Read About Excessive Dog Barking

Barking is a dog's primary means of communication. Sometimes, communication goes overboard and imply barking is not a problem, but excessive barking is annoying. There are many reasons why a dog barks too much, Following are three possible causes and solutions.

1. A dog that barks like mad as you're leaving the house is probably suffering from separation anxiety. Try to make your departures as low-key and straightforward as possible. If your dog starts barking as soon as he realizes that he is alone, you can try distracting your pup with a sterilized bone filled with some tasty filling. If he is paying attention to the bone, it will probably distract from your departure.

2. Excitement barking is just what it sounds like: I'm happy, I'm barking! Unfortunately, barking feels so darned cool that sometimes excitement barking becomes annoying barking. A good way to short-circuit this is quietly acknowledging your dog, reassuring him that you know that there's good reason to be excited. When your pup pauses for a moment, praise the silence.

3. Often, dogs learn that barking and whining will get attention. This happens initially when a puppy whines in its crate or when it's alone, and one of their people will give it attention in a perfectly natural urge to comfort the little guy or gal. Unfortunately, that was the first mistake. The puppy has now learned that whining will lead to attention. To a dog, if some whining gets some attention, a lot of noise will get a lot of attention. Again, reward desirable behavior. Wait for the dog to stop making noise -- even for a couple of moments -- and praise the bit of silence. Continue in this fashion, and your puppy will learn that silence is golden -- and possibly worth a tasty treat!