Dog counselor shares techniques for quieting barking dogs

Barking dogs can certainly be a nuisance, but after a law in Hawaii made it possible for “incessant barkers” to be evicted from their neighborhoods, dog owners had to get serious about stopping the noise, and began consulting dog counselors. (AP Photo)

Barking dogs can certainly be a nuisance, but after a law
in Hawaii made it possible for “incessant barkers” to be
evicted from their neighborhoods, dog owners had to get
serious about stopping the noise, and began consulting dog counselors.

Dog counseling has become big part of the solution in
Hawaii. The animal counseling has even been included as a
requirement in plea deals for families facing charges for
their “incessant barkers.”

Carl Oguss, who operates the East Hawaii Dog Psychology
Center, shared some of his techniques in treatment of
problem barking in an appearance on 97.3 KIRO FM’s Ross and
Burbank Show.

He said the first step is looking at why the dog might be
barking. He sees many cases where people don’t take the
time to properly analyze why the dog is barking.

“They think, oh this is just a character flaw, my dog is
always barking, that’s how this dog is, so they don’t look
to eliminate any of the problems that often cause
barking,” said Oguss. “If you had a child who was
complaining that you were neglecting the child, let’s say
you weren’t feeding it adequately. We wouldn’t want a
human psychologist to come in and say, ‘I can teach you to
stop your child from complaining,’ because it’s a
legitimate complaint the child has.”

Oguss said the main reason dogs bark is because they are
bored or frustrated. He said they need to be engaged
throughout the day and if we park them outside on a chain,
they might just start barking.

“It becomes horribly bored and is protesting. Essentially
the dog is singing a song of neglect.”

In remedying the situation, Oguss said it must go beyond
simple treatment of the dog. The relationship between the
pet and owner likely needs work as well.

“You have to give the dog a better quality of life, but
you also have to instruct it.”

He said the owner must be taught how to communicate with
the dog in a way it understands.

“There’s no way with just clickers and treats and
distractions to stop a dog from barking if it doesn’t
understand this is a rule you’d like to establish and this
is a forbidden behavior,” said Oguss. “What you do to say
no is not so much use the word but you have to express
emotionally that you are bothered by what the dog is
doing.”

He tells owners to bark back at the dog’s barking. “In
other words, use harsh vocalization,” said Oguss.

“Because of the intensity of your unhappiness, they
naturally look at you and they want to know what is going
on with you […] When the dog is looking at you, you make
it clear with the expression on your face, and the tone of
your voice, and the use of your body, that you are upset
with something they have done.”

Repeating this reaction, he said will teach the dog you
don’t like the barking.

“If you repeat that, you allow them to bark at something
that they would normally bark at and then you jump in with
a HUSH (loud bark) and maybe a foot stomp or something
that displays ‘I am angry’ in body language that they can
see, the dog is immediately deferential and doesn’t want
you, especially not the owner, to be angry with them. It
takes repetition until they learn.”

He said dogs are great at obeying rules. “Once we’ve
trained the dog to understand we really don’t like this
barking, the dog will quickly internalize that rule.”

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor