#how to dog

[puppyexpressions]

How to Stop a Dog From Barking When They’re Home Alone

It’s a common problem, but an annoying one: Your dog is well-behaved when you’re home. But as soon as you leave, they can’t stop making noise. Your dog has their reasons for acting out. Boredom, restlessness, fear, and separation anxiety are all common reasons that your dog might bark and whine while you’re gone. Wondering how to stop a dog from barking when they’re home alone? Try these tricks to distract or redirect their behavior from barking.

Make Sure They Get Exercise

Make sure you give your dogs enough exercise before you leave in the morning. Tired dogs are more likely to want a quiet rest time. If possible, have a dog walker come during the middle of the day to provide more exercise.

Try Toys and Canine Puzzles

There are a number of commercial and homemade products that give your dog something to do while you’re gone. You can stuff a hollow toy with a spreadable treat, like dog-safe peanut butter, and the dog will work to get the snack out. You can also hide dog treats in an interactive dog puzzle. Your dog may be too busy to bark, since they’ll be looking for their treats.

Turn on Familiar Sounds

For dogs who bark when owners are gone, trainers often suggest leaving the dog with some familiar sounds such as a radio or television. The idea is that these sounds resemble the household noises when the owner is present, which may reassure your dog.

Citronella Collars

Citronella collars spray a burst of citronella when the dog barks. Citronella is made from the oils of lemongrass, and it is often used in perfumes, candles, and incense. This collar is seen as a humane alternative to shock bark collars.

Anti-Barking Devices (Non-Collar)

There are several anti-barking devices that do not involve collars. These devices detect barks and sends a high-pitched sound that only dogs can hear.

What to Do if Barking Continues

If you try these solutions and your dog’s barking continues, you might need to play detective and explore beyond the simplest solutions. Keep in mind that as the dog’s trainer (or animal behaviorist), finding the function of the behavior is important. Once you identify what triggers their barking, you can go about reducing or eliminating that trigger.

If you’re not able to stop a dog from barking, you also may want to take your dog to the vet. They will be able to identify (or rule out) any underlying health issues.

What About Separation Anxiety?

A study on dog separation anxiety confirmed that this a complex problem. Remember that anxiety is a term that means your dog is sufficiently stressed that there will be some physiological signs that will be manifested by behaviors such as pacing, whining, panting or drooling.

Your smartphone can be a very useful tool for diagnosing the root of your dog’s behavior. Consider using a smartphone app like Barkio or Pet Monitor VIGI to observe your dog remotely, or a simple dog camera or monitor. By watching your dog’s behavior from afar, you’ll be able to see any signs of anxiety in your absence. You can also see if they bark when squirrels are in the yard, or if your dog gets destructive when they’re simply bored.

Separation anxiety can be a tough problem to treat — but these best practices can help you make inroads on the problem. Some of them are similar to the more general fixes for barking:

Exercise your dog vigorously before you leave. This allows your dog to rest well in your absence.

Leave “activities” to keep your dog occupied. Examples include a safe chew toy, or an interactive game where your dog works to get a treat out of a puzzle.

Provide training while you’re home. Leave the dog for a few seconds, come back into the house, and reward them for quiet, calm behavior. Add a few seconds at a time. Although this process does work, it requires a lot of patience. It’s a good idea to avoid adding too much time at once, since that won’t work.

Depending on the severity of your dog’s anxiety problem, you may want to talk to your dog’s veterinarian. They may prescribe anti-anxiety medications for your dog that you’ll eventually phase out.

Recruiting a professional dog trainer can also help. Training an anxious dog isn’t always easy, and your dog is very clued in to your mood. Involving a professional makes it easier for you to stay calm and relaxed, which in turn helps your dog stay calm too.

[daylighteclipsed]

ENTRY LEVEL MEANS NO EXPERIENCE. IT MEANS NO PORTFOLIO OF RELEVANT SAMPLES. ENTRY LEVEL IS ENTRY LEVEL

[ladymirdan]

[nightwingsgypsyrep]

*taps microphone* is this thing on? Okay…

🎤 THIS IS A REMINDER THAT ALL OF THE ROBINS ARE SMART, GENIUSES IN FACT. THEY ARE IN A FAMILY OF DETECTIVES. THATS LIKE THEIR WHOLE THING. ALL OF THE ROBINS (AND THE REST OF THE BATFAM TOO) ARE CLEVER, STRATEGIC, AND CAPABLE, NOT JUST TIM. (No hate to my boy Tim, though. I love Tim.) YES, EVEN THAT ONE. Thank you. 🎤

[lemonsweet]

I still won't forget when my wisdom tooth got infected and couldn't sleep bc the pain was so bad and I took like 4 of those those blue gel ibuprofens and I finally fell asleep for a couple hours and kept having dreams about beautiful glowing blue animals that help you and I kept waking up thinking the blue animals will help me and realizing wait what are blue animals they aren't real and immediately falling back asleep thinking about the blue animals again

[corrodedparadox]

Handposting

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Dog Meshi.

[notrobinsomethingworse]

Dick, deadpan: You hid a racoon in your room.

Jason, crouched by a sleeping racoon currently sleeping on a pillow. Theres scratches all over his arms and legs. He doesn’t seem bothered: yeah? What ya gonna do about it?

Dick: Un-hide? The goddamn racoon in your room?

Jason: But I’ve named him.

Dick: Well, un-name him.

Jason: He’s Barty.

Dick: I don’t care.

Jason: …

Jason: We can use him to fuck with Bruce.

Dick: …

Dick: Would Barty like some food?

[colliholly]

so you're telling me everyone got a little abnormal about that one Tenna sprite

[egophiliac]

back from break and catching up on stuff! (belated) congrats Eng on getting dog sensei :D :D :D

[theborzoiarebackintown]

When you wet down a borzoi they scrunch up like a paper straw wrapper

[salamispots]

when your dog starts vibrating because treat

[ink-the-artist]

Love the contrast between the Americans’ “Apollo” and the Soviets’ “Sputnik.” You got the Americans naming their rocket after a Greek god trying to communicate the grandness and importance of this rocket. And you got the Soviets naming their rocket “fellow traveler.” Like a friend you go on an  adventure with together. This rocket is our little friend lol 

[cowboybrunch]

i love when characters get angry when they're frightened. shelter dog characters. i love when they bite, not able to tell the difference between a hand that feeds and a hand that strikes. there is no difference. a hand is a hand is a fist. i love characters that are deemed unadoptable. unlovable.

and i love when someone loves them. i love when someone sits with them, patient. they don't flinch at the snarling and snapping. they're not trying to fix it—there's nothing to be fixed. this is you, all of you, and ill wait. because one day, one day you'll take the treat. go on, draw my blood. spit and curse and rage. you're safe with me. one day, you'll feel safe with me.

[candiedfright]

me when my head hurts a lot and i start seeing the rashomon man

[steveharrington]

i think ultimately the core of what irritates me about the t swift craze is that she’s constantly getting props for things that … literally aren’t true. people act like she’s self made, she is not. people act like she’s a social activist, she is not. people act like she’s constantly going to great lengths to uplift other women, she is not. like if people were just like yeah i love her music :) then okay! but it’s the constanttttt applause and praise and worshipping for things that are just patently false that really makes me feel insane