Dear Julie
My dog CoCo, a five-year-old Maltese shitshu/poodle runs around barking like a crazy dog when she goes in the backyard. It disturbs the whole neighbourhood. I can’t let her out at night at all. What should I do?
Signed,
Disturbing the Peace

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Dear Disturbing the Peace,

You have to listen to what your dog is trying to tell you with her bark. Dogs communicate their feelings through pitches and tones.

The second thing you need to do is determine if the barking is related to a particular stimulant, such as people walking past the yard or sounds in the neighbourhood.

Once you understand how she is feeling and have isolated each stimulant that ‘triggers’ the barking or you are able to determine that the barking is for no apparent reason, you can start addressing the issue.

Here is a quick bark to English translation;
• rapid rhythmic barking in the midrange pitch means, “Every one come here now, there is an intruder!”
• rapid chain of three to four barks means, “Everyone come here, I think we should check this out”
• regular, non-stop barking at a lower pitch means, “Danger! Intruder close!”
• a long series of individual barks with pauses between each means, “Is anybody out there?  I’m lonely!”
• a bark with a rising pitch means, “This is fun, I like this game”
• one to two short sharp barks in the mid to high range means, “Hi there, I see you”

The top three motivators for barking for no apparent reason are: anxiety due to insecurities, looking for attention (even negative attention is attention) and boredom.

Often simple changes in your dog’s routine can make a world of difference. Give your dog multiple energy outlets such as walks and fetch, go outside with your dog and keeping her occupied with play and do not leave your dog outside alone.

If she begins to bark outside, use a verbal command, for example “Quiet,” count to three. If she is still barking say “time out,” put her inside the house (while you stay outside) for three minutes and let her back outside. The moment your dog stops barking mark the positive behaviour with a “yes” and lavish her with praise.

Eventually your dog will learn that being quiet feels better than barking.

Julie Ott, a behaviour consultant and obedience trainer, owns Canine Foundations and writes a column for The Advance twice a month. Please send your questions to her at info@caninefoundations.com or click here.