Causes of Dog Barking
Barking is typically caused by one or more of the following triggers:
- Fear-based aggression
- Boredom
- Demand behaviors (pet me, feed me, throw the ball, etc.)
- Separation anxiety
- Alert (someone is at the door)
There are some consistencies in treatment for all triggers, but it is important to understand the nuances and strategies for each type. It can be very counter-productive to treat fear barking the same way as demand barking, for instance. I can help identify and treat the various types of barking that your dog might exhibit.
I also suggest proactively working on desensitizing your dog to known triggers that often cause barking problems. These include alert barking at the doorbell, proper socialization to avoid fear barking at kids, other dogs and the mail carrier, proper mental stimulation to prevent boredom, and crate training to avoid barking in the crate.
I can also show you how to teach a "quiet" cue for demand and alert barking.
If you think your dog has separation anxiety, you should read my separation anxiety page for private sessions or purchase my Kindle Stop Barking and Separation Anxiety EBook.
If you think your dog is barking out of fear or aggression, you can learn more about my strategies on my dog aggression page
