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Barking Dogs / Different Types of Barks
Niki Elliott
www.puppiesinbalance.co.za
We have all had a dog of our own that barks or have had a neighbour with an intensely annoying barking dog. One that starts barking at around midnight and barks for the whole night or barks as soon as it’s owner switches on the lights in the morning - only he happens to work odd hours and goes to work at 04:00am.
Barking is a form of communication for dogs. Communication is described as sending information from one animal to another or to a group of other animals with the intent to effect behaviour. We do want our dogs to bark to alert us, but we don’t want them to bark when it’s inappropriate. Unfortunately our dogs don’t really know the difference unless we teach them.
It is important to look at the whole situation when dealing with barking as it can often be symptomatic of something else. Fix the problem and the rest falls into place. Barking is a self-reinforcing behaviour so it does not always work to wait for the behaviour to extinguish itself.
There are a number of reasons dogs bark.
It is very important that you don’t join in with the barking by shouting at your dog. This only reinforces the fact that there is something out there for him to be afraid of or to warn off. Mom is barking as well so it must be really scary!
Teach your dog to react to a positive interrupt cue. This as a highly reinforced cue which gets your dog’s attention back to you when he is doing something inappropriate like barking.
Start training the behaviour in a low distraction environment. Say “Quiet Please” in a calm happy voice when your dog is paying attention to you, click and reward with a very high value treat. Repeat until you see his delight every time you use the cue. Practice this cue from a low distraction area and build on the distraction. If you cannot get his attention as the distraction increases then go back a step to where you were successful and build again.
Barking is a form of communication for dogs. Communication is described as sending information from one animal to another or to a group of other animals with the intent to effect behaviour. We do want our dogs to bark to alert us, but we don’t want them to bark when it’s inappropriate. Unfortunately our dogs don’t really know the difference unless we teach them.
It is important to look at the whole situation when dealing with barking as it can often be symptomatic of something else. Fix the problem and the rest falls into place. Barking is a self-reinforcing behaviour so it does not always work to wait for the behaviour to extinguish itself.
There are a number of reasons dogs bark.
- Alert barking to let you know he has seen or heard something different. This should always be investigated and if the owners know their dog well, will know the difference in tone of this bark. We need to remember that we may not think what the dog is barking about is serious so could fall into the trap of not investigating after a while. When my dog let’s me know there is a perceived danger I always like to say in a calm voice “Thank you, I can take it from here”. Giving a positive interrupt to stop the barking and then reinforcing the silence.
- Defensive barking to make something he is afraid of go away. If the dog is nervous or frightened he will bark to keep the perceived frightening thing at bay, the thought here is “I will get you before you get me”. If the owner works with the dog to help him become more confident – either with a behaviourist or taking the dog to training then this behaviour will most likely fall away as the dog becomes more confident.
- Frustration barking because your dog can’t get what he wants. This is similar to attention seeking barking but is usually a side effect of never being able to solve it’s own problems. The owner would probably have done everything for this dog when it was a puppy and the dog now doesn’t know how to make another plan if Plan A is not working, so he would bark to get someone to come and help. To help this dog you could use “Brain Toys” starting with a really simple water bottle with holes cut out slightly bigger than the food you are going to put inside. Allow the dog to work out how to get the food out of the bottle but rolling it around. Often dogs that have had all their problems solved for them will not know how to do this so the owner might have to help in the beginning. Then move on to the more difficult food dispensing toys once the dog has mastered the simple ones.
- Excitement/Play barking because he wants to play. These dogs get far too excited during play and then run around barking while the other dogs play. This often starts as puppies and then it feels so good it continues in adulthood. This type of barking is quite difficult to change but removing the dog from the game and doing something else with him when the other dogs are having a game of rough and tumble, can help.
- Boredom barking because it feels good and provides relief from the boredom. As I have said before, barking is a self rewarding behaviour and if the dog finds out that when he is alone, barking makes him feel better it will become a learnt behaviour. Using food and toys can help with this. Giving the dog something to do when he is alone that is fun and makes them think, will tire the dog out and will replace the boredom with good things. Having someone come in and walk the dog a couple of time a week. Leaving “Brain toys” filled with tasty treats lying around or hidden in the bushes or in a digging patch that has been made for the dog are all ideas to keep him occupied during the day. Hide food in the garden so he has to use his nose to find it. Another great idea here is to send the dog to Doggy Day Care. Provided the dog is well socialized, he will come home having had a great time playing with other dogs and will just want to relax and chill with Mom or Dad.
- Attention seeking barking because he wants your attention. These dogs that have been played with when ever they drop a ball or toy at their owners feet or picked up and put on a lap etc and then when their owner does not respond they bark to get attention. It works, their owner throws the ball/toy for them or picks them up. The dog then learns that barking gets attention. In other words it works for the dog. To stop this barking, the reason the dog is barking for must be ignored and NEVER reinforced by ANYONE. The barking will get worse before it gets better because it has always worked for the dog before so he will try even harder to get the result he wants. Do not make eye contact, pat, talk to the dog. At this point any attention is better than no attention.
It is very important that you don’t join in with the barking by shouting at your dog. This only reinforces the fact that there is something out there for him to be afraid of or to warn off. Mom is barking as well so it must be really scary!
Teach your dog to react to a positive interrupt cue. This as a highly reinforced cue which gets your dog’s attention back to you when he is doing something inappropriate like barking.
Start training the behaviour in a low distraction environment. Say “Quiet Please” in a calm happy voice when your dog is paying attention to you, click and reward with a very high value treat. Repeat until you see his delight every time you use the cue. Practice this cue from a low distraction area and build on the distraction. If you cannot get his attention as the distraction increases then go back a step to where you were successful and build again.
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