Dogs cannot communicate directly with their owners. As a result, they have no choice but to bark each time they want something, or simply to get their owner’s attention. However, some dogs don’t always bark to convey their emotions. Instead, they may use other means to indicate to you that they want something. For example, they may paw at you, jump on you, etc.
As a dog owner, if your pet barks incessantly without stopping, you may just have to stop and focus on the tone and context of when your pet barks.
Here are 5 common reasons why your dog won’t stop barking.
This is referred to as ‘demand barking’ and usually happens when your dog wants something from you. Your pet may, for example, want you to take them for a walk, or they may wish to tell you that they’re hungry. Sometimes, your pup may even bark when it wants attention.
There are many ways you can recognize barking as ‘demand barking.’ Typically, demand barking is shorter than other types of barking. It comprises of only one bark, or just a few barks, one after the other. There are a whole lot of pauses between each bark, and your pet will probably indicate what he wants by looking at you and then looking at whatever it is that he wants.
For example, if your dog is hungry, he may first look towards you (while barking), and then towards his empty food bowl, and then back towards you. This should make it clear to you what your pup wants.
Whether or not you respond to your pup’s demand barking is entirely up to you. Some dog owners simply walk away when their dog demand barks because they don’t want to give in and spoil their pets, while others give in instantly to prevent the dog from barking for too long.
As a dog owner, you might have noticed that each time the doorbell rings, your dog starts to bark like crazy. This is an indication that your dog is alarmed.
‘Alarm barking’ typically occurs when something in the environment catches your pup’s attention. If you ever notice that your dog is barking incessantly in a state of alarm, the one thing you shouldn’t do is to scream at the dog because this is only likely to make it all the more scared, which will result in more barking.
What you should instead do is try to distract your pup, and divert his attention from whatever it is that has scared him. For example, you could perhaps give him his favorite chew toy to play with. This is likely to distract him enough to stop the barking – at least in the short term.
Yet another thing you can do each time your pup gets frightened by the doorbell is to train him to go sit in a place away from the main door whenever someone rings the doorbell. This may take some time, but eventually, your dog will stop being scared each time the doorbell rings.
People often confuse alarm barking for anxious barking. However, the context for both of these is extremely different.
The most common reason why your dog might ‘anxious bark’ is when you’re leaving the house for the day and your pup is afraid of being left alone. Another common occasion is when you take your pup for a walk and he sees another dog approaching.
Dog owners often confuse anxious barking for aggression. The truth is that even if the barking sounds aggressive, it is, in fact, triggered by a fear response.
Sometimes, when you take your pup for a walk, he may just start barking excitedly after looking at other dogs around him. Dogs tend to excited bark each time they are having fun. For example, while playing, while running after a smaller animal, etc.
As a dog owner, it is sometimes difficult to understand whether your dog is scared, excited, or anxious. Paying very close attention to the sound of the barks as well as putting the situation into context can help you understand why your dog is barking.
If you have been a dog owner for long enough, it shouldn’t be all that difficult for you to gauge the situation.
If your dog is moving away from something while barking, it is clear that he is afraid or anxious. However, if he is jumping on you, he’s probably excited and very happy to see you.
Typically, context is very important if you actually want to understand why your dog is barking. Sometimes, though, even with context, understanding why your dog is barking so much might be difficult.
The truth is, sometimes your dog may bark for no actual reason, except that he wants your attention. Your pup may simply be frustrated or bored and might want you to know this. If you’re in a situation where you can’t understand why your dog is barking, it’s safe to assume that your dog simply wants your attention.
If you are a relatively new dog owner, it might take you some time before you can get used to your dog barking, and it will certainly take you some time before you can begin to understand why your dog is barking.
These 5 common reasons why your dog won’t stop barking can offer a decent starting point for you as a dog owner. From these, you can possibly decipher what your dog could possibly want when it barks.
by Bobby J Davidson || You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it™ .
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