Barking is a vocal communication that dogs use to create attention depending on the situation. It’s an action that cannot be stopped but it can be controlled. Dogs bark for a number of reasons which may include;
- For Alarm; dogs are known to always bark at any noise or object that gets their attention or frighten them. They do these to seek the attention of their owners.
- For Protection, they activate excessive barking at any sight of a person or animal that comes into their area. This barking would be very aggressive this time.
- For Loneliness; when dogs are left alone for a long period of time, they become bored and sad. They would bark more often because they are unhappy.
- For Play; they bark when greeting people or other animals and they also wag their tails alongside with jumping.
- For expression of Anxiety; dogs with anxiety often bark excessively when they are left alone. They also usually exhibit other symptoms as well, such as pacing, destructiveness, depression. Some dogs seem to bark just to hear the sound of their voices and also often make repetitive movements as well, such as running in circles or along a fence.
HOW TO CONTROL EXCESSIVE BARKING
Teaching your dog how to bark less will take time, work, practice, and consistency. It won’t happen overnight, but with proper techniques and time, you can see progress
- If your dog barks aggressively than usual, the first thing is to consider the reason why he’s barking that way. You have to also take note of how your dog barks and the type of sound it is, so you can be able to address the fundamental emotional causes of its barks better.
- Speak with calmness without yelling at the dog, when you shout on the dog, he would continue to bark more thinking you are enjoying it.
- Most dogs don’t know what you want when you’re shouting at them to “shut up.” So train your dog to understand the word “Quiet!”
If the excessive dog barking is more deep-rooted and cannot be self-controlled, however, seek help from either a trainer for noisy puppies and young dogs, or a behaviorist who can help with continuous barking or howling problems in older dogs.