My dog barks at people - Why and what to do ?

 

If you share your home and your daily life with a dog, you've probably already noticed that dogs tend to bark at some people, while others don't seem to react to them. If you've ever experienced this while walking with your best friend, you probably ask yourself questions such as: "Why does my dog bark at people? "Why does my dog bark at strangers? "or "How do I stop a dog from barking at people? »

In this article in The Pretty Pets we help you find answers to these questions by explaining the possible meanings of your dog's barking and why a dog can bark on some issues and not on others.

1.    Why do dogs bark?

To understand why your dog barks at some people and not at others, you first need to know why dogs bark. Although our dogs mainly use their body language to express their moods, emotions and perceptions of their environment, barking plays a very important role in their relationship with humans, other animals and their environment.

In their everyday life, dogs bark to communicate the different emotions and experiences they experience, which depends a lot on the environment they are in and the stimuli they perceive. When we talk about stimuli, we are not only talking about noises, images or smells, but also about the presence of other individuals on their territory (people, dogs, cats or other animals). Therefore, there are many possible meanings to a dog's barking.

In order to identify what each bark of our four-legged companions means, it is necessary to observe their postures, facial expressions and meanings. A stressed dog, in addition to barking, usually shows various signs of stress, such as hyperactivity or nervousness, excessive salivation, licking, excessive panting, etc. An angry dog that is preparing to defend itself will communicate its state of mind with other attitudes and postures, by growling, showing its teeth, scratching and sniffing the ground, having pupils very dilated, remaining motionless with the body visibly rigid, among others. If you perceive these signals in your dog, it is best to move away and respect his space until he calms down and returns to his usual behaviour. Then, it will be essential to identify what is causing these negative emotions in your doggie in order to set up an effective treatment.

For this reason, we always reaffirm the importance of knowing your dog's personality in order to easily identify any change in his behaviour and know how to act to help him. In addition, if you notice that your dog barks excessively or that his character has changed, we recommend that you take him to your trusted veterinarian to check his health. There are many illnesses that can cause intense pain and interfere with your dog's senses, so it is essential to eliminate any pathological causes associated with excessive barking and other behavioural problems.

2.   Why does my dog bark at some people?

You now know that dogs can bark for different reasons and under different circumstances. However, we still haven't answered our original question: "why does my dog bark at people?".

Again, we must tell you that there is no single explanation for this dog behavior. To find out why your dog barks at people, it will be necessary to observe the context in which this barking occurs. In addition to observing your dog's posture when barking, you will also need to look at the attitude of the person to whom the barking is directed.

To help you with this task, we will summarize below the main reasons why your dog may bark at some people and not at others.

3.   Does my dog bark at people out of fear?

Fear is one of the main causes of barking in dogs. In general, fearful behaviour towards people and other dogs is associated with poor socialization. Therefore, if you ask yourself the question "how do you prevent a dog from barking at people?", the answer is: invest in the socialization of the dog from an early age.

In dogs, fear is an emotion that appears just at the end of the socialization phase, which occurs during childhood. If during this period, we introduce our animals to different people, dogs, other animals and various stimuli, we manage to prevent fearful or dangerous behaviors in adulthood. Although it is ideal to start socializing a dog during childhood, it is also possible to carry out a socialization process in adult dogs, always relying on patience, affection and the help of positive reinforcement.

Thus, a dog that has not been properly socialized during its childhood and has not had the opportunity to interact positively with other humans and other dogs may show fear in front of strangers, dogs and various other stimuli. There are even dogs that act fearfully and exaggeratedly with people they know because of a traumatic experience with people (we will talk about this later).

Similarly, sensory deprivation syndrome may be the answer you are looking for if your dog is adopted and you don't know its past, since this disorder appears when dogs have been confined during their development or deprived of the social stimuli mentioned above.

4. Is it true that dogs can feel fear in people?

You have probably heard that dogs can sense our fear and can even bark when they recognize this emotion in some people. Although there is no 100% proven explanation for this ability of our pets, it is true that their senses are much more developed than ours, especially if we talk about smell and hearing. This would then be one of the possible explanations for their ability to identify a fearful person.

When we feel fear or another extreme emotion (stress, anxiety, overexcitement), our body releases hormones into the bloodstream and body fluids (urine, sweat, etc.), which alter our body odor. Although these substances may go unnoticed by other people, dogs' powerful sense of smell is able to easily identify the alteration of smell in the body of the person experiencing this emotion. In addition, when we feel fear, our body also adopts certain postures and facial expressions. A person who is afraid of dogs tends to adopt a defensive or apprehensive posture when in the presence of this animal. Remember that fear is an emotion that can lead to organic and involuntary reactions.

Since dogs primarily use body language to communicate, they are also able to perceive changes in our usual postures and identify certain signs that indicate this state of tension. When identifying a defensive or apprehensive posture in some people, dogs may bark because they also feel stressed or fearful in this situation, or simply to frighten and thwart any attack attempt that may arise from that person in a defensive state.

