How to Stop Your Dog’s Excessive Barking: Habit, Behavior, or Training Issue?

We recently heard from a reader who has a dog with a barking problem:

I have a Corgi that barks. A LOT.  He barks at the doorbell, he barks at people walking by our house, he barks at leaves. Why does he bark at literally everything? How can I stop this? I’m okay if he barks when he’s warning us of a valid threat, but leaves?? How do I selectively curb his urge to bark without shutting him up entirely? I don’t want him to feel like he’s done something wrong.

We sent the question to Linda Wagner, owner of Linda’s Pet Care Services and got the following response:

“I would need more information about the Corgi—his age, how long the owner has had him, his background including if he’s adopted, for what length of time has his Corgi had barking issues (the longer he’s been uncontrollably barking, the more ingrained and reinforced the unwanted behavior has become), what methods the owner currently uses to try to reduce his barking, does the owner live alone, does he have children or neighbors, how is his dog able to see people walking by the house, how long has the Corgi been engaging in the behavior, etc.”

Herding Dogs are Often Barking Dogs

“Corgis are herding dogs so they are barkers by nature. Some of this is pure genetics; the rest is unwanted behavior that has likely been going on for some time and it has now become a learned behavior. You can modify their barking significantly but it really involves working with a certified animal behaviorist because this isn’t a training or obedience issue. It’s become an ingrained behavior.  I know that’s a frustrating answer, but any other response I would give you or your reader would be dishonest.”

Changing Behavior

“I strongly suggest that the owner find an animal behaviorist to work with his Corgi.  A lot of behavior stems from a common error we all make as owners, including me—we reward behavior we don’t like by giving it the wrong kind of attention. Not because we are trying to make the situation worse but simply because we don’t know a better way to work with our pets and we end up feeding the very behavior we are trying to starve, so to speak. The goal is to wean out unwanted behavior by learning to modify and then reward behavior we prefer. The sooner the owner addresses the problem with a consistent strategy on how to approach the situations he finds are setting off the barking, the less ingrained the behavior becomes and the quicker he will see positive results.”

*After getting our response from Linda, we asked her if she could give us some more information about the difference between behavioral issues and training issues in dogs. Look for her article next week, when she’ll go into more detail about when pet owners need a trainer, when they need to work with an animal behaviorist and the importance of both.