Problems To Rule Out First
There could be a variety of reasons that your dog is howling. Howling can be a symptom of . Your neighbors may complain of excessive howling while youre away or at work. If your dog is left alone or away from their owner, they may also pace constantly, have destructive behavior, soil the house, or have depression.;
Acting out because of separation anxiety should not be punished harshly. Instead, identify the problem and make arrangements for your dog to feel safe and secure in their home. If your dog has separation anxiety, they are constantly in distress while they are alone. This could be triggered by one person leaving them or spending too much time outside away from the family.;
There may be a medical reason behind your dogs howl. If your dog suddenly starts howling frequently, that may be them telling you theyre hurt or sick. Look for signs or causes of your dogs distress. If you cant find anything you should schedule a visit to the vet to rule out illness or injury.;
Why Is My Dog Barking At Night
While annoying to us, barking comes naturally to dogs. Because it’s a natural instinct, it can be a challenge to get them to stop barking at night. Why do dogs bark at night? Often it’s because they see or hear an animal in the yard, or because they hear other dogs barking in the neighborhood. Other reasons they bark include loneliness, lack of supervision, or inadequate exercise and play. To get them to stop barking at night, you need to give them a more rewarding option.
Desensitize Your Dog To The Stimulus
Gradually get your dog accustomed to whatever is causing them;to bark. Start with the stimulus at a distance. It must be far enough away that they;don’t bark when they;see;it. Feed them;lots of good treats. Move the stimulus a little closer and feed treats. If the stimulus moves out of sight, stop giving your dog treats. You want your dog to learn that the appearance of the stimulus leads to good things !
Example: Barking at other dogs
- Have a friend with a dog stand out of sight or far enough away so your dog won’t bark at the other dog.
- As your friend and their;dog come into view, start feeding your dog treats.
- Stop feeding treats as soon as your friend and their;dog disappear from view.
- Repeat the process multiple times.
- Remember not to try to progress too quickly as it may take days or weeks before your dog can pay attention to you and the treats without barking at the other dog.
Also Check: Do Golden Retrievers Have Hair Or Fur
Help Why Is My Golden Retriever Barking All The Time
- by Dan Evans
If youve recently become victim to your;golden retriever barking, then this is the most important page youre ever going to read.
Now, its no secret that dogs bark. Its ultimately how they communicate, so the idea that you should aim to stop your dog barking completely isnt the point of this post.
The point, however, is to encourage the right kind of barking while at the same time eliminating the obsession to bark when the occasion doesnt call for it.
Which begs the question, whats the quickest and easiest way to get this done?
Well, the first step to stopping any type of unwanted barking is to figure out why its happening in the first place.
Because if you can correctly pinpoint whats causing your dogs need to obsessively bark. Youll be much better equipped to put effective measures in place to address it.
But in addition to this, its also important to understand how teaching your dog to be calm and in control of their emotions can provide massive benefits in curbing this behavior as well.
This is why before you do anything else, Id highly recommend taking a look at the;5 step-by-step calming exercises;from Dan Abdelnoor over at the Online Dog Trainer.
In a nutshell, these specific exercises have changed the lives of thousands of dog owners who have faced a multitude of behavioral issues like aggression, leash pulling, and yes, even barking.
Why Do Golden Retrievers Get Cancer
When possible, we will use affiliate links when referring to recommended products. It does not cost you anything to use these links but it does help us earn a commission on qualifying purchases. Thank you in advance for your support!
Do you own a Golden Retriever?; Your Golden Retriever may have recently been diagnosed with cancer.; This is often a disease you may have heard a lot of Golden Retrievers owners say that their dog developed.; While they commonly do develop cancer, but this does leave many people wondering why this breed develops cancer than many other breeds.;
You May Like: Golden Retriever Dog Shoes
How To Stop Your Dog Howling
Howling at triggers like sirens and instruments is usually short lived. The dog thinks that the trigger is a territorial cry and is responding with one of his own. You may be able to cut the howling short by teaching your dog to be quiet at a signal from you. Plenty of edible rewards after the cue be quiet usually works to stop a dog howling. You cant eat and howl at the same time
Dogs that howl through separation anxiety are like puppies that have never learned that being left alone isnt dangerous. This type of howling can be treated by getting at the root cause the dogs fear of being alone. This means de-sensitising your dog to solitude. You can find out more about that in our article on separation anxiety.
Interpreting The 11 Most Common Barks Youre Likely To Hear
We dont yet know everything about canine communication. Weve come a long way, but we havent got to a point where understanding dogs is an exact science.
Sometimes the same bark can mean very different things depending on the particular situation that its being used. So you cannot rely on a description of what a bark means 100% of the time.
But knowing what the following barks USUALLY mean, combining that with reading canine body language and factoring in the situation your dog is in, youll be able to make highly educated guesses on how your dog is feeling and be correct a very high percentage of the time.
