Call me crazy, but I enjoy it when my dogs bark. Tonkas ranges between a grumbly raspy smokers ruff to a short, high pitched sound that seems to even surprise herself. Pongo arrRooooROooos on a regular basis, making sure Im keenly aware of everything she wants. I find it completely endearing, but do understand how it can annoy the crap out of others. With that in mind, this neat article on barking hit home with me. I wonder, too, if dogs from different regions have different accents, languages or dialects to their vocalizations. Do you have any interesting barking stories? Share in the comments! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barking that is classified as problematic because it is thought to be “attention-seeking” could in actuality be a legitimate bid for affection from a chronically neglected dog. Or barks that an owner is instructed to ignore so as to “extinguish the behavior” may in fact be conveying true distress... Is it also not possible that a dog who shows alarm barking truly has something to be alarmed about? While I am not suggesting that we should allow all dogs, at all times, to bark to their little heart’s delight (though, that is certainly what Chippy my Toller is going for), I am advocating that just as we accept body postures, facial expressions, eye contact, elimination patterns, and touch (tactile signals) as important forms of communication in our dogs, so too we should accept (and decriminalize) barking. As trainers and behaviorists, perhaps it is time to dial back the trend towards classifying any barking that an owner does not like as “attention seeking”, “demand”, or “nuisance” barking, and reclassify it as a normal communication pattern that warrants understanding of the cause and as needed, modification. As the very chatty species that we are, we should be sensitive to and wary of any training approach or behavior modification program whose goal is to produce a completely silent dog. Read on...
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 17:52:49 +0000
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