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How to stop my puppy from barking at people, dogs, and kids on walks?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Male | unneutered | 5 months and 21 days old | 10.5 lbs

Lucci is generally a quiet dog at home, he only barks when playing with my other dog. However whenever I have people at home he would bark at them in the begining then settle after a while. (It doesn’t seem to be about agression, just excitement). But whenever he sees other dogs he barks out of control and will kind of bully them to the corner. I can’t take him on walks because he barks at children as well. Also sometimes he will bark for my attention when I don’t grant it to him.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Laura Johnson VMD

Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

Veterinarian

Published on August 1st, 2018

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach!

Lucci's behavior is common. He is still young and you can still work on this. I would take him to a trainer to have him learn the "leave it" and "look" commands. I would purchase a gentle leader face harness and use that on walks. Do not take him off the leash around other dogs or children until he listens to you perfectly. Little breed dogs are loud and they bark. Some are more pushy with their dominance and you will need to figure out how much Lucci will exhibit these behaviors as he grows up and reaches social/behavioral maturity (up to 3 years of age). I recommend you get aggressive with training and using professionals.

Good luck!

https://www.petsmart.com/dog/collars-harnesses-and-leashes/training-collars-leashes-and-harnesses/petsafe-gentle-leader-training-dog-collar-8851.html
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