So lets go through a list of the 11 most common barks and what they actually mean:
Also Check: How Fast Can Golden Retrievers Run
The Pitch Of A Bark Changes
To show how welcoming and friendly a dog is feeling.
High pitched barks are usually happy and welcoming, low-pitched barks can show aggression and a warning to stay away. So the higher pitched a bark, the less you need to worry, the lower pitched a bark the more likely a dog is feeling aggressive and threatened.
Why Does A Golden Retriever Bark
There are lots of reasons why Golden Retrievers bark. It istheir way to vocalize their emotions and/or desires.
Think about how many different reasons you talk during aday. Well, barking is your dogs way to talk and communicate. So, I think it isa mistake to try and get a dog to NEVER bark.
My wife and I have these discussions from time to timeabout my dogs barking. My wife does not like the fact that I am not moreinsistent in stopping all barking.
The fact is, I like that my Retriever barks. She does notbark often. But when she does, I can usually figure out why she is barking. ;
You May Like: Golden Retriever Heat Diaper
Understanding The Golden Retriever Barking Behavior
Often, when you have two golden retriever dogs that you raise together, the golden retriever barking can get a little out of hand as one typically will set off the other to bark. Undoubtedly, barking is a type of communication for Golden Retrievers, like for any other dogs. However, uncontrolled Golden Retriever barking is uncommon for this breed because of their calm and friendly nature.
In fact, Golden Retrievers are one of the least offensive barkers. They are least likely to bark inappropriately or without any justification. In Some circumstances barking can be;justified. These cases include when they are bored, lonely, hungry, or notice something unfamiliar near the house. Sometimes, they may bark uncontrollably if they want to play or go outside. If your Golden Retriever is barking for any of these reasons, it is a normal behavior. In this case,;it’s natural,;and you must not stop;it. So your goal should never be to stop the barking entirely. But if the barking goes beyond the simple reasons and become disruptive and annoying you should;stop it. And it may be time for some golden retriever dog training.
Why Your Golden Retriever Howls At Sirens And Thunder
Below are some common reasons why Golden Retrievers do it and what would make them more likely to be the reason why yours has been doing it.
Ancestry
The reason why it does it could be that it is in its genes to howl in situations where there are loud or high-pitched noises. It could be the case that your Golden Retriever does it due to an evolutionary trait getting it to let other dogs know of its location in the area. This is something that wolves and dogs in the wild are known to do.
Communication
Wolves and dogs, in the wild, will howl to tell other members of the pack where it is or to scare off other predators that are entering their territories. In the case of your Golden Retriever, it might be the case that the howling is to alert other dogs or members of its pack of its location or to alert other dogs of possible danger. It could also be to warn others not to enter its territory.;
A change in air pressure
The cause could be due to a change in the air pressure. This is because it will warn it that there is a storm on the way and it might hear the low-frequency noises of the thunder as it approaches . This would be more likely if it starts behaving differently before the thunder has even arrived and if it also becomes anxious.
Sensitive hearing
Golden Retriever have better hearing than we do and they can hear higher-pitched sounds too. It could be the case that the high pitched sounds of sirens cause it to howl since it is of a similar pitch to other dogs howling.
Read Also: Can Golden Retrievers Swim
Why Do Dogs Bark
Dogs who bark when you are not at home is a very common issue.
Usually, people have no idea that they have a problem until the neighbor or even worse the dog control officer pays you a visit.
Understanding why your dog is barking is the key to stopping it so you can actually address the cause of your dogs problem and not just treat the symptoms.
Now bear with me on this one because you MUST remember you have to see it all through your dogs eyes!
Why you think your dog is barking really doesnt matter. If you want to stop the barking, then you have to figure out what is motivating the behavior.
Is Golden Retriever High Maintenance
Yes, Golden Retrievers are high-maintenance compared to other dog breeds. They need a minimum of 30 minutes of physical exercise every day and they need to spend time with their owners every day.
Goldens are also large dogs and they are heavy shedders, so grooming them is both time-consuming and costly.
Raising a golden retriever is a life-long commitment that will cost you a lot of time and money, but it will be one of the best decisions in your life because there is nothing in the world like a goldens love. You can learn how to handle your high-maintenance golden retriever here.
Don’t Miss: Is Golden Retriever Is A Family Dog
Whatare The Reasons For Which Golden Retrievers Bark
There can be multiple reasons fordogs to bark. I will help you understand these reasons in this section. In fact,you can use their barking to your advantage by understanding what they aretrying to communicate.
The best way I can make you understand is to compare their barking to your talking. As you cannot live without speaking, they cannot control their barking. Hence one should be prepared to hear their barking sounds. In fact, when they sing than ever dog owner would say awesome.
