Dog Barking - Effective Methods to Stop Your Dog Barking
Incessant dog barking is an annoying and nuisance behavior that needs to be curbed at early stages. Other than natural reasons there are situations when they bark for no apparent cause. Understanding the reasons for barking is an essential first step in dealing with this problem.
Dog barking is a natural behavior of expressing their mood, excitement and to get your attention to their needs. Along with their vocalization, tail movements and facial aspects they convey different meaning depending on the situation.
Here are some of the situations where the bark along with body language conveys various meaning. Snarling and growling with tail up and rapid wags shows he is in aggression. Yelping and growling with tail behind the legs shows he is in fear or submission. A low gruff bark progressively increasing to a loud bark when he senses somebody is near the house and so on.
Once you identify the causes of barking then finding a solution to stop barking is easier. Key reasons for barking are underlying behavioral issue and situations and surroundings aiding to the barking. Natural instinct barks are very normal and should not be suppressed.
Let's see how to stop your dog's relentless barking which sometimes has no apparent cause:
* Teaching your dog what is an acceptable behavior and what is not should be the first in your dog behavior training. Barking constantly in an attempt to get your attention and forcing you to submit to his needs is not good. Just to stop him from barking if you give a treat or play then you are encouraging him to bark even more in the future. Just walk away from him and don't even look at him. He may be confused and bark harder at first but by consistently reinforcing this you will have better control over this behavior.
* When he barks, divert his attention by saying, "quiet" or "hush" in a strong yet calm tone. Use the same command every time for consistency and not to confuse him. When he obeys and stop barking praise him immediately. He will pair the command with the praise and learn to be quiet.
* When your dog deliberately disobeys any of your commands, he displays his dominant position and if left unchecked will get worse with time. He needs to realize at young age that you are the authority leader an Alpha dog and he is below you. Dogs are well behaved when they know you are the leader of the pack and form a cordial relationship based on faith and respect.
* Another reason for constant barking is boredom. Dogs are social animals and need constant interaction with fellow humans. They will be on the edge without these and let out their stress through barking. Interactive play with your dog like throwing and fetching the ball and a long walk will help.
* Separation anxiety can drive your dog to bark constantly. When left alone, they bark in an effort to get out of that situation. Exercise him enough before you leave so that he is tired and sleep when you are away and also provide enough chewy toys and items to engage him till you return.
Use of shock or citronella collars to control your dog barking is not recommended and can be used only as last resort for a stubborn dog. Understanding and retraining by reward is the most humane approach to dog barking problem.
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by: SekarRam
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