Did you know that dogs in general can make 5 different sounds? Yes, you read that right, five. This means that your pets do not just bark but they also howl, growl, whine and grunt. What’s more interesting is that these sounds are being used by your dogs depending on different situations. Here are more information on that to give you a better idea.
The Sounds That Dogs Make
- Howl –packs of wolves in the wild, howl mainly to track members of their pack. For domestic dogs, this sound is often associated to a dog’s feeling of sadness and longing.
- Growl – depending on the pitch of the sound a growl can either be playful or it can be a sign of aggression. How can you tell which is which? It actually depends on their body position. You would know that they want to play if they are standing up right with their tails held high. If the dog on the other hand is in a crouched position and if he is looking at you sideways, then be ready to get out of his way because that is indicative that he is getting ready to bite.
- Grunt – you can usually hear this sound from your pets during their most relaxed and satisfied states.
- Whine – whining in dogs can also mean several things. It may show submission to an alpha or it may indicate that they have been hurt or injured. Sometimes, they also do this simply to catch your attention.
- Bark – like what you have learned in the previous articles, a bark is a dog’s means to alert his pack that someone unfamiliar is coming. In some cases, dogs also make this sound to beg for attention when they are bored or if they are calling for their masters.
Among those sounds, numbers 1 and 5 seem to get the better of dog owners especially if their pets do it excessively. Sometimes, some owners become so sick of them that they just end up giving their pets to shelters. This is a sad thought to think about but it is true. But what these owners fail to realize is that this dog barking problem is something that can easily get resolved.
How to Resolve the Dog Barking Problem
Several experts may give different tips. But if you are going to summarize all of them, behavior modification for barking only entails four things:
- For you to control your dog’s barking by withholding the reinforcements that make him bark even more.
- For you to be firm in giving out commands and cues to your dogs to get your point clearly across
- For you to be patient with practice and frustrations along the way
- And for you to reward the dog for every good behavior that you want him to replicate
Those should be enough to help you lessen your pet’s barking problem. If you want to learn the training methods in detail, you can read Daniel Stevens’ book “Secrets to Dog Training” (http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/).