In our family, I have 2 kids and thehave so much study to do. Even then they dont mind the barking of my dogs. Whatmore, they play and repeat after the dogs so as to make the dogs bark louder. Iam always pushing the dogs to bark less so that they know when it is not the righttime for them to bark.
Following are the most common reasonsand situations when dogs bark:
What Should You Avoid Doing
As well as doing all of the above to train your golden retriever, there are also a few things youll definitely want to avoid doing. If you do any of the following, then not only is it unlikely to stop your golden retriever barking, but it could actually make the problem worse.
Never Reward Them For Barking
First of all, make sure that you never reward them for barking. If youre giving your golden retriever a treat to stop them from barking, then youre inadvertently rewarding them. Likewise if you stroke them to get them to stop, or anything similar, youre still rewarding them!
Dont Shout At Them
When you shout at your golden retriever youre going to do one of two things. The first thing is that youre likely to scare them. But the second more likely thing is that they think youre joining in. If they think youre joining in, then theyre only going to be encouraged to start barking more.
Never Hurt Them
This is by FAR the most important rule. No matter what, you should never hit, slap or hurt your dog in any way. This is going to be extremely damaging to them, and theyll most likely end up resenting you for it. What starts off as simple barking could quickly turn into other forms of aggression.
Dont Use A Muzzle When Youre Not Around
So make sure youre not muzzling them!
Dont Use A Spray Collar
Read Also: How To Draw A Golden Retriever Face Step By Step
The Causes Of Howling A Summary
Howling serves two distinct purposes
- A statement of territorial rights this is our place .
- Group cohesion maintaining contact and keeping the dog family together as a unit.
The first purpose is what makes dogs howl at sirens and musical instruments. The second purpose is what makes dogs howl when they are left alone.
General Labrador Dog Barking Training Tips
The first requirement for controlling Labrador barking is to have a dog that is relaxed enough to be receptive to training. This is why some Veterinarians recommend a medication or a homeopathic such as PetCalm before training begins. If your dog already obeys commands, then she is a perfect candidate for barking behavior modification.
Do not just command a dog to stop barking such as by saying “stop” or “no.” This is only going to confuse the dog. Use a new word such as “enough” to signal the time when you want less barking. Always say it in the same tone, and only in relation to a dog bark.
Use positive rewards when a dog does do as you ask. Do not use physical punishment as this will just reinforce feelings of fear and anxiety.;;
Find a special treat for Labrador barking related training such as cooked chicken or a meat snack. Provide some other form of reinforcement such as petting the dog when providing the treat.; Eventually, just petting will be reward enough.
Never reinforce barking behavior by playing with the dog when she is barking. This just communicates that making noise is an acceptable behavior. It goes without saying that a puppy should never be encouraged to bark at people or other animals.
Behavior training sessions should never be longer than 5 to 10 minutes. There is also no reason why you can’t hire a dog trainer to assist.
Also Check: How Do You Potty Train A Golden Retriever Puppy
Train Your Golden Retriever With Positive Reinforcement
If the barking occurs at every noise the dog hears, then it may be time for some golden retriever dog training. One of the nicest aspects to the golden retriever breeds is that they learn very quickly. Therefore, the best way to train a golden retriever is with positive reinforcement.;So make sure you have some tasty treats with you at all times during the training.
When Is Drooling An Issue
Drooling becomes an issue in Golden Retrievers when it becomes excessive or unnaturally common. If you see your golden retrievers drooling every time you check them, then you might have a problem.
Excessive drooling is often caused by an underlying health issue, and while its often harmless, its still worth it to pay attention to it.
Read Also: What Is The Lifespan Of A Golden Retriever
How To Train A Positive Interrupter For Barking
Step 1: Pick a word or phrase that you can say in a positive tone of voice, as this isnt a scolding. Thank you works well.
Step 2: In a low distraction setting with your dog in front of you, say thank you, pause for half a second, then drop a couple of yummy treats on the ground in front of you. Repeat a few times in a row.
Step 3: Practice this in different rooms at different times of day for a couple of days.
Step 4: Gradually add more distance between you and your dog so they have to move toward you upon hearing thank you and then drop some treats on the ground.
Step 5: When your Golden is consistently coming to you when you say thank you, you can switch from having the treats in your hands or pockets to rewarding from a jar. Station several treat jars around the house so youre never too far from rewards.
Step 6: Practice the thank you routine in front of windows or doors where your pup often alarm barks, but during times when there is nothing outside.
Step 7: Now that the cue is well-established, it can be used to interrupt alarm barking! At first use it when youre nearby where the dog is barking, so its easy for your dog to come to you. As they show success, you can call out from further away in the house.
With time, you may notice your Golden Retriever skipping the barking and simply coming to find you when they see or hear something.
If they do, be sure to reward them with some treats!