You can’t expect your dog to never bark, its impossible as it is the only type of the vocal communication they have, expecting him to never bark is like expecting a child to never talk. They have a lot say and they usually do it by barking or some other actions. When you cannot understand why he is barking then your dog may show other actions, for example, if he wants to play then, first he will asked you by barking and if you couldn’t understand then he will try to do other things like showing you his ball, which obivously indicates what he wants to do – Play!
But excessive barking might create a problem for you if your neighbour often complaints. To control his excessive barking problem, you have to find out first why he is barking. Here are some cause of barking :-
1. PROTECTIVENESS :- When a person comes to your dog’s area or adjacent yards whom he considers as territory then it triggers the excessive barking. His barking will be louder as the threat comes closer. They are known as the “Watch – man” and it is natural for him to warn you about the threats.
2. BOREDOM :- They are pack animals if they are left alone then they will get bored and feel lonely. And they will bark in order to show they are not happy.
3. FEAR :- They may be frightened due to noises like thunder or people, objects or other animals. Due to fear, they can bark excessively.
4. ATTENTION – SEEKING :- Your dog often barks in order to gain attention from you. He knows either you will scold him for his excessive barking or pet him, and in order to control his barking, you’ll do whatever he wants like playing. In this case you are rewarding him for his excessiva barking which encourages him.
5. GREETING :- This is usually a happy bark. In this case, this is the way of your dog’s greeting some new people or guests or other dog.
6. PHYSICAL NEEDS :- If your dog is cold, hot, hungry or thirsty then he will bark as it is the way of his communication and he will request you to fulfill one of these needs.

HOW TO TREAT EXCESSIVE BARKING?

Here are a list of some solutions which will help in controlling the excessive barking of dogs. However all of them are useful but will take some time as you cannot expects results overnight. The longer your dog has been facing this problem, the longer it will take time to recover.
The two most things you have to do during treating the barking problem – First is have patience, it might take time but once it is done, it will be worth it. And 2nd important thing is not to yell at dogs, do not react to anything. Now I am telling you some solutions which will help in treating your dog’s excessive barking problem :-
1. EXERCISE :- Take him to walk or play. Always remember that, a tired dog is always a quiet dog so if you want to get rid of the barking problem then you should do him plenty of exercises.
2. DON’T GIVE ATTENTION :- As I said earlier, sometimes dogs bark just to gain attention or demands for whatever he wants. In this case, just ignore him untill he stops barking. The more attention you give, the more his barking problem will increase. Don’t even yell at him as it means you are still giving attention to him so gently command to keep calm and when he stops, give rewards as he will think that behaving well will get him rewards and not barking.
3. MEDICAL PROBLEMS :- Sometimes medical problems can also occur. If you don’t know why he is barking the taking him to the veterinarian is the best idea as he can develop some diseases which must checked and the specialists will give the appropriate solution.
4. BOREDOM :- If your dog is barking because of boredom then you must provide him some toys to play when you left him alone otherwise he will get bored and the neighbours will complaint! You can also adopt other companion for him, also it will provide extra safety to your home.
5. FEAR :- This type of fear is caused by fear or threat. You can control this by lessend by limiting whatever your dog sees. Try to keep him in a closed room as in yards, he will definetly see or hear something so its better to keep him closed with toys.
6.TEACH HIM TO BE QUIET ON COMMAND :- You can teach him to be quiet however it may takes some time. Firstly teach him to bark by saying “Speak”, when he do this, reward him, then slowly teach him to be quiet. Believe me it will be very useful. If your dog will bark uncontrollingly then you can command him by saying quiet.

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