Communicating with your dog

For most people, our homes are close to our neighbors, often closer than we would like.  Our homes are our sanctuaries and we want to keep the peace and limit conflict in and around our personal space.  One area of concern is noise, and most will try to reduce loud sounds to avoid disturbing the neighbors closest to us.  And one cause of loud, repetitive noise, can be our dogs.  We try to prevent nuisance barking, and some go to extreme lengths to keep our best friends from annoying the neighbors.  But the first step in quieting your canine is often overlooked.  Instead of focusing on silencing your dog, try to determine what your dog is trying to verbally communicate to you.

It’s hard not to feel embarrassed, or responsible, when your dog is loudly barking. But we often forget that a dog’s barking can indicate something is wrong, either with the dog or in it’s environment.  Barking is usually the most effective way they can communicate.  Dogs bark when they are bored.  Dogs bark when they are lonely.  Dogs bark when they see  a stranger or another animal in or around the property.  Some dogs bark when there is a change in their environment, or when they detect danger, like smoke.  Many forget the fact that we have bred our dogs to bark for hundreds of years. It was their job to alert us when they’ve found a missing person, when there’s an intruder or when our livestock are under threat by a human or another animal.

We do not expect horses, cows, goats, birds or even cats to be silent.  For every other animal, vocalizations are expected and accepted.  But dogs are expected to be silent, perhaps it’s because they are one of the loudest animals, and their voices carry further away. But wanting them to be silent makes little sense, when they are the one animal we’ve always asked to speak up and communicate with us.  Of course, explaining this to an irate neighbor at 6 AM can be rather difficult. 

The face of innocence 

One of my youngest collies, Addison, has annoyed our own neighbors a time or two.  I always try to end the barking before it can become a nuisance level disturbance.  But watching her bark, understanding why she is barking, I do occasionally wish I could just let her continue.  Because I’ve seen her bark for just the sheer joy of being alive.  She runs outside with her tail wagging, just happy to greet the day and feel the sunshine on her fur.  I’ve also seen her run outside, barking like crazy, because a foolish squirrel has dared to enter her yard.  The problem with this, she sets the other collies off, and they join in the barkfest.  So for us, the key has been to limit the time she spends barking, and to halt it before she gets everyone barking.

Here are some great tips for reducing a dog’s barking, and these may work for you too.   But I hope all dog owners will first focus on reducing, not eliminating the barking completely.  We don’t want to halt our best friends from communicating with us altogether!

1) teach your dog the “quiet” command.  If they know when you want them to be quiet, it can help to limit the barking.  When they begin barking, respond in a happy voice, telling them “quiet” and reward them with lavish praise or treats when they stop barking and look at you.  This won’t happen overnight, it will take consistent training, but if you are patient, it may work.

2) distract your dog.  When they begin barking, quickly ask them to do something else.  This won’t always work, especially if they are very excited about the reason they began barking in the first place. A squirrel obsessed dog isn’t likely to be easily distracted when they spot a squirrel in the yard.  You need to distract them with something even more high value, like treats or their favorite toy.

3) don’t yell at them for barking.  For some dogs the reaction of your yelling, actually encourages their barking.  They think you are also concerned about that person, noise or animal.

4) for dogs barking out of boredom, trying getting them some interactive toys.  Snuffle mats are great at entertaining a bored dog, so are stuffed Kongs and dog puzzle games.  You can also exercise them, as a tired dog is less likely to bark out of boredom.

5) manage their environment. If they enjoy barking at squirrels or people walking by the house, limit their access to the windows where they will see the things they like to bark at the most.  Close the curtains on the windows, or close off those rooms.  You can also leave a radio or television on, to comfort them when they are alone.  

6) if your dog barks to go outside, teach them to ring a bell instead.  We have bells hanging on the door, and the collies quickly learned to ring the bells if they needed to go outside.  Of course our super smart collie, Sophie, learned to ring the bells whenever she wants to patrol the yard, go for a walk, or just sit outside in the sunshine.  So be prepared for a dog who rings the bell frequently, as well. 

Here are some bells available from Chewy.com

Just remember that you won’t correct the unwanted behavior right away, it will take time and patience and consistency on your end.  And don’t forget to look for other reasons they may be barking, it could be their way of communicating danger, that they are in pain, or even that their needs are not being met.