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How To Stop Your Dog From Barking

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The Case of the Barking Dog

Unless there’s an emergency situation, such as some guy dressed in black and carrying a sack who’s climbing in through their bedroom window during the night, most people would prefer their dogs not bark. To pet owners everywhere, barking is a nuisance, a source of conflict with neighbors, and a cause of major headaches. What these people aren’t seeing is that barking is their dog’s only method of communication. He can’t talk; he can only bark. When your dog barks, he’s trying to talk to you, and that’s a good thing. True, a dog’s bark can seem a bit cacophonous to human ears, especially in small, closed-in spaces like your home, but it’s essential that you realize he can’t control the decibels of noise he’s creating when he wants to talk with you. You can always slip in a pair of ear plugs if you don’t like the noise, and keep reminding yourself that your pooch is just trying to be friends.

You don’t speak dog? He doesn’t speak your language, either. Therefore, you have to watch his body language and read between the lines of the situation you know he’s talking about to understand him. If you’ve ever lived around a barking dog, you may wonder why he has to make so much noise. The answer to that question is not much different than answering the question as to why people talk. There really isn’t an answer to the question; we just feel the need to.

There are a lot of different reasons why a dog will bark. If you’re dealing with a guard dog type of breed, such as a Rottweiler, a German Shepherd, or a Doberman, they will probably only bark when they think a threat is present. Other hunting dog breeds, such as Beagles and Bloodhounds, are intended to let owners know when they scent a quarry. You’ll find that most of the toy breeds just like to talk a lot, kind of like some people.

Situations often cause dogs to vocalize. Some of the times when most dogs are going to bark include:
* When they’re bored
* When they’re lonesome
* If it’s mealtime or they’re hungry
* Someone strange is getting too near
* They want to play
* They see some type of animal
* They need to relieve themselves
If this were a person who needed to relate a situation like this to you, you’d stop and listen. Therefore, you also need to listen when your dog needs to express his feelings. You probably knew that dogs bark before you ever acquired your new companion, and when you take on dog ownership you’re accepting this fact. If you don’t want a dog barking in your home, buy yourself a pet rock instead!

Like children, dogs can use their voices to try and manipulate you, and at times like these you can feel a bit annoyed. Let’s say you’re involved with something, like reading a great book that you don’t want to put down. Your dog decides it’s time to play and brings his ball over and drops it on you. You’re so engrossed in your reading that you ignore him hoping he’ll go away. He barks once to get your attention and probably nudges at the hand holding the book. He’s telling you to put the book away because he wants to play. You give him a glance, and he goes into his “play-bow” routine with his backside in the air and tail wagging and looks up at you with large, pleading eyes. Still, you decide to keep reading. He’ll try barking again, and if there’s no response, he’ll continue to bark. Darn it, he wants to play, and you aren’t cooperating!

After he barks for a couple of minutes, it’s bound to start keeping you from concentrating on your book, so you give up trying. Now that you aren’t reading any more, it’s a given you’ll retrieve the ball and take him outside to play. When this happens, he’ll give up the barking act, because he’s gotten what he wanted. Yes, you’ve been manipulated, but it’s part of being a loving dog owner. You show him that you love him by caring for him, even when it isn’t very convenient for you, feeding him the food he loves, and demonstrating how much you care about him by showing him in ways he can understand, like meeting his need to play.

Your dog wants you to respect him. In turn, he needs to be able to respect you. Owning a dog always means that you have to take charge. You can’t be on even footing with your pet and try to treat him as an equal, because he isn’t a child, even though you may feel that way about him. He likes to know that you’re in charge and learn to respect the leadership you offer him. That’s the only way he’s going to end up being the happy, well-behaved pet you want. If you ignore his needs, you aren’t giving him the respect he craves. Therefore, he’s going to argue with you.

What your dog was doing when he started barking was actually harassing you in order to get you to play. In a sense, he was trying to bully you. He knew it would work, because you’ve given into his behavior before. By allowing him to manipulate you into playing, you’ve shown him that barking gets results. Therefore, he continues to bark until he gets his way. Sure, you need to give your dog a lot of affection and spend time playing with him, because those things are essential to your relationship, but you need to do it with yourself in the lead instead of letting him manipulate you. When he learns that barking is going to get him the things he wants and enjoys in life, he’s going to bark even more. Is that really what you want him to do?

