Pet Care Club

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You Bark Too Much – Controlling Barking Dogs

We all know at least one person who talks incessantly, hardly stopping to take a breath.  With humans, it is a simple manner of discussing your annoyance with the individual.  What happens when you have a dog that “talks’ incessantly?  You can’t exactly reason with a dog like this.  Controlling barking dogs is a bit more complicated than controlling the local chatterbox.

The first step in controlling barking dogs is to figure out why a particular dog is barking so much.  Like people, dogs vocalize their needs and wants.  It is important to understand the reason behind the barking before you can stop the barking itself.  Barking is natural for dogs.  It is the way they communicate.  Excessive barking normally occurs because a dog is bored, scared, lonely or being protective.  Knowing which of these is behind the excessive barking will help in your quest.

If the reason behind the excessive barking can be remedied by providing what the dogs are missing, controlling barking dogs becomes a simple matter of providing more exercise and stimulation, finding a way to provide comfort and company for the dog or eliminating situations that increase the animal’s feeling of needing to protect.  Unfortunately, changing the situation is not always an option.

Methods developed for controlling barking dogs range from simple to complicated.  It is essential to remember choosing a method that your aim is not to hurt the dog, as this can simply turn the dog aggressive as well as noisy.  Methods used for controlling barking dogs should be designed to quickly intervene when the barking starts. If a dog immediately feels uncomfortable when he barks, he will soon associate the unpleasantness with the barking and avoid it when possible.

One extremely effective method of controlling barking dogs is with the use of anti-barking collars
These collars work in one of two ways—by emitting a harmless citronella spray or by providing a mild electric shock when barking occurs. Both work on the principle of providing an immediate unpleasant consequence for barking. The citronella spray collars are noise activated and will squirt the dog’s face every time barking occurs.  The spray on these is usually static in intensity.  The electric shock collars are normally adjustable.  These collars are also activated by sound and will produce a very mild shock to the dog when activated.  Being able to control the amount of shock makes it possible to adjust for the dog’s personality.

Asking a dog to never bark is like asking a person to never speak; both are the individual’s means of communication.  Eliminating excessive or unnecessary barking is the goal to reach for in controlling barking dogs.  With this foremost in mind, set about your mission and enjoy the added quiet.

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