Your dog uses their voice for the same reasons we do, to let us know something. They are trying to communicate something to us, the people they care about. The only time that it becomes a problem is with excessive dog barking. You don’t want to listen to your dog barking all the time, and certainly your neighbors don’t. There are times we want our dog to bark, so we don’t want to stop dog barking altogether, we want some dog barking control.
So Why Do Dogs Bark?
Part of the answer is that some dog breeds were bred to bark for certain reasons or in certain situations.
- Some breeds like German Shepherds, Dobermans, and Rottweilers, were bred as guard dogs and to bark when a threat is perceived. Some breeds such as Beagles and Bloodhounds were bred to bark as a tool to assist their owners when they scent the quarry. And some dogs bark just to hear themselves bark, you can name many of the toy breeds.
But aside from being a particular breed that barks for certain tasks, all dogs will bark for reasons like,
- “I’m lonely”
- “I’m hungry”
- “I’m bored”,
- “someone is nearby”
- “I want to play”
- “I want to go out”
Never Reward Undesirable Behavior
Has this ever happened to you? Relaxing on your sofa or chair maybe reading or watching tv, and your beloved pet brings a toy over and tosses it to you and wants to play. You ignore them because you’re busy and they bark at you. You continue to ignore them and they bark again, and keep barking. So you pick up the toy and start a little play time with them. They stop barking. She has manipulated you and you have rewarded the barking by doing what she wanted.
Dog Barking Solutions
Mutual respect is an important part of your relationship with your pet. But the relationship is not equal. You are the boss and they are the dog. You are the pack leader, they are the follower. They are most comfortable when they know you are in charge. Your dog has to respect your leadership in order to be happy and well adjusted. In the above situation the dog harassed the owner into playing and learned that to get what she wants she can make noise and keep it up until she has achieved her goal.
The way to show your dog that you are the leader and that she is not worthy of your attention when she acts in an undesirable manner is to get up and turn your back on them and walk away. If her tactic has before she will be confused and most likely bark more and louder, which is understandable, it has worked in the past. You must be consistent and not give in or they will learn that they just have to bark longer to get what they want.
If they are barking for a different reason, not trying to manipulate you, and there isn’t any reason for the continued barking you can try to stop them by a verbal command. If that doesn’t work, a short term, pain free and humane action to take is to use your hands to close their mouth. This accomplishes 2 things. First it stops the barking, and second, it shows them through direct physical action that you are the leader who will not put up with their nonsense and will not balk at enforcing your guidance. They will try to squirm and shake you off. Grab her collar for control with one hand and her muzzle with the other until she stops squirming. Only when she stops struggling and relaxes does it mean that she has accepted your authority. When she is calm, release her and praise her.
Many times the reason for unwanted and continued barking is that they simply have energy. The fix for this is exercise. As you know, a tired dog is a good dog. Another reason is that they are not getting enough attention. Dogs are social animals that need interaction and attention. If they are alone too much they might be barking because they are alone or bored. Spend some time giving them a healthy dose of love and affection.
For more dog barking solutions and dealing with unwanted behaviors that your dog is exhibiting, you’ll probably be interested in taking a look at Secrets To Dog Training. It’s a complete, A-Z manual for the responsible dog owner, and deals with recognizing, preventing, and dealing with just about every problem dog behavior under the sun.
