If we want to stop problem barking, averting our eyes can be one possible solution.

Dogs, like many animals, are very sensitive to eye contact. How we humans use our eyes can send all kinds of messages to a dog. If we stare unblinking into the eyes of a dog who doesn’t know us, his fear of strangers can trigger him to bark. Barking in this instance means “Get out, get away, danger, danger!!!” For an extremely fearful dog this may even mean “We’re all going to die!”

The best way, in the moment, to alleviate a fearful dog’s barking is for the stranger to look away from the dog’s eyes. This may mean simply averting one’s eyes to the side or above the dog’s head. Never forget that an extremely fearful dog is a dangerous dog who may resort to biting if pushed to that level. So always be aware where the dog is, if you are in close quarters or not protected by a barrier or if the dog is not under leash control.

Eye Contact Influences Barking

A clear example of how eye contact can influence a dog’s barking behaviour occurred when we did a lesson with a Tibetan Mastiff. These dogs bred for guarding are formidable in their size and aggressive barking. The owner who had the most control over him had suffered a massive stroke and now the training of this young dog was left to the wife and grown daughter. The dog had grown aggressive and nearly impossible to handle since its master had “fallen”. We were there to teach the two women how they could take control.

So, picture the two of us standing in the foyer of this house, backs to the door, a flimsy baby gate-type fence in front and a 150 lb bear of a dog, growling and barking aggressively at the end of a tightly held leash leaping up and trying to get at us. It took all the strength of the wife to hold the dog back. Although we were taken by the entire spectacle, we realized against our better nature to stop gazing into the eyes of the beast. He was even more terrified than we were! And as soon as we averted our eyes by looking to the side and even softly blinking as we checked to see his face, he quickly calmed down. Not completely, but enough to give his owner enough control to take him to a room where he would be “safe” behind a closed door.

It is important to understand that in dog language, staring into its eyes means “I challenge you.” Looking away means ”I do not mean to threaten you.” A dog like this one who had just lost its leader to illness, thought that it was now in the position of deciding who can come into the house and who cannot. And when you have a fearful temperament, the safest decision is No One. Our goal for the two women of the household was to teach our subject some new rules and boundaries i.e. give him some more structure than he had had before so that he could be more confident that he was safe under their guardianship.

Further to this topic: When we come to your home to do training, you will notice that initially we don’t spend a lot of time looking directly at your dog. We will be watching its body language from the corner of our eye but we don’t need to stress your dog anymore than it already is by having a stranger in the house. So this doesn’t mean that we don’t like your dog or that we aren’t “Dog People”. Real Dog People know that although you may love all dogs, not all dogs love you. Real Dog People know that it may take some time for a dog to warm up to you or it may not warm up at all. Our goal is to teach you how to improve your relationship with your dog. If your dog ends up thanking us for doing that then that’s just icing on the cake!