18/06/2025
Barking
When our dogs bark a lot, it sure can be irritating to human ears. We often holler at the dogs to be quiet, and we all know how well that works. I hope these tips can help you out. The most important aspect with barking is to know why your dog is barking. Barking can be due to the dog being excited or fearful. Maybe the dog is alerting you to movement or sounds. The barking can happen in order to demand your attention or demand food. It could be due to separation anxiety or boredom. The dog can also be territorial of his or her home and yard. If the barking is due to the dog being bored, demanding, or anxious, these tips won’t work. You will need to address the boredom, demanding behavior, and anxiety. These suggestions are for those dogs who bark for alerting purposes or territorial barking. First inside the home. If the dog is barking at visual stimuli, consider closing drapes or blinds to limit what the dog sees. There is also window film available. You could also put a barrier up so that the dog can’t get to the door or window. Especially when you are gone, think about putting the dog in a different room away from where the visual stimuli occur. If the dog is barking at noises, turn something on that might drown it out: TV, music, white noise machine, fans, etc. Next, in the yard. You can cover your deck or fence with landscaping fabric or privacy inserts for chain link fences. Another idea could be to use a faux plant privacy screen. A costly management tool would be to put in a 6-foot privacy fence. If your dog barks while in the car, you could have your dog ride in a crate (the dog needs to be crate trained first) or purchase shade screens for the back windows. Excessive barking may be fixed with these management ideas. Often though, you will need to include training.
