Be careful not to let your dogs bark too much

My dog Peanut now has an umilical hernia, which is just "an outward bulging (protrusion) of the abdominal lining or part of the abdominal organ(s) through the area around the belly button." It's probably due to the face that she's outside most of the day, and is constantly barking at the neighbors and the cars that pass by. Please don't let your dogs bark too much. We don't know what we'll do about it, the vet said it was harmless, and sometimes it pushes itself if she doesn't back much, but other times she can completely freak out and it bulges out immensely.

 

I'm so sorry, this sounds terrible, I hope she'll be okay. Does it pain her?
Thank you for the warning. My Homer barks all the time too, sometimes I think that it's his favorite thing to do - to bark at everything and everybody. Now I see that I have to stop him from doing it. If only I knew how... I'm not very good with training him to be honest.

 

Thanks for sharing.
Our dog really barks a lot when a dog passes in front of our gate. If I cannot let him stop barking by just commanding to stop, I will command him to go inside the room to stop.

 

Does this mean that Peanut barks excessively? Do you think it's because of her breed?

If you want to lessen her barking, you could try correcting the behavior e.g. saying "no" instantly when she starts doing so and when she remains quiet for awhile (say 30 seconds), giving her a treat.

Distracting her by using a rattler (a can with coins) and shaking it vigorously to break the behavior.

I do hope this helps.

 

To be honest, I haven't heard about using a rattler before. It's really interesting. I think I will give it a try. My Homer is barking all the time so maybe distracting him could help. I really want to do something, I'm scared that barking so much can be dangerous for him. Thank you for the tip.

 

That's not nice condition to have. Poor peanuts. Thanks for the information. Mishka is fortunately not a barking dog.

 

Glad to hear that you're going to try it. You might also want to try training him so you can control the duration of his bark.

To do that, all you have to do is teach him the Quiet cue e.g "Shhh".

If he barks and then stops, say "Quiet" and immediately give him a treat. Or you could try anticipating when he stops and cue in the "Quiet" word and give him a treat when he remains silent. You could even use hand signals as this seems to be more effective in my case. Eventually he'll understand that silence means treat.

Breaking the behavior may require correcting it and training him. I do hope it works for you.

 

Haopee, thank you! Your advices are great, I'll follow them and I hope that it'll help.
I noticed that when I make the "shhh" sound, he barks even louder. I think that it annoys him so I'll try anticipating when he stops barking and then I'll give him a treat

 

Actually an umbilical hernia has nothing to do with a dog barking too much. This is something that can happen in the womb or shortly after birth. When pups are in the womb this is their line to nutrients etc. When they are born normally it closes but if it doesn't you end up with a dog that has an umbilical hernia. Depending on how sever it is depends on what sort of treatment is needed. If it is a very small one when they are pups sometimes it closes on its own. If it does not close on the other hand surgery has be to done to correct it. It is a relatively simple operation and the dog is usually home same day. You might have noticed it because you are saying your dog barks a lot so it could of made the condition worse but it is something that the dog was born with.

 

Henias can be both inborn or due to strenuous activities (I know this applies to humans). As far as dogs are concerned, i do not know what are the risks factors that contribute to hernias- maybe barking might be considered as a strenuous activity for dogs...

 

They are born with it and while it can correct itself if it doesn't the strain from barking can make it worse.

 

Thank you Claudine. I appreciate your compliment.

If that's the case, then try making a game out of it... e.g. like this one. I can't believe she used the term "Cookie Therapy" in this video.



You might need to use lots of treats, but a food motivated dog will learn quickly once you've passed the first step. Good luck.

 

Thank you for sharing the video, Haopee. I find it really interesting. I'm sure Homer will enjoy the cookie therapy, it sounds like something perfect for him

 

Well, even if the hernia has nothing to do with barking, excessive barking should be discouraged anyway. The noise can be a severe nuisance to your neighbours. It is also a sign that your dog is insecure or has some kind of problem.

 

I'm very happy because I have rather friendly neighbours who love Homer very much and who don't mind him being loud; but my friend has a dog too and he caused big problems by his barking - a woman who lives nearby called municipial police once My friend had to pay a big fine.