Barking dogs: Nuisance dog barking is cruelty to animals and people

August 15, 2009

You have many enemies, that know not
Why they are so, but, like to village curs,
Bark when their fellows do.
~~~ King Henry VIII

A neighborhood dog (that we all considered “our dog”) saved my life once, from a vicious, barking dog that used to roam the neighborhood. I loved “my” dog dearly – she had the sweetest temperament, despite being largely neglected by her owner. And she never barked, the only time I ever heard her bark was when she saved me. And boy, did she bark then – she squarely stood facing the other dog, and barked loudly at him, challenging him to leave me alone.

Hollywood and Madison Avenue has sold Americans the bill of goods that we must have a dog to be cool or to meet our own selfish needs – and continually pay them for it. We must care about the welfare of all living creatures. The domestication of dogs (and other animals) is a selfish thing that has caused harm to the animals. Dogs are not people. Dogs are pack animals and unless one can provide them with this sense of being with a pack 24/7, one should not own a dog. Needless to say, putting a dog out in the yard alone, or even with another trapped, lonely dog, does not meet this need.

Also, one should never, ever disturb others with noise pollution. The effects of noise pollution are devastating, to both humans and wildlife. This issue has been largely ignored, but it can’t be ignored forever.

Checking out all the barking dog videos on YouTube (Barking Dogs Video Group and an extensive collection of videos show a similar pattern).

The owner buys a dog. The owner puts the dog outside in the yard or on the deck, leaving it alone all day (and sometimes all night). The dog barks obsessively (check out this video of a desperate dog – and this one of another desperate dog). And when the owner finally spends time in the dog’s presence, the owner makes no effort to address the dog’s inappropriate behavior (check out this video where the owner ignores his dog as it insanely barks).

Using a live animal to exert power over others, these people are not “dog lovers” – they are dog and people haters. (See BarkingDogs.net for more on the David Vs. Lamoreaux case.)

This is cruelty to people, of course – forcing them to endure noise blasted into their homes at random intervals, day and night. BarkingDogs.net describes the damage barking dogs do to the health and well-being of people.

But it is also cruelty to animals. A common theme in the videos is a desperately lonely, bored, and sometimes frightened dog. Some dogs have clearly crossed the threshold into insanity, while others are bordering on it. Others are only a fence away from attacking and injuring, perhaps killing, humans.

To satisfy their own selfish needs, people have taken dogs, pack animals who thrive on being part of a group at all times, out of their natural element. They force them to live solitary existences for most of the day. This is torture for dogs. Their solitude is interrupted only by more self-centered behavior by the people that encourages the dogs to remain unbalanced.

Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan, who understands the native behavior of dogs, agrees that such barking is not natural for dogs, and it is a sign something is wrong:

If nuisance barking is a problem, consider these issues to find a solution.

Some clients tell me that they love coming home because their dog greets them excitedly by jumping and barking. They feel this proves their dogs love for and bond with the family.

But look at a dog in a natural setting; she doesn’t bark and yelp and jump on her pack mates in a burst of affection.

So what are my clients’ dogs trying to say?

Dogs that greet their owners in this way are trying to communicate. But rather than professing undying love, they are probably trying to tell you that they are lonely and bored and that their needs as a dog are not being met. The excitement that you see is your dog’s way of burning off the excess energy that has been building throughout the day.

People shouldn’t be disappointed by this revelation. This just means that dogs don’t use emotions like people do. Remember, they?re dogs. To love a dog means you must treat him like an animal, which means fulfilling him as Nature intended him to be fulfilled.

Now, let’s get back to our barking dog. So-called nuisance barking, which is often ongoing and not in response to a particular stimulus like a jogger running by the house, is your dog’s way of sending you a distress signal.

Somewhere his needs as an animal are not being met. Is his world anchored by a pack leader who projects calm-assertive energy? Are you walking with him every day, which exercises his body and his mind? Is he living a balanced life?

If nuisance barking is a problem, consider these issues to find a solution. It’s the best way to show real love for your dog.

Craig Mixon at BarkingDogs.net agrees:

Dogs are pretty damn bright. Most people underestimate the potential of their dog because they mistake their inability to teach the animal for the animal’s inability to learn, but even a stupid dog is a far sight smarter than most people imagine.

Underestimation of the canine species is a common shortcoming among humans. We also underestimate the canine capacity to experience emotional distress and, worst of all, we underestimate their needs.

Dogs are extremely social animals that need to be included as valued members of a family group. They need the mental stimulation of new places, new people and novel situations. They need to walk and explore and interact in intensive games with both humans and dogs, and they need the opportunity to learn and face challenging situations. The rule is, the smarter the dog, the more he needs these things…

When you look closely at the situation of a chronically barking dog, you will usually find the animal’s need for exercise and stimulation is not being well met. Of course, if the owner would take responsibility for training his dog, that would put an end to the noise. But if you go beyond that to address the question of why the dog wants to bark, you’ll see that boredom, loneliness, and unexpressed energy are at the heart of the problem. When you hear a barking dog, you are usually listening to the sad tale of a neglected animal that desperately needs to have his life restructured.

