by Phillip Paris

Printed in the Williamson Count Sun on July 28, 2001

Have you ever wondered why dogs really bark? What are they trying to say, or are they not really saying anything at all? Over the years, many people have tried to discover what a dog is thinking while its barking. Is it angry, happy, hurt, bored, playful, or does it just like the way he sounds? We have all lived next door to a dog who just seemed to bark all the time and for no apparent reason!

There are many reasons why dogs bark: they bark for attention, because they want something, because they hear a noise, out of fear, out of aggression, and many other reasons. In order to correct a dog that barks too much, you need to understand why he is barking.

All dogs have a different bark sound depending on the emotion that they are feeling at the time. There are many different barks that have a distinctly different sound to them. These can be alarm barking, attention barking, fear barking, playful barking, and many others based on the emotion of the dog at the time. Most people used to think that if a dog was barking, that he was mean or unstable. The most common complaint on barking, is the nuisance barker: the dog that just barks and barks on and on for hours and for no real reason.

The problem with nuisance barking generally starts when the dog is young. When a puppy barks, we usually reward it in some way by giving it food, picking it up, bringing it inside, taking it out of the crate, and so on. We automatically start thinking of ways to make the dog happy because it is barking. By doing this over and over, the puppy learns that a really quick way to get your attention is to bark until you get up and do something. Giving a dog positive attention while he is barking is exactly what the dogs wants! Who's training who? If your dog is barking at you, he is demanding your attention and is asking for something, and you should be very careful how you respond so as not to encourage the behavior.

For inside dogs, one of the more common complaints that I receive, is that the dog is constantly at the door or window and barks anytime it sees someone outside. Let me explain how this works. Any dog, regardless of breed, can become territorial of their house and yard. This is an instinctual occurrence that can happen with any dog who has lived in the same place for any length of time. The longer the dog lives there, the more apt he is to notify you of someone's presence. Many dogs will bark out of alarm, or in an effort to ward off whoever may be approaching. When a dog barks for this reason, he is not wanting the person to come onto HIS property, he simply wants them to leave.

Now, let's think like a dog would. Dogs do not understand the fact that occasionally, people in the neighborhood take walks and have no intention of coming to his house: they are simply passing by. Dogs also do not have the understanding of what a mailman or any other delivery personnel is doing and what their job is. They simply see someone approaching and begin to bark and the person leaves the property, which is exactly what the dog wanted. They don't know that the person was going to leave anyway! They truly think that their barking warded off the offender and that they are KING of the block! This type of behavior is rewarding in itself.

If you have a dog that does this, here is a way to remedy the problem. The next time your dogs runs to the window and begins to bark at whoever is outside, call your dog by name and call him to you. Once he arrives, ask him to sit or lay down, and then reward him when he does. You should do this by praise and even food treats when possible. What you are accomplishing, are several things. First of all, you interrupted his behavior of barking. By calling him to you, you broke the chain of events and made him think of other things, instead of whoever was walking outside. Secondly, he did not have the chance to see the fruits of his barking. Meaning, he barked, but didn't get rewarded by being able to see that his barking made the person leave. The more you do this, the less the dog will enjoy barking. If this happens enough, when your dog sees someone outside, he may remember all of the other times this happened, and actually decide to run to you to get a treat because that's the chain of events that normally occurs!

Bottom line! Never reward your dog in any way for nuisance barking. Find ways to distract him or remove the stimulation that is causing him to bark. In the next article, we will continue on the subject of barking and will offer more solutions.