Ask Sophie

My Dog won't stop barking!

Sophie: My dog barks constantly!! I love my dog, but my neighbors are starting to complain. I don’t know what to do.  I’m afraid that if I can’t keep her quiet, I will have to get rid of her.  Do you have any advice?  Clara. Eagle, ID

Clara, this is a common problem.  In fact I have received a few different emails from people who have dogs that bark too much.  I will give you a couple suggestions, however, for dogs who bark a lot, sometimes a behavior specialist is the only solution.  First, if your dog doesn’t get much exercise – immediately, if not sooner, take your dog on some walks.  Sometimes dogs just have too much energy and need to release it somehow.  Secondly, if your dog barks at people or noises, try to slowly introduce some of these noises into your house. Make sure that you use the sounds that set your dog off and gradually increase the level of these noises as your dog reacts better to them.  Don’t forget to reward and praise him when he doesn’t respond.   And finally, you can always try bark alarms that you can set to go off when your dog is barking. These don’t hurt your dog but let off an unpleasant noise when your dog barks a certain number of times (set by you).  If these solutions don’t work for you, I would suggest contacting a professional and having them work with you and your dog.  This can be a long process, but will be worth it in the long run.

 

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