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! It’s impossible and it’s not exactly a nice thing to do. But we have to admit, excessive barking (much 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.

Even if barking is not to be stopped—after all, it’s very useful when your dog uses it for the right reasons like warning you, warding off trespassers, or telling you something of importance—it must be controlled. If you want to keep 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 curbing incessant dog barking behavior.

A lot of dog owners would basically just run to an anti-barking collar. Why? They’re very convenient and they don’t require much time from the owner. What’s so appealing about collars is that they can help the owner supervise incessant barking while the owner isn’t around. Today, there are basically three different kinds of anti-barking collars available in the market.

There is the sonar collar. Sonar collars are discreet things. Whenever the dog barks, it releases a sound with a certain frequency inaudible to humans but irritable to dogs. The idea is that they will associate the irritable sound as punishment to their incessant barking.

Another one is called the citronella collar. Citronella collars spray a pungent scent. When the dog barks, they spray so that, similar to the sonar collar, the dog would find the scent as a punishment for their incessant barking. Many say that dogs have already found a trick to outwit this collar, though.

One anecdotal report states that their dog would just keep on barking until the collar runs out of citronella. Afterwards, he will go on barking the whole day without having to deal with the citronella smell. 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 variety is called the shock collar. Now, this collar is the most controversial of the three. It stops dog barking with electric shock. 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.

People contast that shock collars are inhuman. After all, no sane person would do that to another person so why even think of doing it to their own pet? As much as possible, this kind of collar is avoided—and for good reason.

Though collars seem very convenient, they’re merely supplements to help you control your dog’s barking habit.

Before running to anti-barking collars, find a solution first—find out why your dog barks that way in the first place. Take your dog to a veterinarian behaviorist. A veterian behaviorist basically observes a dog’s environment and circumstances to figure out what exactly triggers their socially unacceptable behavior. And then they use their findings to give training solutions to curb the annoying behavior.

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. A vet behaviorist will also teach you what to do. They might recommend you to get an anti-barking collar but only to support training.

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’re always out, put them in the care of someone else while you’re out—like a relative or a friend or a dog walker or a doggie daycare. 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 much of a nuisance and is already getting in the way of your chances with the neighborhood hottie, then using an anti-bark collar might be acceptable, but only temporarily or only as a training supplement.

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 eliminate dog barking behavior but still maintain his freedom to do what he naturally does.