Your Canine's
Sense of Smell

A much larger part of a dog’s brain is devoted to processing smells than yours. Some search dogs locate people buried under the snow of avalanches, search for evidence in crime, and find people in the water. Cloudy days, mornings, and evenings are the best times for dogs to search. And depending on the conditions, dogs can pick up a scent up to a half a mile away!

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Training & Obedience

Stop Dog Barking

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Learn about Dog’s Territorial Barking

Dogs often bark to protect their territory from intruders and other animals. That’s not a bad thing, really: a barking dog has been known to swiftly deter potential housebreakers and mischief-makers. It’s when the dog keeps barking after the threat is gone (or when the threat isn’t real), that we have a problem with it. Some territorial barking may be taken care of by changing physical cues that set your dog off. If your dog barks at the kids on their way to school every morning, moving him to the back

yard may be all that’s necessary to solve the problem. If your dog barks like a maniac when the mail arrives, shutting him in the kitchen beforehand might do the trick. If you suspect your dog is a territorial barker, pay attention to the things that set him or her off and think about creative ways to avoid the cues in the first place.

(Sometimes even removing the dog from the cue won’t help because the dog encounters new cues in the new location. A friend of mine brought a high-spirited if dopey adolescent Great Dane to his downtown home because the animal, who had been living on a farm, had killed a deer. His people rationalized that Scooby wouldn’t be able to find a deer in the middle of Champaign, Illinois, and found him a new home as a town dog. The location changed, but the behavior didn’t, much. Scooby just transferred his love for chasing (and biting) to UPS men. Maybe it was the brown uniforms.)

Some territorial barkers are operating out of a sense of anxiety at having their territory invaded or threatened by others. If you have tried and failed with other ways of stopping your territorial dog from barking too much, and if the problem is serious and threatening to your dog’s safety in the community, you may consider using drugs. Dr. Mike Richards (DVM) at www.vetinfo.com recommends some anti-anxiolytics used also with anxious people – Elavil, Prozac and Clomicalm. Highly anxious dogs may feel calmer, and bark less, on medication. (Obviously, you should only use medication if your dog has a real problem that professional training hasn’t solved. Medications have side effects, are costly, and have to be administered on a regular basis. For the same amount of time and effort and much less money, make a solid effort at training or having your dog professionally trained before giving up and resorting to medications.)

Article Summary

Territorial barking may stem from anxiety or instinct to protect the dog’s space and family.
Sometimes you can move the dog to change (or remove) the trigger.
You can teach a territorial dog not to bark!
Some dogs are too anxious; only after training fails, consider medication.

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