You’re sitting on your living room couch, watching a movie, and your dog is curled up beside you. The movie’s storyline is at a crucial point and you’re hanging onto every word the characters are saying… and then your dog goes crazy! Barking and jumping up from what you thought was a dead sleep. You’re immediately pissed – you missed whatever was said and now you’re searching for the remote to rewind. All the while, you’re yelling at your dog to shut up.
Has this ever happened to you? Or something similar? This is a perfect example of humans expecting dogs to abide by our social concepts.
We live in a society where dogs are seen as a part of the family. We far too often humanize them by seeing them and their actions through our own human perceptions. It’s easily forgotten that our loveable, furry little family members are not in fact human when we talk to them, eat with them, snuggle and sleep with them.
It’s understandable but it can also be detrimental to our beloved pups. Seeing them as furry people leads us to hold them to standards that are simply impossible for them.
Case in point, not barking during a movie!
As humans we understand not to talk at certain times but to a dog, nothing is more important than alerting his or her pack to what they just heard. We have the ability to understand the noise (if we even heard it) was just a car door slamming or a bird playing in the yard… dog’s do not have this ability. They hear an unfamiliar or sudden noise, and their instincts tell them to alert first then inspect.
This is a prime example of when it is okay for a dog to bark but far too often, I see owners getting upset over it. Yes, it can become annoying if your dog barks at every leaf that falls or every car that drives down the road, but the good news is that you have the ability to train your dog to ignore certain sounds.
Hedwig, for example, has been trained to ignore sounds that are non-threatening. She ignores the mailman when he comes up to our door and she doesn’t react to dogs walking past the house (except for Coco – she’s just plain jealous of the dog down the street whom her Poppop dares to pet!)
It is important, however, not to train your dog to ignore everything they hear. In my opinion, do so would be dangerous. Dogs can hear things four times as far away and at almost twice the frequency as we can. They can be a wonderful alarm system! Personally, I sleep much easier at night knowing I have a 70lb alarm right next to me!
And part of this security system is letting Hedwig bark!
It’s a natural thing for dogs to do and, frankly, it’s just wrong to constantly berate a dog for using its voice. I know it can be frustrating at times. As Hedwig gets older, I have noticed she is definitely getting startled more easily and therefore barking more. I do my best to remain calm because behind her bark isn’t a dog that’s trying to annoy me; it’s a dog that is alert, confused, and possibly frightened. When she does bark at nothing, I walk her to the front door and let her look out – once she sees that nothing is there, she stops.
I also encourage her barking when it is appropriate. Like I said, it’s natural for dogs to bark and so I want to make sure that Hedwig knows when it is acceptable. She barks when someone knocks at the door. She barks to come in from the back yard. She barks when playing with her new friends. This last one, I know, some people will disagree with, but this is how I see it: humans make noise when they are interacting with others humans, right? We talk and laugh and shout… so why can’t dogs do that with each other?
Recently, one of our neighbors moved away (Sandy – we miss you!) and so Hedwig lost two of her playmates. She loved running along the fence with them every day. With them gone, I definitely saw Hedwig become sad and she didn’t quite understand why the yard next to ours was suddenly empty. Then, a week ago, a new family moved in and brought with them four dogs. Hedwig has been so excited to have friends again! Just like before, she runs the length of the fence with the dogs but this time she barks the whole time.
AND THAT’S OKAY!
These dogs are new to her and she is learning all about them. They, too, are learning and so they are barking right back at her. They are talking to each other, playing, and if they want to bark while doing so, that’s just fine! I am mindful, of course, about the neighbors and so after fifteen or so minutes, if Hedwig hasn’t come inside on her own yet, I bring her in so the barking stops but I never reprimand her for using her voice in this way. She needs to know that playing is a time when she can be free to talk.
If you have a dog that barks constantly or barks at absolutely nothing, it’s important that you address the behavior without over correcting it. You are the alpha, and your dog will look to you to learn the dos and don’ts of the pact. Teach them when they should be silent. But, more importantly, teach them when they can bark!
Encourage it, even, because it’s OKAY for dogs to bark (sometimes!) 😊
-Kelly