see a garbage truck, barking when they see an ambulance, and barking when they see a semi truck. Sounds like a pretty annoying life, right?

The good news is, though, that you can quickly learn an easy command that will get your dog to stop barking at fire trucks (and anything else) immediately. Go back to the first section now to learn how to do so (we’ll also help you address the problem at its root so that you’re treating the cause, not just the symptom).

Do Fire Truck Sirens Hurt Dogs’ Ears?

Fire truck sirens do hurt dogs’ ears. These can reach 120 decibels, sometimes higher, which while not enough to cause immediate hearing damage to your dog (140 decibels is the threshold for that) is more than enough to cause extreme discomfort and stress.

If you’re in the area of a fire truck’s siren or horn, remove yourself and your dog from the area as quickly as possible. In addition to the distress, pain, and anxiety the noise will cause them, any fires or panicked bystanders will also inflict a great deal of worry on your dog.

Do Dogs Know That Fire Trucks Mean Fire?

Dogs do not instinctively know that fire trucks mean fire, but they could certainly learn that they do. If your dog has ever been around a fire truck when a fire was blazing, it’s very possible that they have made a lifelong association between the two.

Dogs who have not may still appear to know that fire trucks mean fire because the loud sirens and hysterical people will cause them to get very worried and anxious as well. Take your dog away from the area as soon as you’re able if you encounter a fire truck and firefighters that are in the midst of performing their duties.

I’m sure you’re ready for your dog to stay calm when fire trucks go by, so I’ll let you get started on things now. Good luck with all of this, and thank you for reading our article “How to Stop Dog Barking at Fire Trucks.”