Bark, Bark, Bark!

People often ask me how to stop their dog's excessive barking. The answer depends on why the dog is barking. It's helpful to learn the differences between the various types of barking. Below are some common reasons that dog bark, along with potential solutions:

Attention-Seeking or Demand Barking
Dogs will often bark at their owner in order to demand something specific, whether it's attention, food, or access to a physical area. Nobody wants their neighbors to complain about the barking, so we dog owners often immediately give our dog what he's asking for in order to stop his barking. Although this may stop the barking temporarily, we are inadvertently teaching our dog that he can get what he wants by barking. Another way that dog owners attempt to quiet down their dogs is to yell at them to shut up. While this may work (i.e. your dog is scared of punishment or your dog is barking temporarily for territorial reasons), it may also encourage the barking because your dog doesn't speak English and he thinks you're screaming, "Keep barking, Fido!"

The simple solution to demand barking is to ignore your dog when he's demanding something. You may have to put up with extra barking for a few days while your dog makes a last ditch effort to get what he wants, but if you stick to the "no attention" program, your dog's demand barking should fade away from lack of reinforcement. You can also reward your dog a few seconds after he stops barking, and associate that with a cue like "Quiet." Just make sure he doesn't learn to chain the behaviors (bark first, then be quiet to get rewarded)!

Boredom and Frustration Barking
Under-exercised and under-stimulated dogs will often bark for no apparent reason. They won't direct their barking at anyone or anything in particular, but they may bark for prolonged periods of time in order to get their frustration out. I see this happen with dogs whose owners are very busy with work, and the dogs are left at home alone all day with nothing to do. Exercise is probably the best solution for this. A tired dog is usually a good dog. Before leaving for work every day, take your dog for a long walk, jog or swim. If you don't have much time and you have a high-energy dog, go on a bike ride or off-leash hike with your dog. Your dog can burn twice as much of his energy as regular leashed walking, and it takes a lot less time. You can also hire a dog walker.

Another thing that might help is to give your dog a food-puzzle/chew-toy such as Premier's Busy Buddy or Kong, to keep his mind occupied while home alone. These types of toys work especially well for food-motivated dogs.

Excitement Barking
It's an endearing quality for a dog to bark every now and then to let you know how excited he is. But what if he does it all the time, i.e. when he sees another dog, when he's waiting for his food, when he's about to enter the dog park? This would be a chance for you to practice NILIF ("Nothing In Life Is Free"). In simple terms, you only give your dog what he wants when and if he behaves nicely (see my blog about NILIF for more info).

Let's say your dog is barking in excitement when he's about to enter the dog park. Simply stop and wait for your dog to stop barking and calm down. Re-approach the dog park only when he's calmed down (repeat as necessary).

Alert Barking and Territorial Barking
Two kinds of barking that are quite different from demand, boredom and excitement barking are alert barking and territorial barking, which are quite natural things for dogs to do. I will write a Part 2 of this blog entry to talk about these types of barking.

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Shock Collars, Citronella Collars and Debarking
I do not recommend the use of anti-barking shock collars because in addition to harming your dog and potentially having negative side effects, they don't solve the underlying problem of your dog's barking. They now have less harmful anti-barking citronella spray collars, which could be used as a temporary solution if, for instance, your landlord is threatening to evict you because of your dog's barking. But even the citronella spray should not be used as a long-term solution.

Debarking a dog is not a humane solution for barking either. It may take care of the symptoms, but it doesn't change the underlying reasons for the barking. Let's all educate ourselves so that we can use humane and effective techniques instead!