How to Keep My Shih Tzu Puppy From Barking Early in the Morning
- 1). Ignore your shih tzu puppy's demands. If you have already checked on the puppy and made sure it has not wet itself, or have already supplied it with its basic needs and it still wants to bark, just let it keep barking. If you give in and go to your shih tzu puppy, you are teaching it that if it barks, you will do what it wants. Shih tzu puppies are extremely intelligent and if you give in only once, it will remember what happened and will make every attempt to have you come back again.
- 2). Train your shih tzu puppy to stop barking on command. According to the website PerfectPaws.com, when your puppy is barking, say, "stop barking" and wave a treat in front of it. Allow the puppy to sniff and lick the treat and during this time when it is silent, give praises, such as "good dog" and "good quiet." After about three seconds, give the treat. The next time the dog barks, make it wait about five seconds before you give the treat and extend the "no barking" time period each time. Eventually, the dog should start to obey the "stoop barking" command without the treat.
- 3). Exercise your shih tzu puppy. Like most puppies, shih tzus have a large amount of energy that needs to be exerted. If your puppy is left alone to its devices all night, it will easily become bored by morning, and will probably start to bark; however, if you take the puppy for a long walk around evening and wear it out, it will likely sleep throughout the night and well into the morning.
- 4). Keep toys, treats and comfort items with your shih tzu puppy in its crate or other environment in which it stays in the morning. Shih tzu puppies are social creatures who can become bored and lonely quite easily. For these reasons, the puppy will start barking. Deter the barking by giving it toys to keep boredom at bay and blankets or comfort objects to help keep loneliness away. When your shih tzu puppy learns to soothe itself, it will likely stop barking.
- 5). Place a citronella collar on the puppy. While this should be used as a last resort, citronella collars are effective when teaching a dog to stop barking. The collar will omit a spray of citronella into the dog's face when it barks. The spray does not harm the dog, but it is unpleasant to the puppy to have spray in its face. The shih tzu puppy will eventually learn that when it barks, it receives a negative reaction and will ultimately stop.
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