We really love our dogs and are fond of almost every little thing they do, but when it comes to barking, that is another story.
Some dogs bark at their owners when these arrive home, partly because they are happy, and partly because the owner, inadvertently, has contributed to this behavior.
Let us mention here just a few of the reasons that may facilitate this very unpleasant habit and some solutions that may help.
Boredom Is it not typical of a human being to try and find something to do when bored, especially children? How do they express such a feeling? Very few engage in something productive.
Most of the times, they start doing things that will drive their parents crazy, like running all over, jumping on the furniture, screaming, putting the television extremely loud, asking constant questions..
..
you get the picture.
Well, dogs are no different.
When a dog is lacking exercise or attention, it will channel its energy in other directions, like biting, trying to escape or barking.
These are just signals the animal is giving us that something is wrong.
Remember, they cannot speak and tell us.
Lack of Routine Unlike wild animals, domesticated ones are taught certain routines when they arrive at the home of the owner, so when this is not followed as expected, something happens.
If, for example, we teach them feeding and exercising time come at a certain hour and all of a sudden this is changed with frequency, the animal becomes disoriented and will produce behavior according to this.
If the owner changes jobs, or if a new member of the family arrives, that routine may be directly affected, and the dog will certainly reject that unexpected change.
Barking to call the owner's attention to this is a very common way the dog will use as a means of solving that which is bothering it.
Instinct Not every dog breed is like the next.
We all know that.
Certain breeds are trained to work with other animals, like the Shetland sheepdog, for example, and their way of doing their work is by running and barking while trying to gather the sheep.
In this case, barking is a tool.
Other small dogs tend to be more vocal than others, like the Chihuahua and the Maltese.
These will bark at anything that calls their attention and for no specific reason.
Still other dogs are considered guardians, and the barking is also used by them to call their owner's attention to any kind of danger they may be facing.
Some of these have been trained to use the barking, but others will do it instinctively.
Many lives have been saved by this dog barking.
Habit We are typically our dog's trainer, and as such, we may make mistakes when teaching our pet without us noticing it.
If, for example, when the dog is still a puppy and every time we arrive home we receive our dog's tail wagging, jumping and barking as a sign of affection (which it is) with lots of emotional response on our part, talking loud, jumping with it and even dancing, as some do, we will be reinforcing such behavior as positive, so the animal will definitely repeat it every time.
That is its way of participating with us in such an exciting moment.
This is quite funny when the dog is still a puppy, as we said, but when it reaches adulthood and we lose control of the situation, specifically the barking, it really stops being any fun at all.
Some Simple Solutions Exercise Taking our dog out every day to walk, run or play, and using that time to teach it basic obedience will make a tremendous difference.
If we have the opportunity to do it more than once a day, even better, but if not, at least once will suffice.
Separating that time to spend with our pet will give it a sense of bonding and at the same time, will help us release our stress and participate in a healthy way with our dog.
This will result in a calmer and well behaved animal.
Routine We have to make sure to sit down and evaluate our personal situation and our dog's needs, so we can establish the routine necessary to supply these and help our animal.
If we consider we will not have the needed time to give to our pet, perhaps we should reconsider before we bring one home.
Training A basic psychological way of teaching something to our dog is by reinforcing the behavior we want with rewards and the opposite when the animal does something we don't like, such as barking.
We can, for example, order our dog to sit, stay or even lie down when it starts barking, taking its attention in another direction as a means of control.
One very simple way of sending our dog the message that the barking is not accepted by us is simply ignoring it.
This is a way of negatively reinforcing such behavior.
Let's go back here to the situation mentioned before about the dog barking excessively when the owner arrives home, and let us suppose we are the owner in this case.
If our dog continues to bark after we have ignored it, we will continue to do so until the behavior stops, even if this will probably require great patience on our side, and then, with a soft voice and gentle movements, we will pet it and express our affection, so the animal will connect the dots and understand that the barking did not receive any rewards and the silence did.
Although these are just very simple and easy tips to follow to help with the barking problem, there are infinite other ideas that will help us train and help our dogs and ourselves have a happier life together.