Doggone Etiquette —

Neighborly Advice

By Bardi McLennan

A Word to the Dog:

When you bark, why you bark, and when you stop barking may have a lot to do with where you live – and whether or not you will continue to live there! If you bark at every little sound you hear, or every little movement you think you see, you’re in for trouble. It’s usually okay if you bark when a strange car (or truck, or person, or animal) is coming up your driveway. It’s also okay to bark if you think the house is on fire. But the most important part of all this barking business is to know that when you are told to stop, you stop immediately – not when you feel like it, but when your VIPerson says so! 

A Word to the Dog’s Owner:

This is the time of year when good neighbors are chain-sawing tree branches, getting out the leaf-blowers and continuing to mow the lawn and work on flower beds. In other words, there’s plenty of noise going on in the neighborhood.

You let the dog out for a few minutes in a safely fenced area and he lets loose with a few short, sharp barks. Why is he barking? Maybe you rush to the door to get him back inside before it gets out of hand. Then you see what set off the alarm is perfectly clear. A deer (more likely several deer), a fox or the neighbor’s cat is in sight, almost within reach. The dog may stand on silent watch for a moment or two, but it’s perfectly natural for any dog to bark at animal intruders. It’s situations like these that put dog owners in a quandary. If the neighbors complain, will they accept your explanation or put their grievance (and forgiveness) on hold until next time?

Barking has always been a major problem when people with dogs live in close proximity to other houses without dogs. It is the primary reason for the “no pets allowed” rule in many apartments and condos. A close secondary reason, of course, is aggression. Dog bites are handled by local laws. Occasional excessive barking is handled by the dog’s owner, but if it becomes a perpetual problem, then that is also in the hands of local law.

The time to prevent non-stop barking is before it ever gets to that stage. Teach Rufus the one-word “No bark” command from the day he walks into your house whether he’s barking at a toy or a person. For incessant barking, you might try dropping a soda can containing a few pebbles on a hard surface to get the dog’s attention, AS you say, “No Bark.” Immediately he stops the noise and comes to you on command, follow up with a positive distraction which can be merely a “good dog” bit of praise, or a treat. Just be sure you don’t bark at the dog!

Territorial barking, even if somewhat excessive, is normal canine behavior. The non-stop variety with no relation to guarding anything is commonly referred to as idiot barking, and often occurs when the dog is left outside, alone. So as a good neighbor, you must be sure Rufus is not just entertaining himself by trying to outdo the leaf-blowers when you are not paying attention.

Training a dog not to bark has its limitations. Nobody wants a dog that never barks, or that won’t bark his head off when someone is breaking into the house, but a dog can be taught the difference by your acceptance of when and where he barks, or your firm rejection of it. For those of you who would like to find amusement in all of this, how about actually teaching Rufus to bark? Use the word “speak” with emphasis on the “speee” part so the dog doesn’t confuse it with any other word. Oh, and one “woof” response from Rufus is sufficient!  

Until next time – BE GOOD!

- Bardi

Bardi McLennan bred, trained and showed Welsh Terriers for 30 years, during which time she wrote a monthly column on canine behavior in Dog Fancy Magazine. In addition to contributing to numerous dog publications, she has written 15 books on dogs, the latest being Rescue Me!, which received the ASPCA Humane Issues Award in 2008.