Behavioral Problems
The Vocal Dog To train your dog to stop barking train him to bark.
Dick Selby/Idaho Press Tribune/Associated Press |
All dogs bark, but as with digging, some breeds bark, howl and generally vocalize more than others. Keep this in mind when choosing your pet.
- If your dog barks excessively, try immediate correction and diversion to another activity. However, if your dog perceives a human's verbal reprimand as welcome attention or even a "bark-a-long," he may decide to bark more. Try teaching a "speak" command.
- Once this is learned, teach "quiet."
- Divert your dog's attention by taking him to another room, and after a few seconds of quiet, reward him for his silence.
What do you do if you aren't home to hear the barking — but your neighbors are?
Unfortunately, a lot of problem barking occurs when you aren't there to hear it, but your neighbors are. Separation anxiety is often the cause of such barking. If your dog is outside during the day:
- Block his view of the neighbors' properties so that visual cues will not start him barking (of course, sounds from a neighboring yard may still set him off).
- Try a bark-activated collar that delivers a whiff of citronella (generally unpleasant to dogs) when the dog barks.
If barking becomes a real neighborhood nuisance, and even professionals can't help, you may have to choose between giving up your dog or having him debarked, a surgical alteration of the vocal cords to reduce the volume of sound. De-barking is controversial because many people consider it inhumane. It should be considered only when the other alternative is euthanasia.
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