All About Barking

Dogs bark for a variety of reasons. “I want to drive you and the neighbors crazy” is not one of them. Here’s how to troubleshoot your dog’s barking, and ways to manage/eliminate it.

While excessive barking is annoying to us in our modern lives, barking is a natural behavior in dogs, one that likely occurred during thousands of years of domestication and possibly was even selected for in the earliest days of dog breeding.

Some breeds are more prone to bark a lot than others. If your dog is a barker, it is not realistic to think she can be trained to never bark, but her barking can likely be reduced.

Barking cannot be effectively or humanely stopped with tools such as shake cans, squirt bottles, spray collars or electric shocks that “interrupt,” “bust,” or hurt your dog.

Your dog needs a reason to stop barking other than fear, pain or the threat of being hurt — by your understanding and addressing the underlying reason she barks.

Here is the first of five typical reasons that dogs bark. Note that your dog may bark for more than one reason! Read the entire blog on barking here.

Watchdog Barking serves the dual purpose of alerting that there is an intruder and warning said intruder that they have been noticed.

These are two effective, humane techniques for dealing with a watchdog barker:

Teach the dog to do something else, such as fetching a certain toy or doing a down-stay on a mat (which cuts barking in many dogs) for tasty food rewards.

Practice without the real-world distractions of doorbells or “intruder” contexts first and then incorporate the command into real-life situations.

The dog will need some coaching and prompting the first few times in the real-life situation so prepare to budget some time for that. Even better, set it up with a friend to play “visitor” a few times, so you can focus on the dog rather than being forced to attend to the person at the door.

Time-outs are another effective technique. After a few barks, gently warn your dog to be quiet (“quiet please” or “that’s enough”).

On the very next bark, use a gentle phrase to mark the undesired behavior (“Oh! Too bad for you!” or “Time Out!”) and immediately bring your dog to a time-out location: a bathroom or back room (lights on); anywhere far from the action. Gently and silently lead her by the collar; you may need to attach a short collar tab during training so you’re not fumbling to grab her collar.

Leave her there for 5 minutes; if she barks or whines in the space, let her out after a few moments of silence at the 5-minute mark. Simply open the door and let her out; no need to “let her know what she did” or thank her for stopping barking.

Just like with human toddlers, time outs take repetition to work. Eventually, your dog will learn that it is her barking that is producing the removal and he will start heeding the warning. Note that this method reduces barking but your dog must be allowed one or two initial watchdog barks.

It’s 100% critical that you are kind and gentle with your dog when doing time-outs, or you risk your dog becoming frightened of you when you approach her. This kind of fear is very difficult to undo.

It’s essential to manage the home environment for a watchdog barker. If your dog spends her day sitting on top of the sofa in the window barking at street activity, move the sofa or cover the window with drapes or opaque film such as “RabbitGoo.” Re-setting your home environment may be a hassle but can sometimes be the only solution you need.

Janice Z Dog Training uses force-free, rewards-based training methods grounded in applied animal behavior science to create behavior that works for people and their dogs. Based in Medford, Mass., Janice Z Dog Training currently holds all one-on-one training sessions live and online. No need to wear a mask or worry about being 6' away from others, no need to bundle the dog into a car, tidy the house for the trainer’s visit, or get a babysitter for the kids. Visit Janice Z Dog Training for more information and sign up for her monthly newsletter here.