If you have a dog that barks frequently, you may have heard complaints from your neighbors about the noise. Barking is a normal behavior in dogs and the only way dogs can communicate, but barking isn’t always so easy for human ears to handle. A bark can mean “I’m glad to see you” or “Stranger at the door” or “Why are you leaving me alone in this boring backyard?” While your dog can be trained to bark less, your goal should not be to completely stop barking, but to reduce and redirect it.
Before you begin training your dog, you need to find out what makes it bark. If it’s occurring while you are not at home, set up a video camera in the room where the dog spends the most time. Ask your neighbors what they’ve observed. Pretend you’re leaving for work, but sneak back and observe your dog, without it knowing you’re right outside. You’ll probably find that your dog barks for one of three reasons: It’s protecting his territory, it’s bored and lonely, or it’s afraid of something.
Mine, Mine, Mine!: Territorial Barking
If your dog is barking to protect his territory, the barking usually occurs when the dog sees strangers that he considers to be intruders. These intruders may be people walking past your house, the mail carrier and delivery people, or animals it can see in other yards. If your dog is a territorial barker, its demeanor will appear threatening during the barking. Its ears will be up and forward and its tail will be held high.
Discouraging territorial barking can be accomplished in several ways:
Spayed and neutered dogs are less territorial than intact dogs, so if your dog hasn’t been spayed or neutered, this should be your first step. Spaying and neutering alone won’t stop the problem if your dog has already gotten into the habit of barking and training will still be necessary after surgery.
If you want to discourage barking, you need to desensitize your dog to the things that stimulate the barking. You need to teach your dog that people who just happen to be walking by aren’t necessarily intruders. You can ask a friend to walk by your yard, with you in the yard. As soon your dog begins barking, give a “sit” or “down” command. When he complies and is quiet, give him a treat. Continue to reward good behavior as the person walks closer. It will take time for your dog to learn not to bark when a stranger walks down the street, and may take several training sessions.
You may also want to teach your dog how to obey the “quiet” command. When your dog starts to bark at a passerby, let it bark two or three times, then say (don’t yell) “quiet” and shake a can filled with marbles or pennies or spray your dog with a water bottle. (It’s not necessary to drench the dog. You are just trying to get the dog’s attention, so one quick squirt is all you need.) Reward your dog when it is able to remain quiet. Again, this is another exercise will take time to master.
Don’t Leave Me
Dogs are social animals and need and want the companionship of people. Lonely and bored dogs usually bark because they are left alone for long periods of time with no human contact. These dogs also bark if there is nothing for them to do: no interaction with other dogs, no toys, etc. Very active dogs, such as sporting and herding breeds, aren’t happy unless they have a job to do, and aren’t the best type of dog to have if you are work all day. Puppies and dogs under three are very likely to bark because of isolation.
Discouraging this type of barking by:
Spend more time with your dog. Don’t leave it alone outside for long periods of time. If you can’t supervise your dog outside, don’t leave it outside. If you leave your dog outside because it isn’t housetrained or is destructive, now is the time to work on these things.
Teach your dog to fetch a ball and play with it every day. Enroll in an obedience class with your dog or teach it a few commands on your own. Walk your dog every day, for the exercise and the interaction.
Try to come home for lunch a few times a week if you work close enough to home. If not, ask a friend to stop by periodically. If it seems that the problem is going to take a while to correct and the neighbors are complaining, investigate a doggy daycare program.
Look at your dog. If it is fearful, its tail will be low and its ear will be held back. Barking may occur when there are loud noises, such as thunderstorms, fireworks, firecrackers, backfiring cars, construction equipment, train whistles, crying children, etc. Correcting these problems isn’t just important because of the barking; fearful animals have been known to try to flee loud noises and in their panic can find extraordinary strength to escape even the most secure yards.
Once you’ve identified what’s scaring your dog, desensitize your pet to scary noises. If thunder scares it, buy a recording of thunder and start by playing it at low levels and for very short periods of time. Praise your dog and reward it with a treat each time you turn off the recording. Over time, play the recording for longer periods of time and at louder levels until your dog can tolerate a real storm. In some cases, anti-anxiety medication may be needed in addition to a desensitization program.
Make Your Home Stress Free
If outside noise scares your dog while you’re away, find the quietest place in the house, perhaps the basement, and put it there while you are away. Play a television or radio to mask any scary sounds. If something outside scares your dog, closes the curtains or block off its view as well as you can.
