Barking dogs

Dogs bark; we all know that, but what can be done to lessen the barking of the ones who just love to hear themselves? As I sit here in my room; crazy barking is the norm in the morning in my neighborhood. I wonder if the guardians of the crazed barking dogs are just ignoring them or if they have infact gone off to work leaving their dogs in the yard.

That my friends is the first big no no. Leave a dog unattended to entertain themselves all day where they do not receive any feedback and you will more than likely have a problem. Barking can quickly become a habit; especially with dogs who are bored, have excess energy and too much time on their hands.

I do know that some of the worst barking culprits in my neighborhood are gate chargers and fence fighters. Having a see through gate at the side of your house is torture for a dog; and your neighbors. They see what is going on outside the gate but become frustrated at being behind the gate and the barking starts. They soon learn that if they bark at the people and dogs going by their house it scares them away.

You see in the dogs mind they see the people leaving past your house as they did their job well. This only entices them to bark more and keep up the good job. Some dogs work themselves into a frenzy when people walk by the house and it becomes a habit. They wait; listening ever so intently for the first sound of someone coming and it starts.

Not only is frenzy barking annoying; it can be very dangerous. If you have more than one dog; they can start to display redirected aggression. This is especially common with dogs behind a fence, window or screen because they are at such a heightened state of excitement. I know of several breeders who left their dogs in the yard when they went out; only to come home to find one dead dog in the middle of the pack. These are redirection cases.

Even my own dogs will display redirected aggression sometimes when barking goes on too long. That is why my dogs have no way to look out the front of the house when we are not at home. They have lots of windows to look out the back where there should not be any strangers wandering around.

There is no reason for a dog to bark non stop. Dogs bark and they should be allowed to bark but barking that goes on and on should be stopped. I have a method that works wonderfully but you have to be around. Like I said a dog left on their own is not going to learn to stop barking. If you would like to see a "how to" for stopping barking; let me know.

Just dogs with Sherri