5.   Do dogs bark at some people to get their attention? 

Although it is generally thought that dogs bark at people they don't like, the truth is that our dogs may also bark to get the attention of people they like and invite them to play or receive their petting. In fact, there are many dogs that bark when they are very excited, either because they sense the presence of their favorite people, or because they know it's time to go for a walk or because their guardian is taking their favorite toy.

If your dog barks at certain people to express his happiness when he sees them and invites them to play, you may observe other positive and friendly signs in his body language. For example, a happy tail, a classic sign, raised and waving enthusiastically, open and friendly facial expressions, or putting his ears back when stroking him or asking for that person's caresses.

6.  Do dogs bark at people to defend their territory?

Dogs are territorial animals that can be very protective of their homes, their guardians and their objects. The presence of strangers, dogs or other animals in your home can make your dog feel that his territory is being invaded and his resources are threatened, so he will have a natural need to conserve and protect them from any threat. However, a possessive dog tends to resort to aggression and to react negatively even in front of known people for fear of losing its toys, food or guardian.

Resource protection is a natural behaviour in dogs and other animals. However, overprotection of people and objects tends to significantly interfere with your pet's social life and coexistence in our home. Moreover, in order to conserve their resources, dogs can have aggressive attitudes that are very dangerous for themselves and for everyone around them. Therefore, a possessive dog needs to receive adequate treatment to learn how to control its negative reactions and to have positive relationships with people, animals and stimuli that make up its environment. If you notice that your dog is very possessive towards you or its objects, we recommend that you immediately seek out a qualified professional, such as a dog trainer or an ethologist. Also, if your dog is very nervous or more aggressive than usual, quickly take him to the veterinarian to check his health and rule out any pathological cause.

On the other hand, if you've adopted or are planning to adopt a new dog, remember the importance of introducing him properly to your doggie. If you suddenly bring a new puppy into your home, your dog may feel insecure and be more possessive of its territory and resources, acting aggressively towards the newcomer. Therefore, introducing a new dog into our home should be done carefully to avoid fights and territorial conflicts.

At PlanèteAnimal, we give you some advice to promote the coexistence between a new puppy and an adult dog. In addition, you will need to prepare your home for the arrival of the new dog: each dog must have its own environment and objects (feeder, waterer, bed, toys, etc.). In this way, you can promote interaction between your dogs and avoid subjecting them to unnecessary fighting and high stress. And remember again the importance of socializing your dogs to teach them to interact in a positive way and to enjoy an optimal social life.

7   Do dogs bark at people because of poor socialization?

Unconscious training is much more common than you might think. On a daily basis, many guardians reinforce undesirable behaviours in their dogs without even noticing it, for example by offering them a treat or pampering them to momentarily stop certain undesirable behaviours, such as barking, crying, etc.

How do you silence a barking dog? If you always offer a reward, a cuddle, or allow your dog to do things that are normally prohibited (for example, getting on the couch or bed) to silence a dog, your dog will probably equate the act of barking with getting something that is in his interest. Then, he may start barking excessively with the sole motivation of getting your attention and getting what he wants.

The same thing can happen with other people, such as relatives, friends, neighbors or visitors to your home. If your dog only barks at one or a few people who visit your home often, you may want to pay attention to how these people react to your dog's barking. If you observe that these people give a treat, a piece of food or a pat on the back to get the dog to stop barking, your dog has probably equated barking at this person with something that interests and pleases him.

8.   Do dogs bark at people because of traumatic experiences?

Unfortunately, many dogs have a history of physical or emotional abuse and have had traumatic experiences that prevent them from interacting with people or other animals, and can even lead to phobias. Fear, which is a fundamental emotion for survival, should not be confused with phobias, which are characterized as disproportionate and exaggerated emotions in response to certain stimuli.

If your dog is afraid of certain people, he may bark at them, try to escape and even react aggressively to defend himself from a possible attack. However, if we talk about a phobia, the dog will overreact in an uncontrollable and excessive manner, demonstrating the state of panic that dominates his body. A phobia diagnosis is complex to treat, takes time and a lot of experience. It is therefore essential to work with a behavioural and dog education specialist to help a dog suffering from phobias regain self-confidence, slowly relearn to trust people and be able to interact with them in a positive way. Unfortunately, full recovery is not always possible, but a good quality of life can be provided to the dog with a positive environment, controlled exposure to strangers and the use of alternative therapies such as Bach flowers, aromatherapy, acupuncture, among others.

If you have just adopted a dog and you perceive that it is very frightened or behaves uncontrollably in the presence of other people, we recommend that you visit a veterinarian specialized in canine ethology (veterinary ethologist). This professional will be able to first check the state of health of your dog and rule out any disease or imbalance in his body. Then, you will be able to design a treatment based on specific guidelines according to your dog's needs and analyze the possibility of using medication or alternative therapies to provide a better quality of life for your best friend.