Why Does Your Dog Bark?
Unfortunately (and fortunately at the same time) dogs bark! Sometimes we consider barking a benefit when the dog alerts to danger or intruders in the home. Too often the barking becomes excessive and can cost dogs their homes or even their life. We at Ash Veterinary Clinic want you to know that there are different reasons why your dog barks so there is no one set solution. Solutions to barking problems come from how you manage and train your dog. The earlier you change the barking behavior, the better chance you have to prevent it from becoming a habit that will be more difficult to change later.
Barking dogs are one of the leading causes of strained neighborhood relationships. Where neighbors share walls in apartments and condominiums, people frequently face either quieting their dogs, getting rid of them or moving. Quieting a dog to prevent disturbing neighbors through shared walls can be impossible with some dogs. Dogs inherit much of their tendency to bark. Putting a noisy dog into a situation that demands silence is sure to frustrate the dog’s family and the family’s neighbors. When a dog’s barking from a fenced back yard disturbs the peace of a neighborhood during sleeping hours, moving the dog indoors usually resolves the issue. Most dogs learn to sleep quietly indoors with humans. Added bonuses to keeping a dog indoors at night include having the dog available to alert and protect the family.
Daytime barking also disturbs neighbors, especially those who work or sleep at home during those hours. Keeping your dog inside while you are at work helps to eliminate the noise complaints. At first the dog may need some confinement indoors to prevent housetraining or chewing damage during times no one can supervise. Eventually most dogs will develop the ability to enjoy some degree of freedom in the house even while home alone. Many burglaries have been prevented because the dog stayed in the house rather than the yard while the people were away at work. Indoor dogs also avoid potentially getting injured or escaping while unattended outside.
Yelling at a dog to “Shut Up” is an exercise in futility. You might intimidate the dog into a moment or two of quiet, but you will likely increase the long-term barking. You have, after all, just joined the dog in making noise which may excite them more. Whispering “Hush” may work better to cue a dog to be quiet. There are collars that correct a dog for barking, but these tend to raise controversy. Those that emit a spray of citronella can work well for some dogs. Those that deliver an electric shock to the dog can produce undesirable side effects, such as aggression toward the person or animal the dog is looking at or smelling when the shock occurs.
The fear or thought that a dog will not be protective for its family leads many people into trouble. In the beginning, puppies need to be friendly. A puppy’s job is to get used to the world and to learn what is normal and safe. Protectiveness comes later. A puppy encouraged to bark at strangers, at the sound of a knock on the door or doorbell or at people on the other side of the fence can mature into a paranoid dog. These are not the type of qualities you want in a protective dog. An effective protective dog is mentally stable, safe to have around strangers and children and well trained. A paranoid dog is acting out of fear and self-preservation. This type of dog can expose you to serious liability from the risk this presents to other people-including your own family.
Barking can get dogs to a hyper-excited state that makes them even more likely to keep barking and to start barking again when the same situation occurs in the future. This state also causes some dogs to progress from barking to aggression. This is a very good reason to interrupt inappropriate barking and also why you do not want to just quiet the dog without dealing with the reasons behind the barking. A dog repeatedly barking at people or other animals is a crisis in the making. Children on the other side of the fence tend to interpret this behavior as that of a mean dog and tease the dog. Now you have a dog that may develop a problem with all children, not only the children who did the teasing. What often happens when a dog is behind a fence barking at animals and people is that the adrenaline and attitude builds and one day when that dog finds a person or animal similar to those barked at previously, there may be a serious bite. Dogs act on instinct and allowing this instinct to develop to this degree is dangerous. The same can happen to dogs confined indoors where they see activity outside that excites them and causes them to bark. Like when a dog has barked at the mail carrier daily and then one day manages to escape and bite them. It is wise to remove your dog from a situation like this as soon as possible. One way is not to leave the dog outdoors alone. When the problem occurs indoors, you can block the dog’s access to that view.
Some dogs just bark from excitement and pursue barking as a hobby. These canines might never progress to aggression, but no one can be sure they will not. Even when they are barking for joy, the noise is bothersome, and their barking may trigger other dogs to bark too. Now that you know why your dog barks, we at Ash Veterinary Clinic want to help you find a solution to get them to stop. Tune in to the News Herald next week for our tips on how to control and reduce your pets barking.
