Help! My dog keeps barking!

Why do dogs bark?

Barking is a communication, but barking at windows and in other contexts can be a noise nuisance and cause arguments for some people and we all need to be mindful for one another. There may be more to it than meets the eye, because communication and emotions are complex, more on this in a bit, but I do have an easy tip that might help some window barkers….

Cover the window.

No seriously. Nothing magic, just simple yet effective management. Cover the window with a temporary opaque window film or pop up some greaseproof paper. No getting tangled in blinds or curtains, easy peasy lemon squeezy. Done. Here is my window:

But how does that work Katie?

It removes the visual stimulus for the dog, thereby reducing contextual arousal and possibly frustration, anxiety even. Of course this isn’t addressing the underlying emotional issue likely causing the barking, but is a short term solution that goes part way to resolving it.

I use the film on my window for the dogs who used to board with me; none of my own dogs have been excessive barkers, although Jellybean Lollipop, one of my rescue Bull Terriers, used to bark at the door when she first arrived. However, with shift workers in the house and wafer thin walls and living in a rental, I had to minimise vocalisations where appropriate. And this totally helped along with building a secure trust based relationship with her.

But my dog barks at people/dogs/noises….

Dogs bark for so many reasons, and can be different from one dog to the next. Did you know dogs sometimes bark because they are trying to comfort themselves?

Or they bark because they feel threatened, anxious or worried, annoyed or got taken by surprise, or to say hello, or invite play, or to say back off. Your dog might be barking at passersby as they feel defensive of their perceived territory, or they may have had negative experiences of hearing dogs barking such as if they are rescued and spent time residing in kennels, continuous exposure can affect their hearing (Scheifele et al, 2012). Ren used to be really worried when she heard dogs barking, she rarely barked back but would hide or seek reassurance from us, which is likely due to being in rescue kennels. She still is uncomfortable when she hears dogs bark or of they bark at her.

The surprising thing is that most people don’t recognise the anxiety behind the barking, that barking itself can be a symptom of anxiety and anxiety is the fear that something bad might happen. So next tiem your dog barks more than a couple times a row, you may need to consider the emotional state of your pet, a lot of barking simply isn’t normal.

What can I do then, Katie?

Whatever you do with your dog, be mindful to be consistent with your training and realistic, so your dog can understand and learn from you what you want them to do. Think less about making them stop, and more about why they are barking, and how to help them feel better about the context they bark in.

How do I do that?

So let’s say they bark at people walking past your garden, could you supervise their garden access and play recall or focus games to help drive their aim onto something that isn’t the intruders to their home? Or maybe they bark at dogs on walks, could you walk in quieter locations or teach them that dogs equal paying you attention instead?

Attention as a behaviour is such an important foundation behaviour and can be useful in so may aspects of their life! I love the “what’s this?!” game, and use it lot and for a lot of things, mainly cos I like an easy life, ain’t gonna lie! I’ll blog about the game another time.

The main thing to try and achieve with a dog who alert barks often, or who distress barks is calmness and contentment in most aspects of their life and try to minimise exposure to the things that cause the barking. Think zen, be zen.

And please seek professional help for your dog to address the underlying emotions. If the problem is noise related, there may be an underlying clinical or pain component (Lopes Fagundes et al, 2018), or if the behaviour is new, seek advice from your vet first. They may then recommend behavioural help or can treat the issue if it is medical.

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References:

Lopes Fagundes, A., Hewison, L., McPeake, K., Zulch, H. and Mills, D., 2018. Noise Sensitivities in Dogs: An Exploration of Signs in Dogs with and without Musculoskeletal Pain Using Qualitative Content Analysis. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, [online] 5. Available at: <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2018.00017/full> [Accessed 15 April 2019].

Scheifele, P., Martin, D., Clark, J., Kemper, D. and Wells, J., 2012. Effect of kennel noise on hearing in dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research, [online] 73(4), pp.482-489. Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221977506_Effect_of_kennel_noise_on_hearing_in_dogs> [Accessed 15 April 2019].