PET OF THE WEEK: Gigi is a beautiful German Shepherd who can’t wait to find her forever home. She’s a smart, high-energy dog who loves to play fetch more than anything. Gigi is looking for an active, experienced family, with no small children, that can make sure she gets all the play and exercise she needs. Ask for ID# A827103. Adoptable pets are available at Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA’s Tom and Annette Lantos Center for Compassion, 1450 Rollins Road, Burlingame. For information, call 650-340-7022 or visit www.phs-spca.org. (Chuck Pitkofsky / Peninsula Humane Society)
Dear Miss Behavin’: My dog always barks when he goes outside in our backyard. During the day it’s the squirrels, and at night it’s all of the little nocturnal critters. How do I get him to stop?
Reply: Barking and vocalizing are two of the most challenging behaviors to modify in dogs. While the noise is often a nuisance for us humans, barking is highly reinforcing for the dogs that do it, making it difficult to interrupt.
Let’s put it this way. Fido hears a noise, he barks, and the noise stops. Squirrel in a tree? Fido barks and the squirrel runs off. That’s reinforcement in its simplest form. The same goes for barking at delivery trucks or people passing in front of the house. Woof, woof! And there goes the truck. It drives off every time.
Since we can’t spell it out for our dogs or verbally explain why there is no point to their barking (the squirrel will return), one of the best ways to dissolve this noisy behavior is to remove or drown out whatever it is that causes the barking.
For squirrels or critters around the back yard, putting in a good size water fountain outside will create background noise and potentially decrease your dog’s vigilance. If there’s no room for a fountain, try a sound machine. If your neighbors aren’t terribly close to your yard, you could also turn on some music or talk radio so your dog has different things to listen to.
Barking often stems from boredom as well. Many dogs think barking and alerting is their job, so you can simply give them something more interesting to do and voila! Less barking. You could utilize food puzzles or try hiding kibble or treats around your backyard, or simply give your dog a new toy to play with when he’s outside.