How to stop a dog from barking

Barking for a dog is a means of communication, and not so much with its own kind, but with a person. Please note: breeds close to wild ancestors (huskies, malamutes, wolfdogs, basenjis) either do not know how to bark at all, or make sounds more like a wolf howl. However, if the dog needs to warn the owner about something, they switch to barking – a kind of “artificial language” for communicating with a person. It’s just that they “talk”, as a rule, too loudly and too much, which disturbs the peace of not only the neighbors, but also the owners themselves. This is especially true for miniature breeds, such as Toy, Spitz, or watchdogs: Caucasians, German Shepherds, etc. By the way, riding huskies also like to speak their “language” – they howl in a long way in different voices.

And sometimes this loudness becomes the reason that people, under the onslaught of complaints from neighbors or their own insomnia, are forced to abandon their four-legged friend, because no matter how much you scold for excessive “talkativeness”, it’s all to no avail.

By the way, experts identify 12 different types of barking in dogs (1).

However, there are ways to wean a dog from barking in vain, and now we will talk about them.

Why do dogs bark

It happens that it is worth the guests to call the intercom, as the dog living in the apartment starts barking hysterically and does not stop until they come and stay in the apartment for some time – thus the animal reports the intrusion of strangers (2). Also, a dog can show violent emotions when left alone at home.

In fact, there are usually two reasons for unrestrained barking in dogs: a lack of communication and new information, as well as an imbalance in character (that is, excessive emotionality), and the root of these reasons is the same – self-doubt and the resulting fear.

This situation always arises through the fault of the owners. “But we don’t have tea in our dog and are ready to do everything to make him feel good!” many will object. But, giving the pet endless love, they forget that they are dealing with a creature with their own instincts and needs, which are often very different from human ones.

Do not forget that the dog is a pack creature and deeply hierarchical. In every pack there is always a leader – the strongest, the smartest, the most successful in hunting, the one who is responsible for each member of the pack, so that they feel safe. However, at the same time, the leader enjoys many privileges: he is the first to eat the prey (while the others do not have the right to approach him closer than 10 m), he chooses the best female for himself and, of course, none of the members of the pack has the right to challenge his decisions. And if someone wants to do this, he will have to prove his superiority by taking the fight. At the same time, you need to understand that subordinates do not feel humiliated in relation to the leader. On the contrary, knowing that there is one that provides them with protection and food, who makes decisions, they feel calm and comfortable. And all this is inherent in every dog ​​at the gene level – whether it be a giant St. Bernard or a tiny Chihuahua.

The human family a dog lives in is its pack, at least that’s how it perceives its people. Growing up, the puppy is trying to determine its place in this pack. And if he sees a strong and self-confident person who can always insist on his own without resorting to cruelty, the tailed teenager gladly swears allegiance to him. However, if people pamper a puppy from childhood, satisfy all his “wants”, treat him with delicious food and do not stop lisping with him, then there can be two options: either the dog decides that he himself is the leader, or he cannot determine his place in the pack in any way (if punishments alternate with pampering, which happens most often). In the first case, growing up, he simply ceases to take into account the needs of the owners and begins to dictate his conditions to them, and in the second he becomes nervous and unsure of himself. Often, especially in dogs of small breeds, this is expressed in excessive “verbosity”. That is, by barking they show dissatisfaction with the owners, whom they consider to be their subordinates, or, having no strong leader nearby to rely on, they are frightened of everything in the world and express their uncertainty in the form of hysterical and often aggressive barking.

It is never too late to change this situation.

Step-by-step instructions for weaning a dog from barking

Take control of your dog

Sometimes it is enough for a dog to feel a strong hand to stop being nervous about the arrival of guests. Strong means not cruel, but confident.

Try this exercise. Ask someone you know to ring the door or intercom, or make some noise on the stairs, that is, create that irritant to which the dog reacts violently. Before that, take the pet on a leash (no harnesses!), By moving the collar closer to the head, under the throat – there is a more sensitive place, and the dog will feel more fully contact with you, which will give him confidence. For this exercise, a collar in the form of a sliding loop is well suited. If the dog tries to make a sound during a call or noise, pull the leash sharply and briefly so that he feels discomfort in his throat. This is how you communicate your dissatisfaction to him. At the same time, keep yourself calm and confident, in no case be nervous or fussy – dogs are excellent empaths and instantly adopt the mood of their owners.

less attention

Warn your helper that, upon entering the apartment, he does not react in any way to the dog’s violent display of emotions. Often their excessive emotionality is expressed not only in barking, but also in obsessive jumps around the guest and sometimes even puddles. Of course, you want to respond to the dog’s joy, pet the dog in return, but you need to understand that the dog perceives this as an encouragement of such behavior and begins to show even more emotions.

If your guests begin to ignore the violent reaction of the dog, he will quickly calm down, move away and sit down, looking expectantly at people. And at this stage, it is already possible to stroke her and communicate with her, thus fixing in the mind of the animal that calmness is good, and violent emotions will not bring anything good.

Away from the irritant!

As a rule, the barking of a dog is directed to the front door – it is from there that she waits for the appearance of new people and it is behind her that different, perhaps even dangerous, sounds are constantly heard in the representation of the pet.

Thus, in some cases, to stop barking, it is worth pushing the dog away from the door. To do this, you do not need to touch it or pick it up (this can be perceived as a game), just confidently and calmly walk towards your tailed friend, forcing him to back into the room or kitchen. You can do it together. It’s good if the dog sees the threshold or any other line that will become for her a kind of border that cannot be crossed when guests appear. If he tries to return to the door, push back again or make a forbidding gesture. The main thing is to show that you are in your right, and the dog is a subordinate here. After a while, he will surely come to terms.

Switch attention

This method works especially well with dogs that bark out of self-doubt and fear. For them, the doorbell or the sounds behind it are a signal of danger and negativity. Often this happens in dogs that have encountered human cruelty on their life path, or very small breeds that are afraid of everything simply because of their size and the absence of a strong leader nearby (the owners pamper them and do not train them).

In this case, it is good to associate the doorbell or any other irritant that the dog usually barks at with something positive. And here you will also need an assistant who will create this irritant. At these sounds, give the dog its favorite treat, but do it before it barks. You can even drop a few pieces of food on the floor to keep your dog busy looking for food when the doorbell rings.

Of course, you will have to do the exercise more than once or twice, but in the end it will bear fruit: now in the mind of your four-legged friend a visit from a guest or noise will become associated with positive emotions, not danger.

Attention!

Never pet a dog in an attempt to calm it down during violent barking. The animal will take this as an encouragement and will bark even more in the future.

As for the “blankers” living in a private house on a chain, barking for them is the only way to communicate and receive at least some information about the world. The poor dogs, who were chained to the booth for life, are likened to prisoners of solitary cells, tapping each other to feel that there are living people nearby.

A dog that is walked, socialized, and gets enough interaction with its owners will only bark on business and never in vain.

Popular questions and answers

How to wean a dog to bark, we talked with zoopsychologist Ekaterina Bukharova.

Sources of

1. Pongracz P., Molnar C., Miklosi A., Csanyi V. J Human listeners are able to classify dog (Canis familiaris) barks recorded in different situations // Comp Psychol, May, 2005

2. Lukashev S.A. The experience of foreign countries in the field of organizing activities to protect public order with service dogs // Modern Science, 2021. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/opyt-zarubezhnyh-stran-v-oblasti-organizatsii-deyatelnosti-po-ohrane -obschestvennogo-poryadka-so-sluzhebnymi-sobakami