Barking Up the ‘Right’ Tree...
How to humanely help dogs and guardians reduce barking
By Kim Melanson, Certified Canine Behavior Consultant and Trainer since 2001, Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, Counseling Certificate from the SF-SPCA
Dogs bark for many reasons. Barking is part of their normal behavior to communicate with each other, people, other animals, and the world. We should not expect dogs to not bark at all, and in some instances it is truly nice to have our dogs bark, such as when they need to go out, when someone comes to the door or enters your property. Unfortunately, excess barking can be annoying to guardians, neighbors, and other dogs or animals. In some cases, excess barking can signal something wrong with the dog, where the dog could be stressed, anxious and/or in distress or pain. We can help our dogs and reduce excessive barking and/or stop the barking of the moment. First let’s look at the reasons dogs may bark.
Reasons for Barking
Here are some of the most common reasons dogs will bark:
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Alarm/Alert or Territorial Barking: Dogs bark at perceived threats to an area, themselves, or to their people. They may also bark outside and on walks, as a form of alert barking to sudden sights, sounds and changes in environments.
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Attention Barking: Dogs will bark at their owners or other dogs to play, to get more food, to be petted, and/or to be let outside or inside.
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Isolation: Dogs will bark when left alone. Dogs are naturally social animals, so when they are left alone they bark to bring back the family.
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Social Anxiety or Fear: Some dogs can be fearful or anxious about meeting people or other dogs and will bark at them.
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Excitement or Greeting: Dogs can be happy and excited to go for a walk, to play, or see people or other dogs and want to greet them. Dogs may bark when playing and running, and sometimes bark back at another dog barking.
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Frustration/Reactive Barking: Dogs can feel frustrated by a leash or fence, particularly if they’re prevented from getting to a person or dog, so they bark. Some dogs also bark in this situation in fear to get the person or other dog to move away from them. They can feel ‘stuck’ on a leash or behind a fence, so they may act offensively when they know they can not move away.
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Compulsive Barking: Dogs can become very excessive with their barking anytime they are the least bit anxious or excited, or if there’s an environmental change, and bark for what seems like all day. Some dogs will bark at shadows, reflections and flickering lights in a compulsive way, which can be a serious behavior problem, and it is best to contact your veterinarian, veterinary behaviorist, or a certified behavior consultant to assess your dog and the severity of the behavior.
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Illness, Injury, and Aging: Dogs may bark when feeling ill or if they have an injury. Elderly dogs may also bark in confusion with cognitive decline or if they’ve suffered hearing or sight loss with age.
How to Help
We can help our dogs to stop barking in excess with management, training, and some desensitization & counterconditioning.
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Behavior Help for Cats:
If you have someone who is surrendering a cat due to behavior problems, consider referring them to Dr. Rachel Geller. You can access her MAC Meeting presentation from April 2017 at the button below:
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This information is invaluable and could make a huge difference for families who have been struggling with a difficult cat. Dr. Geller offers her services for free, saying, “It's my personal mission in life that there never be a financial barrier preventing people from keeping their cats in their homes when the issue is a behavior problem.” Her generous offer has saved the lives of so many cats. You can access her website here: https://drrachelcatbehavior.com/
Thank you, Dr. Geller!!!
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Check Out ARL's Laney Nee on the Pawareness Podcast
In this episode of the Pawareness Podcast, we welcome Laney Nee, certified animal behavior manager of The Animal Rescue League of Boston. Laney has been training animals for 15 years, advocating for the mission that The Animal League of Boston pursues.
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Do You Have Chickens or Ducks?
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If your organization is a MAC Organizational Member and you want us to include your program, idea, webinar, event or conference here.
Email us at:
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Want a Freebie?
Act Fast!
Thanks to a generous donation to MAC from our friends at the Seekonk Ocean State Job Lot we have GIFT CARDS to give away!
We will send a $100 gift card to the first 15 people who fill our this form correctly.
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License Plate Grant Update
The License Plate Oversight Committee is currently processing the 2022 Covid Emergency Spay/Neuter grant applications. Please be patient as we review the applications. There are numerous steps in the process; from start to finish this takes about 4 months. We anticipate this will be completed in June.
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MAC has a New Membership Database
MAC just switched to a new membership database called Join It. It is super easy to use! You can now even set up your membership for auto-renewal!
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Back By Popular Demand!
AniMatch Canine Body Language & Behavior Training Series with Kelley Bollen
Each session will be 90 minutes - one hour of lecture and time for Q&A:
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TONIGHT!! Session 1 - April 4, 2022 from 6pm-7:30pm - Reading Dog Body Language
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Session 2 - April 11, 2022 from 6pm-7:30pm - Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Dogs
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Session 3 - April 18, 2022 from 6pm-7:30pm - Understanding the AniMatch Behavior Observation
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Session 4 - April 25, 2022 from 6pm-7:30pm - Observing & Discussing Videos of Live Behavior Observation Demonstrations
This training is reserved for Massachusetts organizations only as it focuses on the AniMatch program.
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Thanks For Completing MAC's Survey! |
Thanks to all who participated in the MAC survey last month. We learned so much from what you all said and are using the responses to help the MAC board as we work through our future planning process. Stay tuned!
As promised, we had three Amazon gift cards to give out to three lucky winners. We used a random number generator and the three people who won are Hayes D. of Hamilton Animal Control ($100), Cindy B. from Merrimack Feline Rescue Society ($50) and Veronica J. from Concerned Citizens for Animals ($50). Congratulations to all three!
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A Way To Help Animals In Ukraine |
Plant Based News reported on the many ways organizations are helping pets in Ukraine including that the International Fund for Animal Welfare “is providing emergency aid to Shelter Pif – located in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, which is home to more than 800 dogs – and the Holivka Shelter, located in Gorlovka in eastern Ukraine with 300 dogs. The latter rescue was recently hit by shelling, resulting in the death of one animal. Despite the damage, staff have remained at the facility to continue caring for the animals.”
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New Human & Animal Well-Being Racial Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Training "REDI" for Launch! |
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Are you aware of how much MAC has to offer beyond educational meetings, programs and task forces?
Have you ever checked out our Resources pages?
If you are looking for spay/neuter services in your area check out our Find a Spay/Neuter Clinic page. Simply enter your zip code and we will find clinics close to you!
MAC is here for you! Be sure to take advantage of all that we have to offer!
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Massachusetts Animal Coalition Facebook Page |
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If you received this email directly from MAC, you are already on the list! |
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