First things first, dogs bark! It’s a dog, it’s what they do. You wouldn’t ask a lion to stop roaring.

However, the fact that dogs live in our homes makes this often an issue for us humans. And of course we often expect our furry friend to behave perfectly, in all sorts of ‘human’ situations.

This article is about understanding why your dog barks and how to deal with it, including teaching alternative behaviours, providing outlets so they don’t need to bark in the first place as well as preempting, managing and, let’s say, tone it down a notch, or two.

Before I delve into the different types of barking and how to deal with these, here are some things to consider that can impact on most barking behaviours: