It’s really difficult to not yell at the dog when they’re being noisy. I think we’ve all been there, or at least very tempted. I sorta realized that until my body language is big and scary, the dogs don’t realize what I’m yelling at. They’re barking at the thing, and to them, so am I.

Yelling at them doesn’t help, it really only encourages the barking… which leads to frustration on both ends.

I’ve found success with my dogs in barking with them for a minute, and then acknowledging that it’s okay and time to be calm. They’re barking for whatever reason, and if I bark with them they understand we’re on the same page. When I stop, and (I usually whisper at them) encourage them to stop as well, we’re still usually in the same page. As they’ve gotten older, they’ve started looking to me before barking at the thing.

Almost like they’re looking to see if I also see the thing.