Since なにも seems to only mean nothing with a negative verb if you want to use a
phrase for example "The dog barked at nothing" in Japanese how would you
express it? Is it 犬がなにもに吠えなかった because that seems wrong to me.
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grammar translation
How to say "to nothing" with a positive verb in Japanese?
**Edit** : I took "The dog barked at nothing" as "The dog barked at a place
where there is nothing." Sorry if I have misunderstood.

* * *

I think there is no word in Japanese that exactly matches that "nothing." So
you have to describe the situation more concretely. For example:

> 犬が **何もない所に向かって** 吠えた。  
>  The dog barked at nothing.

Here, 「Aに向かって吠える」 is a typical translation of "bark at A". And 「何もない所」 is "the
space where nothing exists."

* * *

Maybe, the word 「[虚空]{こくう}」 (== empty space) is closer:

> 犬が **虚空** に向かって吠えた。

But this word sounds literary; not used in daily conversations.

Or 「[無]{む}」 may express the idea of nothing being existing (cf. 無を取得) but it
sounds too paradoxical and less natural.
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As luck would have it, there is a special word can be used to express barking
at nothing: "mudaboe" 無駄吠え。E.g. 犬は無駄吠えした。(It can also be used to express
excessive barking in general.)
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I'm not a "pro" by any means, but I feel like omitting the object "nothing"
should make justice to it. First, why would you want to say that "dog barked
at nothing" when it's easier to simply say that "dog barked". Trying to find a
reason for saying that "dog barked at nothing" in Japanese, but I'm unable to.

犬が吠えた。

Hope that you'll find the right answer.
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