Having a dog is a lot of fun. At the same time, it's also a lot of work. This is why training your pet is essential during its puppy years, so you can prevent behavior problems. On one hand, a barking dog is a good thing as it alerts its owners to the presence of a possible intruder. On the other, a dog barking for an unknown reason can cause sleepless nights by both its owners and the neighbors. If your dog has a barking problem, there are ways for you to minimize it.
First, you'll need to understand that it's perfectly normal for a dog to bark. If your pooch is making too much noise, there are not a lot of reasons why it's doing so. One possible reason is when someone it doesn't recognize is near. Barking is a dog's way of both alerting its owners that someone's outside your door as well as its way to scare that intruder off or greet a friendly face.
Another possible reason for a barking dog is it's either confused or scared. This happens a lot when its owners leave and it undergoes a period of anxiety. This also happens when a visitor is freely roaming around the house and the owners don't really care; the dog is left to wonder why that's so, and starts to bark unnecessarily at the visitor.
One probably universal reason that dogs bark too much is that they have too much energy. This can be remedied by giving your dog a small time of undivided attention every day. You can do this for play or for taking long walks. Either way, the aim here is for your pooch to get some exercise. When the dog has had too much fun for one day, he'll just plop on the floor and rest. The barking may continue, but without the usual energy the animal has, it will at least be kept to a minimum.
Another way to keep a dog from barking is to not encourage it; and most people unwittingly do. When a dog continuously barks at nothing and its owners yell at it, the animal may take it as you joining in the fun and will bark even louder. You either establish yourself as the pack leader, or ignore or not show any reaction to it, but you can distract the barking with a noise from somewhere. Bang the table or clap your hands loudly without looking at the pooch. The distraction may interest the animal and it'll ignore whatever it was barking at.
As a last resort, you can go for dog barking collars. There are different types of these, but all serve the same purpose of distracting the dog when starting to bark. Keep in mind that using these collars excessively can be bad for your pooch, so take them off from time to time.
Related Links:
What 'Difficult' Dogs Can Teach Us (huffingtonpost.com)
Tips for training a well-mannered dog (money.cnn.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment