Why does my dog bark when left alone?

As with so many issues similar to this one, the most common reasons that dogs bark in this situation are anxiety and boredom.

It is often the case that owners feel guilty about leaving their dog when they go out so they lavish attention on them when they are at home, this creates a dog that is over-attached to its owner and cannot cope alone. The results of this vary from barking and crying to house soiling and even destruction of furniture.

Any Tips?
The way ahead is to cool the relationship with the dog and allow it to develop some independence. Ignoring it for 20 minutes before leaving instead of long goodbyes will help enormously as there will not be such a stark difference between the owner being there and being gone. It is also important that the dog understands that it is bottom of the pack, after all if the dog thinks it is the leader it is going to be mighty stressed if its subordinates have gone out without it!

The other major cause is boredom, this can be alivated by using interactive toys filled with the dogs food; giving plenty of exercise before leaving or better still employing a dog walker to come and break up the day.

There are of course anti bark collars available which can help with this problem. The collars fit around your dogs neck and simply spray a small jet of compressed air under your dogs chin when they bark. For the really stubbern dog, you can now fill these collars with Citronella sray or even Mustard.

We hope that this answered your question but if not, please feel free to submit any further questions you have using the form below.


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