Why Does my Dog Bark so Much: What you Need to Know

Dogs will inveterately bark – it’s their communication to us and other dogs. Their closest ancestors, wolves, rarely bark, but our beloved pets have evolved their barking to raise concerns or their emotions. For example, if your pooch barks at the back door, it’s often when they need to go to the toilet - saving you from having to clean up after them, but that’s not the only reason. There are many of other reasons your beloved pet might bark:

Dogs who suffer from separation-related behaviours can bark as a means of communicating their distress. If you approach a new dog, they might bark at you to ask you for more space because they’re anxious. They’ll bark at other dogs and people when they’re at home to tell them it’s their safe space and to deter them from encroaching on it. Your pooch might bark on lead when they see another dog but can’t get close enough to say hello so they become frustrated.

Barking becomes excessive or inappropriate when your dog is no longer using it to communicate in situations where it is socially acceptable. If your dog is constantly barking, then it’s not a one solution fixes all kind of problem. First, you need to determine why they’re barking. If you can figure out what situation they bark in, then the problem becomes much more isolated, and you can treat the cause of it rather than just the problem behaviour itself. Some training may stop them from barking temporarily but if you don’t get to the source of the issue, it’s likely to crop back up.

If they’re anxious they may need comforting and their confidence building through positive reward-based training with treats. If it’s purely attention-seeking behaviour when your focus isn’t on them, then teaching them more appropriate ways to ask for your attention will help. It’s all about fixing the problem at the root rather than just the symptoms of it which is the barking.

Establishing a good, predictable routine when they’re continuously barking to show they are hungry or bored can help to communicate with your four-legged friend, so they understand when mealtimes and walkies are. If they’re still barking when you have a routine, they may need more mental and physical stimulation so longer walks, training sessions, play and brain games can all help to meet their needs.

They should have plenty of doggy toys at their disposal to play with alone or with you. If they need something more challenging you can feed them their meals through interactive puzzle toys like the Kong Wobbler Dog Toy to keep them busy and tire them out mentally to stop any attention-seeking barking.

Barking at dogs, people and even cars through the window will usually derive from anxious or territorial behaviour. Both of these emotions come from wanting to create space between their safe place, which is your house and strangers passing the window. To change this behaviour you can choose training, management or a little of both.

To manage the situations, preventing your pooch from having visible access to the windows is key. This can either be through restricting their access to the room with that window in, unless you can supervise them. Or you may even block their view with a blocker such as frosted window film that obscures their view but still let’s light through.

It isn’t ideal to have your windows covered or your pup banned from a room permanently. Training should desensitise them to movement outside the window and change the emotion they feel about it. When you can supervise them, sit in the same room, and reward them to distract them every time there is movement outside. They will start to pair the passer-by with a dog biscuit which serves to change their emotion around the whole thing (stranger + treat = good).

Once you can trust them not to bark, you can give them time alone with access to the window and a long-lasting chew like a T. Forrest Dried Pig's Ear, Dog Treat, so they can practice seeing things pass by the window and not reacting to them.

Late-night barking can be for a few different reasons. When everyone is in bed and the house is dark, every little creak and noise outside can sound a lot louder by comparison. It can be scary for our beloved companions, so making sure they are able to sleep somewhere they feel safe is important. You can give them comforting extra blankets to snuggle up in or there are toys specifically designed to help settle your pups. 

The Pet Brands Lavender Anxiety Snowy Owl Dog Toy is lavender scented to help reduce anxiety and comfort them so they can sleep without disturbance. If you live in an area where theres a frequent level of night-time noise, playing music quietly through the night can also distract from any other noises.

Your pooch may be barking in the night because they need the toilet, make sure to take them out as late as possible before bed to help them hold it until morning. If they struggle to sleep in a different room and suffer from separation anxiety, then allowing them to sleep where they can see and smell you can stop them from barking because they don’t like to be without you.

While it might seem like some dogs never get tired of hearing their own bark, they can actually become tired of the behaviour, they can even lose their voices too! If your pooch is prone to inappropriate barking, keep an eye on it and take note of what they might start to trail off, it could actually help you solve the issue. Sometimes ignoring the behaviour can be the best way to tackle it, especially if they are doing it just to get your attention. While you can make sure they have lots of things to do, some dogs just get into the habit of barking, and it becomes a learnt behaviour.

If they don’t get what they’re aiming for out of it, they can grow tired of it. If you’re busy working and your pup is barking for your attention, after a few minutes of it not working they might become drained and wander off. Sometimes this is all you need to solve the issue but make sure to give them lots of attention at other times, just on your terms so they learn that demanding doesn’t work.

For everything you need to keep your beloved dog physically and mentally stimulated to prevent excess barking, take a look in-store and online for all your doggy essentials.