Why do dogs bark at loud trucks? A Step-by-Step Guide

Do dogs get tired of barking?

Dogs do not get tired of barking necessarily, but a tired dog may bark less. All dogs bark, and there are many different reasons that a dog uses his voice including fear, alarm, as a form of greeting, and even boredom. … A dog who exhibits this behavior is not likely to stop just because he grew tired of barking.

The most common reason why dogs hate postal workers is that they’re entering your property. Since the beginning of time, canines have protected their resources. In the wild, wolves and wild dogs will show aggressive behavior any time a person or animal gets near something they believe is theirs.

Why Does My Dog Bark at the Garbage Truck?

Your dog barks at the garbage truck because the loud noise makes them feel anxious, which they react to by barking. There’s also a good chance they’re experiencing territorial dominance, and see this large truck carrying strange men as a threat that they must scare away.

Dogs have very sensitive hearing and many are also very protective of their home area (in particular: Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers, and German Shepherds, to name just a few), so it’s not surprising that something like a trash truck would prompt them to aggressively bark.

The real issue arises if the problem persists and if they do not quiet and calm when commanded. If this is happening in your home, you have a serious problem with behavior growing, and if you don’t address this right away things are only going to escalate and occur more frequently.

You can surely see why it’s important to address this problem immediately so that you can get a handle on your dog’s behavior before things grow to these levels. To learn how to stop your dog barking at the garbage truck, and also learn how to handle other issues, go back to the first section now.

How to Stop Dog Barking at Garbage Truck

To stop dog barking at garbage truck:

To get your dog to be silent whenever they begin barking at the garbage truck, teach them the “quiet” command.

For us to do that, you should take your dog to a place you know they’ll likely bark such as the park with plenty of treats.

As soon as your dog starts barking, say “quiet” in a calm and positive voice. If they respond and get silent while also giving you their complete attention immediately reward them with a treat and praise.

But if your dog continues to bark or quickly resumes, then hide a small treat within your fist.

Place your fist right by your dog’s nose. They’ll still be able to smell it even within your hand and will pause their barking to sniff it.

As soon as they’ve quit barking and are paying you their complete attention, again say “quiet,” and then open your hand to give them praise and a small treat.

If they keep being silent and are giving you their full focus, keep rewarding them with treats and praise.

But if they again resume barking or are not paying attention, repeat the process of putting a treat within your fist, placing it next to their nose, and waiting until they quit their barking and pay attention.

Always make sure to pause until they’ve quit their barking and are giving you all their attention, and then say “quiet” before you give them any praise or treats.

This creates a positive connection with your dog with the “quiet” command, and with being quiet and focusing on you.

With consistency, repetition, and patience, you should be able to get them to behave with only the “quiet” command, and you’ll no longer need to put your fist by their mouth.

When your dog is responding well with only the command, then you can start lengthening the amount of time you wait before you give them any rewards.

Begin by waiting for 1-2 seconds, then as they do well move that up to about 5 seconds, and so on.

Soon, you’ll no longer need to reward your dog with food and praise, and they will become silent and give you their attention solely by you giving the command.

These steps should help you make a lot of progress with getting your dog to stop barking at garbage 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 talk about what makes dogs tick 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 the garbage truck and then doesn’t listen when you tell them to stop, they are clearly proving to you that they don’t respect you in this leadership role.

If they did, they wouldn’t ignore you and bark at the trash truck. They wouldn’t engage in any other types of dominance or anxiety-related misbehavior or disrespect. And they would obey your commands as soon as they’re given, and they would do so happily.

Prove to your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but a deserving and capable one who they must respect, and you’ll make all of these great things happen.

Obviously, you’ll be better off. But your dog will be too because you’ll have freed them from all of the confusion and worry that their anxiety & dominance issues are currently burdening their little shoulders with every moment of every day.

“Yes, definitely, but how am I supposed to do this?”

You should watch a wonderful free video series by a renowned trainer named Dan which is on this very subject: how to be your dog’s pack leader. In Dan’s series, he explains all you’ll need to know 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 critical changes in your dog before things escalate any further.

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 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 Dogs Bark at Some Strangers, but Not Others

Does your dog have a tendency to bark whenever they see or hear cars and other traffic?

This can make walks challenging and even impossible if your dog also tries to take off at the sight or sound of traffic and this can be a problem even when they’re on a lead. Don’t worry though, it is possible to train your dog to be totally accepting of traffic.

One of the main reasons why dogs bark at traffic is fear. Vehicles can be fast moving and this can seem scary.

As they pass by, experts have suggested that it can lead your dog to think that they have successfully ‘scared’ them away through barking or lunging at them. This makes them feel rewarded and encourages them to keep on doing it.

Some breeds are naturally prone to chasing things and can get a thrill or ‘high’ from chasing traffic without necessarily being scared of it.

Frustration and boredom can sometimes be a factor too, especially if your dog doesn’t get regular exercise and playtime to stimulate them.

Assuming that your dog’s behaviour is largely rooted in fear, the main focus of your training is going to be based on getting past this.

To begin with, do your training in areas where there isn’t usually a lot of traffic (or at times of the day where traffic is likely to be at a minimum, if you live somewhere that doesn’t have many ‘low traffic’ areas) and build up to areas that have more traffic when they start to react differently.

Whenever you’re around traffic, your dog is likely to react badly if there isn’t much distance between you and passing vehicles. It may take some trial and error to find the ideal “reaction distance” that your dog feels comfortable with but in the early days, it’s likely to be as far from the kerb as you can manage.

If you can find a comfortable “reaction distance” that will allow your dog to sit and observe traffic from afar, this can be a way to get them used to it without feeling threatened by it.

You can use treats to reward calm behaviour but these may not be readily accepted by your dog if they feel scared.

Ideally, you’ll probably want to keep training sessions short and cut them off before your dog responds negatively to traffic rather than when they do.

If your dog’s behaviour is more to do with the ‘high’ of chasing traffic, you may get more joy from replacing the reward of this with something else, such as food or toys that encourage them to work for treats. This can offer alternative stimulation to avoid the quest for a ‘high’ from traffic related activities.