Imagine sitting down on your couch to some soothing music. You can hear the fire crackling and Christmas music playing softly when all of a sudden – a dog walks across your front yard and your dog starts barking, barking and barking.
No one should expect a dog to never bark. That’s as unreasonable as expecting a child to never talk. But some dogs bark excessively. If that’s a problem in your home, the first step is figuring out what causes your dog to bark too much. Once you know why they are barking, you can start to treat their barking problem.
Why Does My Dog Bark?
Barking is one type of vocal communication that dogs use, and it can mean different things depending on the situation.
Boredom/Loneliness: Dogs are pack animals. Dogs left alone for long periods, whether in the house or in the yard, can become bored or sad and often will bark because they are unhappy.
Greeting/Play: Dogs often bark when greeting people or other animals. It’s usually a happy bark, accompanied with tail wags and sometimes jumping.
Dogs will often bark to signal when their basic needs, such as hunger, thirst, environmental temperature, and sufficient exercise are not met. If a dog that is hungry is deprived of food, for example, they may bark more frequently and excessively in response.
Pain Barking
Dogs will bark when they are in pain. This communicates to their pack to come to their aid or to indicate that a certain behavior is causing pain and they want it to stop.
This type of barking is commonly seen when an animal gets accidentally bumped during rough play or when they’re attacked by another animal.
The bark may sound higher pitched and often has a staccato quality, or trails off as the bark goes on.
If your dog barks like this when you touch or pet them, something may be hurting or they may be anticipating pain from being touched. This is a sign to take your pup to the vet to see what’s wrong.
Barking Due to Canine Dementia
When some dogs get older, they will bark at night or at something that does not appear to be there. This may be a sign of cognitive dysfunction in an older animal.
The bark seems to come in response to nothing and may resolve without any identifiable reason.
If you notice your older dog barking into a corner or at a wall during the night, make an appointment with your veterinarian to see if there are steps you can take to make them more comfortable.
How Can I Make Them Stop?
It won’t happen overnight, but with proper techniques and time, you can get your dog to bark less. It will take time, work, practice, and consistency.
- 1st rule – speak calmly and firmly, but don’t yell. Shouting stimulates your dog to bark more because they think you’re joining in
- Train your dog to understand the word “Quiet” Most dogs don’t know what you want when you’re yelling at them to “shut up.”
- Exercise your dog – providing sufficient physical exercise can help prevent boredom barking. Go for a Walk If your dog is barking too much, often it is because of pent-up energy. This is an easy fix. You can release some of the energy by taking your dog on daily walks for at least 45 minutes. You can make the walk more challenging by running or having your dog wear a backpack made for this purpose. You can also play with your dog more and maybe get into agility training or teaching obedience games. If you have tried everything and you can’t get your dog to stop barking, you may need to call a dog trainer to show you how to do it.
- Start with training sessions where you reward your dog’s quiet behavior with this cue, followed by the treat or a favorite toy.
Once your dog learns the calm verbal cue, you can use it during times of unwanted barking, such as the ring of a doorbell or the sound of other dogs barking, to prompt the quiet response (aka to stop the barking).
If your dog stops barking when they hear the cue, reward them.
If you need to curb your dog’s excitement or play barking, it’s all about management. This type of mental enrichment goes a long way in burning energy and, since their mouth is busy working on a stuffed KONG or another toy, they can’t be barking at the same time!
Exercise, Discipline, Affection
When a dog develops behavior problems, it is the dog’s owner who needs to be rehabilitated, not the dog. If you can change the way you relate to your dog, you should be able to correct the bad behaviors, including excessive barking. Dogs need exercise, rules, boundaries and limitations in addition to love and affection, and usually in that order. When you follow this formula, you should be able to correct most behavioral problems in dogs.
Remove the Opportunity to Alert Bark
Close your blinds or curtains to remove any visual triggers that cause your dog to bark. If your dog alerts to noises outside, set up a fan, noise machine, or turn on the radio or television to drown out the noise. This is called noise masking. Some dogs like to perch by the window to watch the world go by — if they alert bark from their perch, move the furniture away from the window so they can’t settle there to keep watch. If you don’t feel like rearranging the furniture, simply block off their access to that room with a gate.
Never Punish Your Dog
You should never use punishment for dog barking. Examples of punishment would be yelling, throwing objects, or trying to interrupt the barking by spraying water at your dog, making loud noises, or using citronella-spraying collars or shock collars.
A dog’s responses to pain or fear caused by punishment will only give short-term results, may cause aggression and phobias, and will lead to high levels of stress that block your dog’s ability to learn. They may even associate the pain with you as the trainer.
If you punish a dog who is reacting to something because it scares them, adding something unpleasant does nothing to fix the underlying problem — in fact, it only adds fuel to the fire.
Take These Steps To Prevent Dog Barking
- Increase your dog’s exercise and playtime
- Keep a consistent daily schedule
- Ensure your dog’s food, water, and temperature needs are met
- Provide mental stimulation with puzzle toys or treat-dispensing toys
- Try leaving music or a TV show on to create white noise when your dog is home alone
Yes, some dogs are more prone to barking than others
Keep in mind what kind of dog you have. “All dogs were bred to be vocal to some extent by humans. “Centuries ago, having a dog keep watch and sense when danger was coming was useful since they pick up things faster than humans do.” That said, some pups such as hounds are naturally more chatty than others because of their breeding. That doesn’t mean you can’t train this kind of dog, but just don’t expect them to be the silent types like these quiet dog breeds.
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