Alert Barking: Meaning and Recognizing It

Among the many reasons why it’s a good idea to get a dog is because they are excellent guardians of the home through alert barking.

Are you just getting settled into a new neighborhood and still in the process of familiarizing yourself with your surroundings? Having a dog around should help you know right away if something unusual is taking place.

Typically, our pet dog’s preferred method of letting us know something is amiss is through barking. The issue with that is that excessive barking can be a real nuisance to you and your neighbors.

In order to address the issue of excessive barking, you must first understand what it means. That will be our goal in this article, and next week, we’ll talk about ways to curb the barking, including dog training methods and other techniques.

Understanding Alert Barking

More often than not, when you hear your dog barking near the door or the window, they are engaging in the activity known as alert barking. Alert barking is quite similar to territorial barking and dogs let out those loud sounds in the hopes of either scaring off the unknown visitors or simply letting you know that something’s up, according to the ASPCA.

Your dog may not even need to see anyone or anything unfamiliar. A startling sound can be enough to trigger a fit of sustained alert barking.

By the way, dogs don’t need to be at home in order to start alert barking. They will do that as soon as they surmise that something unusual is going on.

Why You Can’t Ignore It

There are numerous reasons why you shouldn’t ignore alert barking by your dog, but there is one particular that should matter most if you don’t want your ears ringing for the rest of the day.

As noted by Puppy Leaks, alert barking will only get louder if it’s ignored. That actually makes sense if you think about it.

After all, your dog is barking to let someone know that there’s something wrong. He/she is basically sending out a warning. Just as we don’t stop until our warnings are heeded, dogs do the same thing.

Alert barking comes naturally to dogs, and even if it may be frustrating to deal with at times, it is something you must recognize and address if you have any intentions of minimizing it in the future.

TAILored Pet Services’ professional dog walkers can provide some valuable assistance if you are looking to take control of your pet’s barking. Our services can help keep your dog preoccupied as you come up with ways to discourage their noisiness. To learn more about how we can help, please give us a call at 425-923-7791 or browse our website.