If you’ve decided it’s time to achieve dog barking solutions in your home, you will likely already know that there are only so many things you can do about the problem. After all, dogs are born to bark. Regardless of breeding and refinement over the last several millennia, they still have that urgent wish to vocalize their emotions and desires. In fact, there is only one breed of dog - the Basenji - that does not bark at all.
So, before you seek dog barking solutions, you need to comprehend why they bark and what forms of barking you can control.
Dog Barking Solutions- What are the causes of barking
Dogs bark for any number of reasons. They bark when they are irritated. They bark when they are excited. They even bark when they are scared.
Here is a rundown of when you might expect your dog to start barking:
Territorial Barking
Alarm Barking
Attention Seeking Barking
Greeting Barking
Frustration Barking
Compulsive Barking
Injury or Sickness Related Barking
As you can see, barking is a major part of who your dog is. It’s unfeasible to stop barking dogs entirely. They’re going to want to express themselves at times, in spite of of what you do to inhibit their behaviours.
Dog Barking Solutions- What you should do
When your dog refuses to stop barking, first establish if the behaviour is warranted. Nine times out of ten, it’s excessive and can be controlled. If you determine that your dog’s barking can and should be controlled, ask yourself these questions.
When does the dog bark?
What is the dog barking at?
Does the dog have a specific trigger?
If you establish that your dog is barking because it wants to protect its territory or is simply alarmed by something, you cannot simply yell at your dog to stop. In fact, negative reinforcement for territorial barking can often lead to biting or aggression in other forms. Your dog doesn’t comprehend what you’re trying to tell them. They stop the barking, but the territorial issues are still there.
Instead, you need to create a situation in which your dog will not feel that territorial desire to defend itself. This begins by taking control of your household. Be the alpha leader of the pack and show the dog that you are the one in charge of protecting that space. Secondly, you can merely reduce the dog’s ability to see those incursive threats to its territory. Draw your blinds so he can't see the mailman, get an opaque fence so they cannot see outside the yard, and make sure they don’t have open access to the windows at any time.
Dog Barking Solutions for Dogs with Anxiety
If your dog has anxiety issues, the barking is likely a symptom of something much bigger. They want to reach you and will continuously bark until you return. Most of the time, this is because you have rewarded them for this behaviour in the past. When you return home and they are excited, you immediately give them attention. Rather than rewarding them in this instance, you should pay no attention to your dog for as long as 10-15 minutes so they stop associating your return with attention.
Finally, to stop barking dogs, you should train your dog how to speak and be quiet. By creating a command that allows you to control the behaviour, your dog will learn to control the barking when it is not necessary. A benefit of this is that, if there is an intruder or something you want your dog to bark at, they will still alert you.
Dog barking does not have to be the bane of your community that it has become. Learn to control it early and you’ll never need to worry about the neighbours banging down your door every day when you get home.