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“Okay, okay! We hear you!”....but do you? I mean yes, of course, it’s hard to ignore that ear-piercing bark, but do you actually understand what your dog is communicating to you when your dog barks? Although it may seem as though sometimes your dog is barking just to hear himself or herself bark, all behavior has a function and it’s usually a bit more complex than that.
The sooner you start to learn your dog's language and what each dog bark means a bit better, the sooner you can stop muting yourself in the middle of zoom calls to soothe your barking dog. So let's talk about barking, the common reasons dogs bark, how to decipher different types of dog barks, and what your dog might be trying to tell you.
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Dog barking comes in all shapes and sizes, and it's a natural communication skill for your dog. Your dog finds it quite useful in a multitude of situations. To dogs, barking is normal. We don’t want to entirely take their voice away.
Which is another reason you should never use aversive anti-barking collars/shock collars or those sonic eggs that emit a high pitch sound every time your dog barks. Because dog barking is normal, suppressing your dog's barking can create an enormous amount of stress and anxiety in your dog.
Can you imagine being shocked every time you spoke? Insane, right? These aversive tools are painful to your dog physically and emotionally and prevent learning as well as destroy trust and your dog's bonding with you. So let’s focus on determining the function of your dog's barking and create a plan to teach more reinforcing behaviors to decrease the frequency of dog barks.
First, it’s important to note that sometimes genetics can play a role in a dog’s excessive barking. Some dogs bark excessively or are more inclined to bark thanks to genes and their somewhat ingrained historical purpose. Let's say your dog is a hound dog, and the hound family as well as other genetically predisposed barkers naturally likes to bark.
That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck in toning down your dog's barking. It simply means your dog is more likely to communicate via barking and we want to get a handle on that early by teaching your dog “quiet” or another cue word you can say calmly to help with any excessive barking.
Aside from the role genetics can play in a dog’s desire to bark, some common reasons dogs make their voices heard:
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Its function: to alert us to something happening.
“MOM MOM MOM, THERE’S A STRANGE PERSON ON THE SIDEWALK!”
“DAD! THERE’S A DOG ON TELEVISION!”
“MOM, I HEARD A WEIRD NOISE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN!”
It's worth recognizing that your dog sees alerting you and the family as his or her job, a noble calling that your dog likely takes great pride in doing. That's one of the many reasons we always want to understand the why behind our dogs' behaviors like barking and use positive reinforcement to teach alternate behaviors.
Its function: to make something scary or a perceived threat go away.
“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON’T COME ANY CLOSER, OTHER DOG I DON'T KNOW!”
“GO AWAY, LOUD SCARY THUNDER NOISES!!”
Is your dog barking at other dogs when walking past or at the neighborhood cat? That's almost always fear barking (and often misread as aggression). Barking at other dogs is a classic "go away, scary thing" bark.
Its function: To provide an outlet for frustration, or to assist in coping with something stressful occurring.
“MY BALL IS SO CLOSE BUT SO FAR AWAY! WHY IS MY HEAD TOO BIG TO FIT UNDER THIS COUCH?!”
“GET ME OUT OF THIS CRATE! UGHHHH”
Frustration barking can have comparatively simple solutions, particularly when the situational change needed is a quick fix (like making sure the ball stays in reach). In other cases, we can teach our dog to associate good things with a formerly stressful situation with positive reinforcement and practice (stay tuned for upcoming guides on training activities!).
Making sure your dog's exercise and mental stimulation needs are regularly met (see below) in general makes for a more relaxed, less-likely-to-get-frustrated dog.
Its function: to get us to acknowledge their existence.
“MOM MOM MAHHM MOM!”
“DAD DADDY DAD DAAAD!”
We've all had experience with this one, right? See below for some ideas for helping your dog feel thoroughly acknowledged and happy.
These are just some of the many types of barking, and understanding the function of your dog’s bark can help you determine the best training path to take. (Keep in mind if your dog’s barking behavior seems sudden and out of the ordinary, it may be worth investigating with your vet any underlying medical issues that could contribute to this.)
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With any new training plan, the first thing every good certified professional dog trainer will tell pet parents is to make sure your dog’s needs are being met!
Is your dog getting enough exercise? Mental stimulation and enrichment? That’s where you want to start, since it's often the underlying cause of your dog's barking - particularly so with attention and frustration barking in many dogs. Our dogs are bored and not getting regular stimulation, so they're seeking that outlet and frustrated when unable to satisfy their natural dog desires.
When you make these activities part of your everyday life with your dog, you may be surprised to see how quickly your dog stops barking at every opportunity.
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Next step, and so very important: manipulate the environment to prevent your pup from being a Barkmaster and stop barking before it starts.
With these tips, you’ll start to be able to reduce your dog's barking behavior and create a happy, peaceful environment for both of you. Remember - it takes time, patience and consistency. Rewarding desired behaviors (quiet moments!) will help reinforce the message quicker with your dog - as well as let your dog know how much you appreciate them!
Now that we've discussed the different types of dog barking, the function and normality of this loud, and at times obnoxious, behavior, as well as management and enrichment to prevent and minimize dog barks, we're ready to dive into some training exercises to improve your dog's barking tendencies in the next guide here.
If you have any questions about your dog's barking, just ask in the community discussion in the Barking Channel here on Dogly.
Or if you ever need more personalized dog training guidance, please reach out!
DISCLAIMER: The content of this website and community is based on the research, expertise, and views of each respective author. Information here is not intended to replace your one-on-one relationship with your veterinarian, but as a sharing of information and knowledge to help arm dog parents to make more informed choices. We encourage you to make health care decisions based on your research and in partnership with your vet. In cases of distress, medical issues, or emergency, always consult your veterinarian.