Managing That Barking Dog

In our last post on excessive vocalization in dogs we discussed some of the typical situations encountered by dog owners and some of the reasons why dogs bark excessively. That's important to understand because when it comes to treatment or management there is no one size fits all cure. In some cases there may be no cure at all.

First and foremost you have to rule out any medical cause. If there is a medical problem causing chronic pain for instance, the treatment is much different and aimed at what is causing the pain. Older dogs with cognitive dysfunction may be helped by certain medications, but behavior modification will not be very useful in these dogs.

 

In other dogs, where behavior is the problem, the approach is different and involves avoiding the triggers for the behavior, avoiding reinforcement of the behavior, substituting something else and teaching the dog ways to cope. Giving your dog adequate attention and play time is also important.

 

With dogs that go nuts when visitors show up or when someone or something goes by the window, the first step is to remove that stimulus. If you are anticipating guests, put the dog in his crate (if he's crate trained) or in another part of the house. Same goes for dogs that get crazy at feeding time. Get them way from the scene of the food preparation. If your dog races from window to window chasing whatever they see outside, you should remove that stimulus, too. Close the window shades if you have them, but get a visual barrier of some sort working to your advantage.

 

Another useful technique is to stop inadvertently reinforcing the behavior. If you react when your dog goes nuts by trying to calm them or even admonish them, you may be reinforcing the behavior in their mind. You have to force yourself to not react. Even eye contact is a reinforcer and these dogs sometimes get worse before they get better when denied your reaction. This is similar in practice to forcing yourself to not react to a dog that jumps up, as we've discussed before.

 

Teach them a new trick. This is called counter conditioning in behavior modification language. Substitute something new in the situations that provoke the vocalization. Start by teaching your dog to sit/ stay or go to his corner/ mat/ bed for a food reward. Alternatively you can teach "quiet" or "no bark" commands.

 

It's helpful to have a clicker or something like a Gentle Leader head collar to get the dog's attention. If they bark, pull on the gentle leader while giving the command and use the same command all the time. Reward them with food when they stop.

 

Once they have learned these commands without the barking trigger you can move on to real life situations. Invite someone to come over or walk in front of the window and have your dog perform his new learning as a substitute for the craziness. With praise, good timing and a tasty treat this will help tremendously in those predictable situations.

 

Teaching substitution behavior can be tricky and you will benefit if you get advice from a veterinary behaviorist or a trainer they recommend. Getting control of your dog by teaching them to so something in exchange for something they want, will help establish you as being in charge. Make them sit/ stay before you let them outside or take them for a walk. Don't feed them until they have done something you want them to do. This reinforces you as the leader of your pack and establishes a command/ response relationship with your pet. That can be key if your dog is high strung or excitable.

 

If anxiety is the root cause, you might need to combine these behavior modification tools with anti-anxiety medication. That must be done with help from a veterinarian. Separation anxiety is an example of a condition that may benefit from medication. In any event, the combination of behavior modification and medication (if needed) may achieve better results than either alone.

 

Don't feel you have to live with an overly noisy dog. It can drive you nuts. This primer and some expert help can move you to a better, and quieter, place. Now, if I just had my neighbors e-mail address I could send him the link to this post.