If I had a penny for every time someone told us "my dog won't stop barking" and asked what they could do about it, I would have a lot of pennies! Barking comes in many forms. Think about all the reasons our canine companions bark. They can bark for our attention, to alert us, due to fear, and many dogs are territorial and bark when someone passes by their home. Other dogs are bored and bark at any noise they may hear. Some dogs are just more vocal than others and like to talk; just like some humans. Sometimes we even inadvertently teach our dogs to bark. When trying to eliminate barking, we always try to look at the likely cause of the barking. When we know why a dog is barking, we can change the conditions and the environment to eliminate or decrease unwanted vocalizations. This can be done through management, changing the direct conditions so the barking decreases. An example of this might be putting frosting or a barrier on part of your window so your dog can not see the dogs or people outside. Another solution is to teach your dog not to bark via behavior modification or training techniques. We can teach your dog that it is much more rewarding not to bark. Knowing the context and even videoing the behavior helps us help you and your canine companions.
