All About Barking
Dogs bark to communicate. But what they are trying to communicate to us can vary widely. It is important to remember that barking is normal for many dogs and while excessive barking can be problematic, there are certain breeds in particular for whom barking is a part of who they are. By understanding the categories of barking we can help to meet our dogs needs, help them through challenges and, yes, address and decrease the barking that can drive us nuts.
BOREDOM BARKING
The key to preventing boredom barking is to ensure that your dogs needs are being met when it comes to exercise and mental enrichment, which they should be getting in some form every day. Letting your dog sniff on walks or work for their food in a puzzle, training exercise or scavenger hunt are all great forms of mental enrichment. The amount your dog needs depends on them. Herding dog? These dogs are bred to run around with a job all day long they need LOTS of mental enrichment and stimulation so they don’t go crazy. Pomeranian? The little ones have been bred more to be a couch dog! (Who still needs their own version of exercise and mental enrichment!) Understanding your dogs requirements from the standpoint of what are this dog’s genes telling her to do? is extremey helpful in helping them not get bored.
DEMAND BARKING
“I want access to X!” This can stem from boredom too but is more specific to when the dog would like a certain outcome. They may do it when they want you to throw the ball, let them out or pay attention to them. It’s specifically to achieve a specific outcome. If you are happy to provide that outcome then go ahead and the behavior will be reinforced. If you do not want them to learn that barking is an effective way to be able to achieve this outcome then your options are to head it off before it starts (You know when its going to happen! Give them something else to do instead -bone/kong/chew) or to fully ignore it. If you even pay some attention to it they will know that it is an effective way to get your attention. So when I say fully ignore I mean not a glance, not a “no,” nada. Again this can come back to meeting your dog’s needs for stimulation in a way that compliments what their breed(s) are intended to do so they do not feel they need to ask.
ALERT BARKING
One theory is that dogs we brought into ancient human encampments they were hanging around as scavengers because they did a great job of alerting the community to intruders. Well many of our canine friends continue to take this on as a job. “Hey look! There is someone in the driveway.” This can be helpful. It can also be excessive. If your dog falls in the latter category it is possible to teach them to do something else instead of barking at the person, such as waiting quietly for them on their bed or going to get a toy. We also want to ensure that they are not worried about the visitor and if so address that. I will discuss this more below.
WORRIED BARKING
Barking can be an effective way to ask for space. “I am not sure about you so I am going to make myself sound scary to keep you at a distance and avoid an altercation.” Barking at novelty, things that startle them or things they find scary is very normal for many dogs. If you are not sure whether their barking is worried or something else take a look at their body language. What would you see if you muted the barking? Is their body loose and wiggly and excited? Then maybe the are just alert barking. Are they stiff, wary, hackles up and jumpy? Then they are probably suspicious of whatever they are encountering. It doesn’t matter whether YOU think it is something they dog should know or be used to or not. They decide what is scary to them. In this situation our job is to help the dog build comfort with this stimulus by building their trust and good associations with it. This usually starts off by keeping them at a totally comfortable distance from the “thing” and then feeding them really good snacks after they notice it. This is not a process that can be rushed. Here the barking is really a symptom of underlying worry and it is the worry that we need to address in order to eliminate the barking. Worried barking may not always be at a specific target but it could be when the dog is generally uneasy - in a new location, when left alone.
EXCITEMENT BARKING
It’s what it says on the label. “We are almost at the park!” “My friend is outside” etc. etc. For this barking I go back to trying to remember that 1) Dogs bark and sometimes and it’s ok for them to express their feelings and 2) That I am glad my dog is happy! Would I rather he not be doing this all they way up the dirt road to the trailhead he is excited about? Yes! But mostly I am glad he is glad. If you really want to change it, ask them to do something else instead and reward that.
It can be confusing or frustrating when our dogs bark, especially when it is excessive. But by meeting and understanding their needs, interpreting their body language and having a tool belt of alternative behaviors to ask for we can help mitigate barking to a reasonable level.
