Dog Training Tips- Dog Barking 101 – Why Won’t my Dog Ever Shut Up? (4 Secrets!)
Bark! Bark!! BARK!!!
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 at least once by his barking fits. GRRR! WOOF!!
Can something be done?
You can learn how to deal with your dog’s excessive barking. It’s possible to correct and deal with this behavior. There are many reasons that dogs bark, and all dogs will bark from time to time. You wouldn’t want to stop your dog from barking when it’s appropriate. It’s important to be aware of the possible causes of excessive barking so that you can correct it properly. There are 3 or 4 reasons that dogs will 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
Dogs are pack animals. Your dog may bark too much when you leave him home alone because he’s separated from his pack (you) and doesn’t know how to find you again. This can be one of the most difficult barking problems to solve, but it can be done when you know what’s causing the problem.
There is one major pitfall to avoid. When you arrive home and he’s barking, don’t give him positive or negative attention. If you do, he may think that it was his barking that caused you to come back. If he’s barking when you get home, ignore him, no eye contact, and turn your back. As soon as he stops barking, pet him and praise him to show him that he can get attention by NOT barking.
STRANGERS
Your dog may bark when a person he doesn’t know comes near the house. This could be anyone that your dog perceives to be a threat to her territory. It can be particularly difficult to eliminate this behaviour if your dog is barking at the mailman or other delivery person because these people are guaranteed to reward the behavior every time. The mailman comes, the dog barks, the mailman leaves. It’s not an impossible cycle to break, but it takes some work.
Certain breeds, boredom, separation from the pack, and strangers will sometimes make dogs bark too much. Although it can be annoying, there are times when it’s appropriate for your dog to bark. Barking is one of the ways that dogs express themselves. They just need to know when YOU think it’s appropriate, or not.
4 Causes of Barking:
* Certain breeds
* Certain breeds
* Separation from the pack (you)
* Strangers
Bark, Bark! GRRR!! GOOD GIRL!!
Have you thought of getting the dog a partner for it to play with more while your gone? Or possibly.. or desired sexual behavior..? Sounds funny, but this happens a lot and people do not think of it.