Dog Barking for Good Reasons

September 15th, 2009 at 8:52pm

Last night my neighbor’s dogs kept me awake with their constant barking. There was a full moon out, and so were the area’s coyotes-yipping and howling and disturbing all the dogs that live around her. My own dogs barked when the coyotes first started in, but stayed quiet the rest of the night after I quieted them with a command. Unfortunately for me, my neighbors must be the world’s deepest sleepers, because I have never heard them quiet their dogs at night.

As I thought about the all night barking, it was obvious that even though dogs may start their barking for a good reason sometimes, when it is out of control it is a problem just like any other form of barking.Really, the problem lay more with their owner’s lack of respect for everyone else in the neighborhood than with the dogs themselves.

Even though our dogs may have a good reason to start barking, as their owner it is my job to keep it under control. There are some very good reasons my dogs will bark, and I would not want to change that.

Here area some examples of acceptable reasons your dog may start to bark. You can see the difference between these “good barking” reasons and the “problem barking” reasons, and know whether your dog’s barking is a problem or not.

The most obvious good reason your dog will bark is when he wants to warn you that something (maybe another dog or a stranger) is approaching. This type of warning is something you want to have from your dog, and so you will not want to discourage it. Given that, you should still be able to quiet him with a command to stop. One example would be quieting your dog when he barks at someone who has parked in front of your house that you know is not dangerous-he should quiet down as soon as you say so. In case the visitor isn’t someone you want on the property, you have the option of letting your dog’s “good barking” continue to serve as a deterrent. Protection barking is “good barking”-just make sure you can always control and stop the barking quickly with a command. If your dog is barking for a variety of other reasons, those are barking problems needing correction.

Another common reason your dog will bark is because he is happy and excited about something. I personally enjoy playing a lot with my dogs, and their barking at me and at each other while we play is just part of the fun. That is just the dog’s way of saying he is having a great time, and wants more of the same. If one of the dogs starts barking too much from all the excitement I will then tell him to quiet down. A little excited barking is one thing, but constant loud barking is quite another and should be stopped. That’s because one consequence of too much barking when playing is that it can become a habit for your dog, and at that point it is a problem-so try to keep the barking while playing at a reasonable level.
Many dogs will bark upon your arrival home. Greeting barks are very common and as long as the barking is only a few brief “hello” barks, it is not a big problem. My dogs always greet me at the gate when I come home, and I don’t mind a couple barks because that is all there are. The problem is when your dog gets over-excited and barks incessantly for an extended period. That puts this behavior onto the unacceptable list because the dog doesn’t immediately stop barking after saying “Hi”.

When my Lab wants some playtime, she will let me know via a bark or two, as she brings me a ball to throw. If they continue barking at you to play, they are actually bullying you in a way. Since my own Lab did this to me for a long time, I know first hand about being trained by my own dog to do her pleasing. Actually, you should be the one to initiate the play or at least decide when to play. Otherwise you are letting the dog be the boss of you, and that isn’t good for your ability to train him. If your dog is bullying you, don’t let it, because it is important that you are always viewed as the boss in the relationship-not the other way around.

I think you’d agree the above barking behaviors are not troublesome-unless they are out of control. But, except for these few, the majority of other reasons dogs bark too much should be corrected.

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