Chronic Barking By David Beart At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Whether it is your barking dog or someone else’s, a barking dog is aggravating. Little dogs have that yippy, yappy squealing voice that causes your ears to ring while the sheer volume of a big dog bark can almost take your breath away.

Curtailing the amount a dog barks depends largely on why it is barking in the first place and what the breed is. Dogs that bark constantly are often bored and alleviating the boredom works wonders is cutting the amount of barking to a manageable amount. More toys, chews and especially interaction with their people all help to break up the monotony of the dog’s life while exercise has a two fold effect – it gets rid of the boredom while wearing the dog out at the same time. A tired dog is a quiet dog!

Breeds that were bred to bark as part of their job do it as a matter of instinct and that is a tough thing to break! Instead of thinking of stopping the barking, it is better to accept that your dog is going to bark but having control over how often and how loud is better then the alternative. Teaching your instinctual barker ‘inside voice’ or ‘whisper’ helps to teach them about volume with the added benefit of not only working closely with your dog but also developing a great party trick.

Dealing with your neighbors barking dog is a bit more difficult. Most dogs bark to alert their people when strangers approach so if he is barking at you, try comforting him by talking softly and saying his name. Some dogs will be quiet once they recognize your voice and hear their name while others get more upset. If it does not work, ask your neighbor to introduce your to their dog so that the dog knows you are accepted by his owner. Once you are part of the extended ‘pack’, he should be quiet once he hears your voice.

If this does not work, or if you are dealing with a bored dog who barks all the time, you have a more difficult situation on your hands. Most of us will live with the noise for a while but eventually the damn bursts and a call is placed to the local animal control. This may be effective in stopping the barking but there are hundreds of dogs dropped off at animal shelters each year due to this situation. Although you may have a quiet neighborhood, you could also be signing the dog’s death certificate in many cases.

Instead, try working with your neighbor before the barking really becomes a problem. Explain how boredom effects dogs and that you would like to help them with their barking dog. There are also products on the market that set off an ultrasonic tone that only dogs can hear when they pick up a few seconds of repetitive barking. It interrupts their thought process, stopping the barking.

There are many things that can be done to stop chronic barking without giving up on your dog or calling the ‘doggy police’ on your neighbor. Understanding why the dog is barking and training with both patience and persistence is the best way to stop the problem.

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