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Barking, excessive
The reason for excessive barking in one word is FEAR, and
it is frightened because it has not been socialized. It is
nervous of every sound it hears and barks in a futile
attempt to send the perceived threat away. Sometimes a dog
which constantly whines, cries, barks, or is destructive,
suffers from skin problems brought about by scratching and
licking themselves because of the stress of being left.
Generally this is not a problem with dogs which have been
socialized through training classes at an early age. The
solution is socialzation through obedience classes and home
management.
Barking when the owner is out
This is a big problem caused by bad owners. The dog is a
pack animal and if, as a member of the family pack, it is
given the freedom of the home by being allowed to rest on
the furniture and sleep in bedrooms, then it will suffer a
form of stress when the pack goes off to work because it
expects to go with the pack. When people leave home they
should not look, touch or talk to the dog for about 10
minutes beforehand. The same applies when coming home:
ignore, no talking, no patting, no looking, nothing. This
way, the dog understands that its barking has not brought
the owner back. If it has been barking while you were away
and is rewarded by your attention when you come back, it
then thinks it was its barking that brought you back to the
house. A dog’s bark is said to be worse than its bite. It
certainly is for the neighbors of a constantly barking dog
left alone for too long, unsocialized and with uncaring
owners. Hopefully no readers would permit their dogs to be
such a community nuisance.
Barking at the postman
The postman or any kind of regular deliveryman is regarded
by your dog as an intruder and so it barks and is
immediately rewarded by the postman going away. It thinks
it has frightened off the intruder and done its duty. Talk
to your postman and try to get him to cooperate. Tell him
you will leave a tit-bit outside the door and ask him to
push it through the letter-box before the letters. The
tit-bit will be a better reward for your dog than chasing
the postman away.
Barking when the telephone rings
If you shout (bark) at your dog when it barks at the
telephone ringing, you are encouraging it to bark more. It
feels there is danger if you react. Get a friend to phone
you at several agreed times. When the phone rings do not
move and do not speak. After your friend has done this a
few times your dog will no longer bark when the telephone
rings.
Barking from balconies
When a dog barks from a balcony at someone passing by, it
is simply asserting its dominance, firstly by looking down
on humans and secondly by successfully telling them to
shove off. As far as the dog is concerned, it is objecting
to someone invading its territory. And even more pleasing,
its barking is rewarded by the passerby walking away.
Answer: ban the dog from the balcony.
Barking deterrent
Abistop is a French invention resulting from chemosensory
research into the dog barking problem. It is attached to
the dog´s collar and automatically emits a small spray of
citronella whenever the dog barks. Brief exposure to
cintronella immediately distracts dogs but does not cause
them distress and even smells pleasant to humans. It is
effective but expensive at £90. A cheaper method might be a
quick squirt of water from a plant spray bottle or putting
a bit of food in front of the dog’s nose. It cannot eat and
bark at the same time.
Commitment, Firmness, but kindness.
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