The dog barked the neighbor boy right off of his bicycle last week, and they complained. Other people have complained about his barking, and it’s getting hard to sleep through the night without getting woken once or twice by his barking fits. GRRR!!WOOF!!!
Can’t anything be done?
Your dog barks too much. Luckily, it’s possible to solve this problem. All dogs will bark from time to time, but there are only a handful of reasons that a dog will bark excessively. To correct this, it’s important to be aware of what is causing the barking. There are 3 or 4 reasons that dogs bark too much.
BOREDOM
Dogs that don’t get enough mental or physical stimulation will sometimes bark. She gets bored, and starts to bark. Try to give her the attention and exercise that she needs. But when she does bark from boredom, don’t give her attention. Positive or negative attention could well reinforce her idea that barking is the way to get her boredom ended.
BREED
Your dog may be bred to bark a lot. Many herding dogs and hounds have this trait because of the job that they were bred to do. If you have one of these breeds of dog, he may be barking because it’s in his genes. However, you can still train him to bark only when it’s appropriate.
SEPARATION
Since they’re pack animals, a dog’s instinct is to stay with the pack. If your dog is barking too much, it could be because he’s separated from his pack, (you) and doesn’t know how to find you again.
The main pitfall to avoid, is rewarding your dog’s barking when you come home. If your dog is barking while you’re gone, and you come home and immediately give him attention, he’ll think that it was his barking that caused you to return. To break this cycle, you have to ignore your dog if he’s barking when you first come home. Once he settles, you can initiate contact, praise him, pet him, and give him the attention that he wants.
STRANGERS
Anytime a stranger comes near the house, dogs usually perceive them as being an intruder to the pack. It’s tricky to eliminate this because strangers generally unwittingly reward barking behavior. The mailman comes, makes intruder type noises with the mail slot, the dog barks, the mailman retreats. Good Boy!
Boredom, certain breeds, separation from the pack, and strangers are reasons that dogs bark excessively. It’s an annoying problem, but it’s good to keep in mind that there are times when you’ll want your dog to bark. Barking can be a healthy way for your dog to express himself. He just needs to know when it’s appropriate, and when it’s not.
4 Causes of Barking:
* Boredom
* Certain breeds
* Bored
* Strangers (intruders to the pack)
Bark, Bark! Grrr!! GOOD BOY!!