Barking dogs

Most dogs get noisy when they hear or see something new or unusual. The dog may start barking, whining, growling, or howling. Many situations can trigger barking:

• Strangers or other animals that enter the dog's property.
• Spotting “prey” such as birds or a squirrel.
• Being alone, separated from housemates, separation anxiety.
• Strange noises in or around the house, fireworks.
• Seeking attention, hunger.
• Needing to pee or poop.
• Other feelings of anxiety.
• Health problems.
• Old age (senility).
• Compulsive behavior.

As soon as barking yields a positive result—for example, if someone comes to check on the animal when it’s left alone for a moment—the animal sees its efforts rewarded. As a result, the next time it barks, it will be even more intense and louder! Animals that bark due to health problems, senility, or compulsive behavior can often be effectively treated with medication.

A major way to prevent the development of fears is to get a puppy accustomed to as many people, other animals, unfamiliar sounds, and unfamiliar environments as possible from a young age. It’s a very good idea to take your puppy with you everywhere as much as possible. Don’t be too worried about all kinds of scary diseases—after all, he’s been vaccinated! Furthermore, it’s important for the owner to establish clear dominance and to provide good obedience training. The young dog needs to learn that he can entertain himself from time to time; that way, he won’t get too worked up if he has to be alone once in a while.

To resolve a barking problem, it is necessary to understand the situations and stimuli that lead to the barking. Without sufficient authority and leadership over the dog, you won’t get anywhere. So this must be established first. Only then can you begin to teach a dog to be quiet. Training a dog to stop barking on command can be done using techniques that involve elicitation and reinforcement, distraction techniques, and choke chain or collar training.

Start the training with simple situations (a family member knocking on the door) before moving on to more challenging ones (a stranger entering the room). By teaching the dog to be quiet on command, he can continue to bark in response to certain stimuli but remain silent at your request. The silence is then rewarded. With each subsequent training session, the dog must remain quiet for a little longer before the reward is given. Teaching a dog to remain quiet while the stimulus is present is much more difficult. To be successful, the barking must be interrupted as soon as it starts, and this must be repeated until the dog no longer responds to the stimulus by barking, at which point a reward can follow. Punishment is generally ineffective when it comes to barking problems. Harsh punishment can lead to increased fear, thereby exacerbating the problem, while punishment that is too lenient effectively rewards the behavior by giving the dog attention. For punishment to be effective, the barking must be interrupted as soon as it begins, using a method that actually works. If you’re never around when the barking starts, your only option is to use products that respond to the barking, such as anti-bark collars. However, if the dog hasn’t been trained to remain quiet in response to certain stimuli, the barking will indeed be interrupted, but the habit of barking in response to those stimuli won’t be broken. The best anti-bark collars are those that spray citric acid the moment the dog barks, and those that deliver a mild electric shock. The latter, however, are not without risk and are not permitted in the Netherlands.