Last night my neighbor’s dogs kept me awake with their constant barking. Because last night had a full moon, the coyotes were out and disturbing the neighborhood dogs with their yapping and howling. My own dogs barked when the coyotes first started in, but stayed quiet the rest of the night after I quieted them with a command. Apparently the neighbor’s sleep like the dead, because they never quiet their dogs at night.

While I lay there thinking about dogs and their barking, it was obvious that barking, even for a good reason (a warning, in this case) is bad when excessive.I felt like the owners were at least as much at fault as their dogs-if not more-for not correcting the problem.

So, even though there are some good reasons for dogs to bark, it is up to  us as their owners to make sure we control the barking so it does not become a problem behavior. There are some very good reasons my dogs will bark, and I would not want to change that.

For example, here are some natural and acceptable reasons that will cause your dog will bark. You can see the difference between these “good barking” reasons and  the  “problem barking” reasons, and know whether your dog’s barking is a problem or not.

• When something is approaching you, perhaps another dog or a stranger, your dog will bark to warn you. When your dog does this type of barking, it is to warn his master, and this is a good thing you won’t want to stop. However, you should be able to get your dog to stop his barking as soon as you command him to. For example, when someone parks in front of your house, and your dog warns you about it, you should be able to quiet him once you see the visitor is not a threat. Of course if the visitor is someone you really don’t want visiting (your mother-in-law or something) you may decide to let your dog’s barking continue a while-(just kidding). The key is to be able to control the dog barking. Although these reasons for dog barking are OK, other reasons indicate dog barking problems needing to be controlled.

• A dog will bark when he is very happy and excited about something that is going on. When I play with my dogs, they bark at me and at each other-but all in fun. This is the doggy’s way of saying he is having a lot of fun, and wants even more. I only quiet my dogs if one of them gets to barking excessively from over-excitement, or wanting more attention.  Some playful barking is jut fine, but when one of them gets too into the barking, that has to be stopped. Because your dog may develop a barking habit from too much excitement if you don’t limit it while playing, you need to pay attention to that.
• Your dog may start barking when you first come home. Greeting barks are very common and as long as the barking is only a few brief “hello” barks, it is not a big problem. A couple of greeting barks is how your dog is saying “welcome home” and I like to be greeted by my dogs. The problem is when your dog gets over-excited and barks incessantly for an extended period. If the dogs don’t stop barking very shortly after your arrival, the barking has become a problem, and needs correction.

• Your dog uses its bark sometimes to say it wants to play.  If they continue barking at you to play, they are actually bullying you in a way. I know because I used to be a sucker for this with my Lab, and she had me well trained to play ball with her whenever she wanted. Actually, you should be the one to initiate the play or at least decide when to play. If you let the dog think it is the boss instead of you, you will make all other training more difficult. You have to be the Alpha dog in the relationship between you and your dog, so don’t let your dog’s invitation to play become a bullying act.

As far as I am concerned the above list of good reasons for barking are acceptable as long as the barking is limited and under control. But, except for these few, the majority of other reasons dogs bark too much should be corrected.

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