Break Loose
Why Do Dogs Bark All the Time?
When your dog wakes you up barking in the middle of the night, what is your first instinct? Mine used to be to tell my dog to be quiet. That didn't always work. But eventually I hit upon the perfect solution and it has worked for me every time. I'll tell you what that is below. But first let me explain what I have learned about dogs in general.
As everyone knows, dogs are pack animals. That means they develop loyalty to their "pack", which could just be your family. Pack animals have instinctive rules of behavior that we see over and over again. One of those rules of behavior is to defend the pack whenever it is threatened. You may have experienced this with a dog protecting its family, maybe your dog defended you one time. You may have heard some incredible stories about dogs risking their lives to protect their families. That is what pack animals do.
Another thing pack animals do is they look out for each other. In the wild it's important for pack animals to pay attention to what is going on around them. They need to know if rival packs are invading their territory. They also need to know if some other danger is approaching, like a larger predator or a natural disaster. Packs work together to help each other in all kinds of situations. They warn each other of danger, ask for help, and give help to each other.
Now, when it's late at night and you hear dogs around your neighborhood start barking, you know your dogs will almost certainly start barking. They do this to warn non-pack members to stay away from their families. They are not chatting away with the other dogs. All the dogs are doing is saying, "This is my pack! This is our territory! Stay away!" They may not know why the other dogs are barking but they don't whatever set them off to come into their homes.
Dogs also bark when they hear unexpected noises. A dog learns about the noises its family makes very quickly. The sooner they recognize the "friendly" pack noises the sooner they can distinguish the unfriendly "foreign" noises that may represent danger to the pack. Hence, when your dog starts barking at every strange noise he or she hears, your dog is letting you know that someone or something has stepped into what it perceives as your territory. Dogs are very protective and territorial.
Dogs sometimes bark because they are happy and excited. Their emotions can be infectious and other dogs in the neighborhood may also bark out of happiness or excitement. This is perfectly normal and it helps to relieve tensions between dog packs that live close together. Dogs from different packs have been known to socialize with each other when they don't feel threatened. Happy dogs are healthy dogs.
So how do I get my dogs to quiet down? I tell them what good dogs they are when they start barking. I know they are trying to warn my family that something dangerous may be approaching. I'll make a show of checking out the noise, or just listening if I don't want to get out of bed. And then I'll pet them and say, "Good dog!" This way my pets know that I understand what they are doing for my family. And they also know that if I have checked out the noise and I'm not concerned that they don't need to be concerned, either.
Ever since our family learned this secret we have enjoyed listening to our dogs bark. We know they'll settle down as soon as we acknowledge whatever disturbed them. They know we are being good, attentive, supporting members of the pack. And that makes them feel safer, less anxious, and happy.