Sorensen Neighborhood

When Bowser Barks (archive)

Sep 03, 2005

The problem of a constantly barking dog is especially delicate, because it involves a sentient being (the dog) as well as the owner (who, one hopes, also is a sentient being).

?“Barking is one of the toughest problems to curb, because barking is instinctive,?” says Dr. Tracy Earle, a veterinarian at Oak Knoll Animal Hospital at Minnetonka and Louisiana, ?“Dogs bark for a lot of reasons?—because they are playing, or as warning, or for attention. Some just bark every time a leaf blows.?”
One solution, she says, is a citronella bark collar.

Barking makes the collar release a small poof of citronella away from the dog, not in its face. Dogs find the scent unpleasant and soon learn not to bark. ?“It?’s more humane than a shock collar,?” Earle explains.
She adds, ?“If the problem is ongoing, there are behavior specialists that work with chronic barking.?” For a referral to a behavior specialist, contact your veterinarian.