PC Steve Hutton and other Wiltshire Police officers had tried to pull over a suspicious vehicle travelling over the speed limit in Swindon.
A "stinger" device was used to stop it and the four occupants fled on foot.
PC Hutton said he chased one of the men and decided to shout that he had a dog, adding a "few fake barks", which made the man give himself up.
"He stopped and we got up to him before he realised there wasn't a dog and he was arrested," he said.
"By the look on his face you could see he was a little bit disappointed with himself.
"Some people on the shift think I should now do a dog-handler job without the dog."
The man arrested has since been released without charge, but police are still investigating the incident.
A policeman has told how he "barked" like a dog in order to fool a suspect and arrest him.