“Why is that Doggy Barking in the Window"

I grew up with the song, "How Much is that Doggy in the Window”. Now each day as I walk with my dog around my Gig Harbor neighborhood I think it should be changed to “Why is that Doggy Barking in the Window”. I am sure that if I find the noise annoying outside it must be even more annoying inside. The sound goes on and on until we are way past the yard.

Dogs bark for a very good reason. They feel they have to notify the family of an intruder. They bark because they want someone to take care of the problem. The reactivity is based in fear. When the family members ignore the dog’s barking the poor dog becomes even more concerned and barks more. This is similar to the child saying “Mommy, Mommy” in the grocery or park while Mom continues to look at her smart phone ignoring the child.

The dog learns two things by barking at the window. First it learns that it cannot rely on the other family members to help and secondly it wrongly thinks that its barking was the reason that the other dog, person, UPS man went away. This is also why children learn to yell louder and more persistently to get Mom’s attention.

If you do not want your dog to bark in the house or yard you need to pay attention. When a dog barks thank the dog for alerting you. Tell the dog “Thank You” “That’s Enough” and call it to you. Reward the dog for coming and for being quiet. As you begin to train this new behavior your dog may be too aroused to come when called. If that is the case let the dog wear a light leash in the house and when you call the dog pick up the leash and back away and reward the dog for coming and for being quiet.

One of the homes I pass has two Chihuahuas that run back and forth on the back of the couch positioned by the window. Repositioning the furniture to limit the dog’s access to the window would also aid in retraining the dogs and result in a quieter household.

Quite simply no one likes barking dogs or pleading children. It really doesn’t take much to fix the problem. All you need to do is pay attention.