In order to get your dog to come around to your way of thinking, you’re going to have to show him that you aren’t going to allow him to manipulate you. This isn’t as hard as it sounds. The only thing you need to do is to continue ignoring him, not just passively, but actively. Instead of just continuing with your activities and paying no attention to him, you need to use body language that shows him that you’re not going to pay attention to him while he’s behaving in such a way. Ideally, you’ll give him the cold shoulder so that he knows in no uncertain terms that his misbehavior isn’t going to result in him getting the attention he wants.

When the barking starts in an attempt to manipulate you into doing something he wants you to do, turn your back. Don’t look at him, and keep your back to him. Don’t even be tempted to tell him “no”. Initially this will confuse him, especially if he’s used to you giving in when he bullied you in the past. This confusion will most likely cause him to try barking even harder. If you’ve been giving in to his barking many times over the years, he’s going to persist even longer in trying to get your attention using this inappropriate method. He knows that this behavior has always worked in the past, so he’s going to keep trying it. The secret is for you not to give in.

When you make up your mind to retrain your dog so that he won’t bark to get his own way, you have to commit yourself for the long term. If you get tired of his barking and give in, you’re only going to be telling him that if he barks longer he’ll get what he wants. Of course, your dog may not be barking because he wants his way, and you may need to use other measures in order to teach him that he needs to be quiet. This is simple to do by using your hands as tools. No, don’t hit him. There are actually pain-free, humanitarian ways to show your dog that you want him to cool the noise.

When your dog is barking, give him a short chance to express himself before you start trying to make him be quiet. It might be that after saying what he has to say he’ll settle down and stop barking on his own. If he’s unable to control his barking without your intervention, gently hold his muzzle with your hand. He isn’t going to like it and is going to try and get away from your grasp, so make sure your other hand is on his collar so that you can maintain control of the situation. Since a dog can only bark with his mouth open, as long as you keep his mouth shut he’ll be unable to bark. This maneuver also reinforces the fact that you’re the boss in that you’re physically demonstrating your control over him. Be gentle but firm and expect him to balk. After all, wouldn’t you object if someone were holding your mouth shut?

Continue to hold onto both his muzzle and collar until he stops struggling against you. Only then will you know that he has submitted to your authority. Hold him for a couple of seconds while he’s quiet, and then let go and praise him lavishly for his behavior. There are other tricks you can try, too, that will keep your dog from wanting to bark in the first place. For starters, your dog is full of energy. When he gets nervous and the energy builds up, he’s going to start barking repetitively even though there’s nothing to bark at. Usually this happens when he doesn’t get all the exercise he requires. The average dog needs at least 1.5 hours of exercise each day. As a dog owner, you need to commit to giving him this amount of exercise for the duration of your relationship. The amount of exercise he will require varies with breed, age, and health.

It might be that you feel you’re already giving up more time to exercise your dog than you can really afford to spend. However, if he barks a lot and seems restless, aggressive, or destructive, then it’s almost a sure bet he needs for exercise than he’s being given. Although the problem is easy to fix, it will mean that you’ll have to free up more time for exercising him. Maybe it would work for you to get up a little earlier in the morning in order to get in a short workout with your dog. If you absolutely can’t figure out any way to squeeze more time out of your day, try hiring someone who can take him for a walk either in the morning or evening. If you can’t afford to hire someone, you’re just going to have to resign yourself to your dog being loud, frustrated, and acting like he has ADD.

A second reason why dogs tend to bark too much is because they’re left alone for long periods of time. Dogs are social creatures who crave attention, communication, and interaction. If they don’t get enough of these things that they need for happiness, they’re definitely going to be upset and show it. When you’re at home, do you pay a lot of attention to your dog? If you don’t, and you’re annoyed at how much he barks, maybe you need to reassess your own behavior. Wouldn’t it be better to show him some love and attention than it is listening to him bark out his frustrations?

If you'd like more information on unwanted behaviors that your dog is exhibiting, you’ll probably be interested in taking a look at Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a complete, A-Z manual for the responsible dog owner, and deals with recognizing, preventing, and dealing with just about every problem dog behavior under the sun. You can check out Secrets to Dog Training by clicking here.