Curb Irritating Dog Barking Behavior
Barking is as normal to dogs as talking is to humans. Trying to stop dog barking altogether would be like trying to stop someone to talk forever! Besides it being impossible, it’s just plain wrong. The thing is, excessive barking (just like excessive talking) is a major nuisance—not just to you but to your family, your hot neighbor, the children at play, the mailman, and every one else who can hear it.
Though barking is not to be eliminated—after all, it’s handy when your dog uses it for proper reasons like warning you, warding off trespassers, or telling you something of importance—it must be controlled. If you want to maintain peace in the neighborhood and between your neighbors, controlling your dog’s barking habits is important.
Many people and dog owners don’t know much about trying to stop dogs from barking .
These days, busy dog owners tend to run to these things called anti-barking collars. They seem to be the most convenient solution. What’s so appealing about collars is that they can help the owner supervise incessant barking while the owner isn’t around. As of late, there are generally three different kinds of anti-barking collars available in the market.
There is the sonar collar. This sonar collar is a discreet little thing. When the dog barks, it gives off a sound with a frequency that humans can’t hear but dogs find irritating. The idea is that they will associate the irritable sound as punishment to their incessant barking.
The second one is the citronella collar. The citronella collar sprays a scent that’s pungent for dogs. When the dog barks, they spray so that, like the sonar collar, the dog would find the scent as a punishment for their incessant barking. Although the device sounds promising, anecdotal reports state that a lot of dogs have already found a way to get around this collar.
One anecdotal report states that their dog would just keep on barking until the collar runs out of citronella. Then he wouldn’t have to bother about the smell anymore so he’d just keep on barking the whole day. Other dogs find other ways, like making a face (that probably gets them to hold their breath somehow) when the collar sprays and then barking again.
The last one is called the shock collar. This collar gets a lot of people iffy. Whenever the dog barks, it shocks the dog with electricity. The strength level of the electric current can even be changed from 1 to 6; 6 being the highest and the one that stings the most.
A lot of people say this is inhuman and are against it. Come to think of it no decent person would want to do that to their own child (or anyone they want to discipline for that matter) so doing it to their own pet sounds insane, illogical and altogether cruel as well. A lot of people reasonably avoid the sonar collar.
Though collars seem very convenient, they’re merely supplements to help you control your dog’s barking habit.
The best thing to do is to find out first why exactly your dog has that kind of habit. Take your dog to a veterinarian behaviorist. Their role is to generally observe a dog’s environment and circumstances to figure out what exactly triggers their socially unacceptable behavior. Then they find solutions to eliminate the behavior with proper training methods based on their findings.
Some reasons as to why a dog would bark are things like boredom (they might have too much time in their paws with nothing to spend it with) or frustration (are they being bullied by dogs or other people?) to name two.
If you can’t pinpoint what exactly triggers their undesirable behavior, call a vet behaviorist near you to help you find out what’s bothering your dog. He or she can also give you a solution. In extreme cases, they might suggest an anti-barking collar but that should be used side by side with proper training techniques.
If your is always left at home with nothing to do, it would have so much pent-up energy, that it’d really end up barking just to release some energy. If you think your dog might just be bored, then it’s time to spend time with him playing—take him for walks, play catch with him, and let him socialize with other dogs. If you don’t have time, then hire a dog walker or take it to a doggie day care. Especially when you’re alone in the house, when you’re out, like humans, your dog feels lonely and bored and he will do anything to use all his energy.
You can also implement the “QUIET” command whenever he barks out of control. If you’ve already established yourself as the alpha of your “pack”, then it won’t take much trouble to teach this. If the barking is too much of a nuisance already, then a collar might work as a temporary solution BUT always follow it up with behavior training.
It is highly suggested that you stick to the sonar collar as it is perhaps the most humane choice of the three and also the most fool-proof one as much as anti-bark collars can get. Never forget to tackle the problem with hands-on solutions and obedience training as well. Training your dog to respond to obedience signals is still the best and lasting way to tone down incessant barking but still maintain his freedom to do what he naturally does.











Posted January 4, 2009