• Nutrition
• Dermatology
• Preventive Care
• Gastro-intestinal
• Grooming
• Behavior

Barking

Barking is one of many forms of vocal communication for dogs. However, sometimes a dog's barking can be excessive. Because barking serves a variety of functions, you must identify its cause and your dog's motivation for barking before you can treat a barking problem.

Each type of barking serves a distinct function for a dog, and if he's repeatedly rewarded for his barking (i.e. he gets what he wants), he can learn to use barking to his benefit. For example, dogs who successfully bark for attention often go on to bark for other things, like food, play and walks. For this reason, it's important to train your dog be quiet on cue so that you can stop his attention-related barking and teach him to do another behavior instead, like sit or down, to get what he wants.

Many owners can identify why their dog is barking just by hearing the specific bark. For instance, a dog's bark sounds different when he wants to play as compared to when he wants to come in from the yard. If you want to reduce your dog's barking, it's crucial to determine why he's barking.

Some Reasons Why Dogs Bark

Territorial Barking

Dogs can bark excessively in response to people, dogs or other animals within or approaching their territories.

Alarm Barking

If your dog barks at any and every noise and sight, he's probably alarm barking. Dogs engaged in alarm barking usually have stiffer body language than dogs barking to greet, and they often move or pounce forward an inch or two with each bark.

Attention-Seeking Barking

Some dogs bark at people or other animals to gain attention or rewards, like food, toys or play.

Greeting Barking

Your dog might bark as a greeting if he barks when he sees people or other dogs and his body is relaxed, he's excited and his tail is wagging. Dogs who bark when greeting people or other animals might also whine.

Compulsive Barking

Some dogs bark excessively in a repetitive way, like a broken record. These dogs often move repetitively as well. For example, a dog who's compulsively barking might run back and forth along the fence in his yard or pace in his home.

Socially Facilitated Barking

Some dogs barks excessively only when they hear other dogs barking. This kind of barking occurs in the social context of hearing other dogs.

Separation-Anxiety Barking

Excessive barking due to separation anxiety occurs only when a dog's caretaker is gone or when the dog is left alone. You'll usually see at least one other separation anxiety symptom as well, like pacing, destruction, elimination, depression or other signs of distress.

What to Do About Your Dog's Excessive Barking

It is important to determine the type of bark your dog is expressing in order to reduce the unwanted behavior. Sometimes dogs bark in response to pain or a painful condition. Before attempting to resolve your dog's barking problem, please have your dog examined by your veterinarian to rule out medical causes.

Chewing

Chewing is a perfectly normal behavior for dogs of all ages. Both wild and domestic dogs spend hours chewing bones. This activity keeps their jaws strong and their teeth clean. Dogs love to chew on bones, sticks and just about anything else available. They chew for fun, they chew for stimulation, and they chew to relieve anxiety. While chewing behavior is normal, dogs sometimes direct their chewing behavior toward inappropriate items. Both puppies and adult dogs should have a variety of appropriate and attractive chew toys. However, just providing the right things to chew isn't enough to prevent inappropriate chewing. Dogs need to learn what is okay to chew and what is not. They need to be taught in a gentle, humane manner.

Lack of Exercise or Mental Stimulation:

Some dogs simply do not get enough physical and mental stimulation. Bored dogs tend look for ways to entertain themselves, and chewing is one option. To prevent destructive chewing, be sure to provide plenty of ways for your dog to exercise his mind and body. Great ways to accomplish this include daily walks and outings, off-leash play with other dogs, tug and fetch games, dog sports (agility, freestyle, flyball, etc.), and feeding meals in food puzzle toys.