I am buying a house hear soon and this will be the first time my dogs will have a backyard to run around in. Previously we have lived in a townhouse and they always have left the house with my directly by their side.

What should my first steps be to deal with them if they bark at the neighbors/cars while in the yard? They will not be left out while no one is home, and not for long periods of time even then.

Fence your yard if at all possible with a stockade or privacy fence. If you can't or don't want to do that...you will have to be vigilent with telling the dogs to stop barking in the beginning when it is all new to them. The dogs will eventually get used to the common noises of the neighborhood. They will then most likely bark at the odd sounds..which is what I consider part of their job.

Mine would occasionally try to fence fight with one of the neoghbors dogs, but I would scould them when they did it...so now they don't really do it. I have woods behind me, so I only have to deal with 2 neighbors. They both have dogs, but only 1 has one that when they first moved in would come near my fence & bark.

My dogs are out in the yard alot of the time. Never when I'm not home. I am usually out there with them in ther yard or on the deck or in the kitchen where I can see them. Most of the time that I am not out there they sit on the deck watching the back door waiting for me to come out. They know that the real fun starts when I come out to play.

You can get bark collars if you have to resort to that. But I'd give them some time to settle in & see what happens. My dogs actually bark more in the house then the yard. But my fence in a privacy fence. It is were not...they would most likely bark at every thing that passed by the front of the house. I don't have a side walk on my side of the street so that also helps keep the barking down.

My female is a very reactive dog & will bark at ANY odd noise. But she doesn't usually nusence bark at every little thing. My male barks at people or animals etc on his turf as does she also.

It may not be as much of a problem as you might think once they get used to the normal noises.

Congrats on the new house! I think you'll love the convenience of being able to just open the back door and let the dogs out to pee. I do.

Couple of random thoughts:

The backyard and everything in it will be a new high-distraction zone, so you'll want to make a point to really reinforce the recall in the new place. (You standing at the back door to call the dogs in from the yard.) Handing out treats for coming when called in is a good policy.

Which is basically how I deal with barking in the back yard. One bark gets a warning "shut up" from me. Second bark, the offender has to come inside.

That cuts down on barking at my house, because especially if it's nice out, they'd rather stay out longer. But they know barking = have to go in.

 Quote: Anne Jones

Fence your yard if at all possible with a stockade or privacy fence. If you can't or don't want to do that...you will have to be vigilent with telling the dogs to stop barking in the beginning when it is all new to them. The dogs will eventually get used to the common noises of the neighborhood. They will then most likely bark at the odd sounds..which is what I consider part of their job.

This is what I did, too.

Shut up, shut the **** up, quiet, knock it off, are all effective commands to work on.

Just like with anything, start low distraction and then work your way up at the dog's pace.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

Congrats on the new house! I think you'll love the convenience of being able to just open the back door and let the dogs out to pee. I do.

Oh I can't wait!

Thanks for the tips guys/girls! I'll give it a shot if/when it becomes a problem.

 Quote: michael_wise

Shut up, shut the **** up, quiet, knock it off, are all effective commands to work on.

I also use "knock it the **** off", too.