Stop Nuisance Dog Barking
Dog barking is both natural and handy and yet it is likely to be the reason for so many problems in the home and out. From falling out with the neighbours, to driving you crazy at home, non stop barking gives dogs a bad name!
On the up-side, a lot of us are quite pleased to have a dog that barks because it makes us feel safe in the night and lets us know when someone is approaching the house.
But on the disadvantage, too many dogs just don’t know when to stop. They’re a bit like a defective car alarm, just about anything can set them off and it can take a long while to get them to stop. Add into that a little bit of dog anxiety and you have some significant dog barking problems.
Nuisance Dog Barking
In nature barking works and you don’t find dogs barking without cause. Their barking has 3 main functions; The 1st is to let the remainder of the pack know where you are, the 2nd is a to alert the remainder of the pack to possible risk and the third is an agressive alert to keep away.
Nuisance dog barking crops up when dogs try and apply a system that works superbly in nature, to a human world they can’t understand.
Thats when virtually anything could be a threat to a dog (think postman, fone, Television, plastic bag blowing down the road…) and the more delicate the dog, the more threats it might feel the urge to bark at. And naturally they will keep barking till they are sure that the threat has gone away.
Dog Barking when Left Alone
Dogs will bark from time to time when left alone “again that is only natural as they will make a response to whatever noises they can hear outside the home.
Nevertheless if a dog barks ceaselessly, especially just after you leave the house, it’s likelier to be caused by dog anxiety. Unfortunately, some anxious dogs will literally bark off and on for hours.
Naturally, this is precisely the type of barking that has your neighbors up in arms and threatening you with dog barking laws, complaint letters and council action.
In that situation the presumption is often that dog lovers are neglecting their dogs or leaving them for too much time. But that’s not often the case. When you are handling separation anxiety in dogs, more attention and less time away will not get rid of their anxiety as they will feel it whether you leave for a half hour or 5 hours.
How Do I To Stop My Dog From Barking
Excessive dog barking when you’re in the house can be stopped with just two small words. We already realise that shouting ‘Shut Up ‘ will not work, but what about the words ‘Thank You ‘ or ‘Good Boy ‘ or ‘Good Girl ‘?
It’s may look counter intuitive, but shockingly thanking your dog can work! Here’s why.
In nature one of the roles of a dog pack member will be to tell the pack leader to any potential threat. Once warned the pack leader would make the choice whether any action was necessary so that would mean joining in the barking if they decided there was a potential threat, or doing nothing if they thought there wasn’t any threat to the pack, so the barking would stop.
Move that that into the home and if your dog is barking and you roar at them, you raise your anxiety levels, so that the dog will sense that something is truly wrong, and you sound like you are joining in, which explains why your dog will bark rather more desperately when you do raise your voice.
By definitely thanking them, you can not sound angry, and you don’t raise your stress levels and your dog should naturally stop. If they carry on, you can go and have a look at what they are barking at and thank them again. If continue, put them in another room on their own till they calm down.
The target is to set up a system that your dog understands. They will always be the one to alert you to something first as their hearing is so much better, and by staying calm yourself and thanking them, you make sure they know there isn’t anything to worry about.
Dog Anxiety Can Cause Dog Barking Problems
Sadly, it’s not a system you can use when your dog is at home alone. Instead you need to address the source of your dogs separation anxiety which is most likely to be a leadership issue.
If your dog has placed themselves as head of the pack, they’ve also made themselves answerable for decision making and keeping the pack safe and they cannot do that if you lock them in at home and go out.
The frenzied barking is a noise beacon to alert you to where they happen to be and where to come home to. In natural habitats that noise would carry a long way, and dogs don’t know that our hearing isn’t as good as theirs.
Sadly, so long as they have anxiety, they are going to have barking problems. It’s their nature and the sole way you can change their mind and stop the dog barking is to show your dog you are leader of the pack, not them. That way they don’t have to worry.
The author has experienced dog anxiety and dog barking problems with her recent rescue dog and used these methodologies to successfully stop hisdog barking when left alone.
Catalog
- Whitetail Deer Shed Antlers
- Whitetail Deer Skulls
- Ram & Goat Skulls
- African Exotic Skulls
- Rare & Unique Skulls
- Mule Deer & Elk Skulls
- Axis, Sika & Fallow Skulls
- Predators & Small Skulls
- Hog Skulls
- Buffalo, Steer & Cow Skulls
- Miscellaneous Skulls
- Miscellaneous Items & Skins
- Whitetail Deer Horn Sets
- Rattling Antlers