As does a dog trainer of 30 years:

I would give helpful tips to the owners of barking dogs, but I can (almost) guarantee one thing: these kinds of negligent dog owners aren’t reading this article.

Indeed, I suspect most people reading this story are those who either have (or have had) a problem with a barking dog, or people like me, who understand the issue and want to caution these kinds of dog owners about the all-too-likely consequences of their inconsiderate behavior.

I’ve trained dogs for 30 years. Personally, I can’t stand unnecessary barking. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

A dog that barks at everything is really barking at nothing.

I liken barking to a car’s horn. If your neighbor honked his/her car horn once or twice, and they did that once or twice a day, that wouldn’t be a huge issue to most people.

But honking the car horn for 10 minutes in a row, every hour? Well…that’s going to disturb any sane person.

Simple training methods curb barking. My own dogs simply don’t bark unless I ask them to. They’re well-socialized, so they don’t see a threat around every corner. They’re well-exercised, so they’re not bored, which can lead to barking for entertainment purposes.

It is definitely unethical to keep a dog chained. Moreover, it is unethical to keep such a social animal, like a dog, alone for long periods. Dogs are pack animals. It is unnatural for them to be alone. Responsible dog owners do their best to minimize the amount of time their dogs are alone.

Further proof that people have engineered dogs to suit their whims, and the damage this inflicts upon fellow humans, from Craig Mixon, at BarkingDogs.net:

When the federal government wanted to push the Branch Davidians to the breaking point in the siege at Waco, they bombarded them with sound, including the sounds of animals in distress. When the U.S. military wanted to drive Manuel Noriega from his sanctuary in Panama, they used the same strategy, because they knew that chronic noise is an intolerable irritant that drives people frantic.

The owners of barking dogs will sometimes tell you that the fact that you are bothered by the sound means you have some deep psychological problem, but it is not so. It is normal and natural for people to be irritated and upset as a result of exposure to sound, especially loud, sharp sounds that erupt suddenly and without warning.

When you think of all the varieties of suffering that exist in prison, it is significant that for many, the most difficult aspect of incarceration is the misery that comes from being exposed to the high noise levels. Chronic noise is just very tough on people.

When chronic noise rings throughout your home, as it does with a barking dog, it is even more upsetting than it would be if the same noise occurred in a different setting, because your home is your place of refuge. It is where you go to get away from the relentless hammering of the outside world. If you cannot find refuge in your own home, then where are you to go?

Wolves, from which dogs are descended, do not bark with the same continuous, explosive, non-stop stream of noise we get from today’s dogs. In his book, Dogwatching (Crown Publishers), Desmond Morris describes the barking of the wolf as being “modest and abbreviated.” He says, “Wolf barking is not particularly loud, or particularly common, and is always monosyllabic. It is best described as a staccato ‘wuff’ sound. It is usually repeated a number of times, but it never develops into the noisy machine-gun fire so typical of the wolf’s domestic descendants.” In other words, dogs bark louder, longer, more frequently and in a more percussive manner than the animals from which they are descended.

The explosive and persistent bark of the modern dog, then, is not an abomination of nature. It is an abomination of man. For some reason, some of our ancestors thought that when it came to barking, more is better. So across the millennia, some of those who came before us bred dogs in a selective manner to create today’s modern bark of excessive dimensions. You can see then that the barking we hear today is not truly a natural sound. As Morris says, the voice of the modern dog is the result of “ten thousand years of selective breeding” to produce the “superbarker” we have today.

There are some great tips for trying to cope with your neighbor’s dog barking, as well as a very interesting article about the debarking option (which leaves the dog barking, but quietly) at ToyBreeds.com:

Debarking is a surgical procedure that reduces (but doesn’t remove) tissue in the vocal chords. The surgeon, in effect, nips the muscles on each side of the voice box, which reduces the volume of the dog’s bark.

Your dog will still bark but the sound will be a low, raspy one that you will be able to hear if you’re in the same room with your dog. It’s very unlikely his ‘bark’ would be heard by your neighbors.

I’m sure you’ll hear from hysterical people claiming that this is a cruel procedure or asking how would you like it if someone nipped your larynx.

The answer to the second question is that I wouldn’t like it because I have cognitive abilities that exceed those of a canine. Dogs are not furry human beings. They are dogs. If you have your dog debarked, he will never know! He will be just as happy as he was before you had him debarked.

This surgery takes about 20-minutes to perform if the surgeon is experienced. It’s less invasive and has less after-effect than having a dog spayed or neutered. There’s nothing ‘cruel’ about this surgery.

It amazes me that the animal rights cultists become hysterical about this procedure but constantly advocate neutering. Removing a dog’s sex organs and permanently changing his hormone production has far more lasting (some positive, some negative) effects on a dog than debarking surgery will.