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’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

Your dog may bark because he isn’t getting enough mental or physical stimulation. Just like a little kid acting out, your dog may bark because he’s bored. Make sure that he’s getting the exercise and attention that he needs from you. Don’t give him attention when he barks for this reason, though. A direct reaction to this type of barking, even a negative reaction, will only encourage your dog to behave in the same way again.

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.

SEPARATED FROM THE PACK

Dogs are pack animals. Your dog may bark too much when you leave him home alone because he’s separated from his pack and doesn’t know how else to find you again. This can be one of the most difficult excessive barking problems to address, but it can be done when you know what is causing the problem.

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

Your dog may bark when a stranger comes near the house. This could be anyone that your dog perceives to be a threat. It can be 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. The mailman comes, the dog barks, the mailman leaves. It’s not an impossible cycle to break, but it takes extra 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 Barking Reasons:

* Boredom

* Certain breeds

* Separation

*Separation from pack (you)

Bark, Bark! Grrr!! GOOD BOY!!

AVOID DISASTROUS Blunders with your dog. NOW REVEALED: 3 POWERFUL, humane, and loving ways to train your friend: 3 Dog Training Plans reviewed, Amazing results from 1 method! Or browse excellent, helpful FREE dog training articles. I’m Scott Erickson, and am an enthusiastic long time dog buff, trainer, and writer.

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