Understanding Your Dog's Motive to Bark

When humans started domesticating dogs more than 10,000 years ago, we saw the promise of a very loyal and particularly vocal companion. Selective breeding was employed to induce barking in domestic dogs from wild wolves. Wolves don't bark, so in terms of evolution, you can say that dogs bark because we want them to. Vocal dogs were valued and thus their genes were preferred. Consequently, certain breeds of dogs, such as those traditionally selected as guard dogs, are notoriously heavy barkers. It is important to always consider the breed proactively when adopting a new dog to possibly avoid barking related issues.

When your dog appears to be barking for no reason at all, you can expect that they're barking for a reason, even if they're only barking for you to come home. Incessant barking that begins after you have left for 20 minutes or so and continues relentlessly may well be a symptom of separation anxiety, which is a psychological condition that requires some further attention and training.

The first thing to do is to rule out the obvious. If they begin barking towards the end of the day, it could be that they are hungry. If they bark after being left contained for a few hours, it could be that they need some exercise, or potentially need to relieve themselves. Most experts in dog psychology maintain that dogs are social, pack-oriented animals, and since you (and your family) are now in the dog's pack, you can expect that your dog will be vocal if they are left alone for long periods of time.

After ruling out the obvious, and have given your dog sufficient exercise and attention, you can begin to hone in on training your dog that continues to bark. It is important to identify the cause(s). Barking is caused by either an external or internal stimulus. A dog that barks to get attention stems from an internal distress. If your dog barks at a person walking by, or another dog, or a car, then your dog is trying to alert you.

You can concentrate on training your dog to deal with internal stimulus. You can ignore an attention-seeking bark until your dog calms down, and then reward them for their ability to quiet down. If your dog is barking from external stimulus, you can usually control this by using common sense. One example, is if your dogs barks whenever the doorbell rings, then it is best to disconnect the doorbell, and replace it with a door knocker.

Finally if your dog barks "at you" right after you've given them a command, then your dog is talking back to you. This scenario means that you will need to do some dominance training with your dog.

Sally Canela has been training dogs for more than 15 years, and specializes in training dogs rescued from shelters with behavioral problems.

If you would like to find out more about dog training techniques and how to deal with other problematic behaviors, please check out: Secrets to Dog Training. This comprehensive dog training guide is aimed at fast-tracking your dog's learning.

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