Problem barking can be caused by lack of the right type of socialization.

Flower was a Yorkshire Terrier who was terrified by the vacuum cleaner. Just the sight of the vacuum hose set her off in fits of barking and darting around trying to get in bites and nips at the threatening creature. You would think that her very life was being threatened so her panicked barking was meant to scare it away. We learned that Flower was a rescue so all we could surmise was that she was poorly socialized at a young age.

How many types of socialization help with problem barking

There is a common misunderstanding about socialization. Many people think it means teaching a dog to be social with other dogs. This is only a small part of socialization. Key socialization occurs in the early months of a puppy’s life, ideally in the first 4 months. The puppy’s mom teaches her a lot about the world in the weeks after weaning. That’s why, if you have a choice, pick a puppy that’s been with her mom and siblings until the age of 8 weeks if not 10 weeks. A well-adjusted mom will show her pups how she reacts as an adult dog to different stimuli and will pass that confidence onto her pups as they observe how she reacts.

When you get your puppy home, your training begins. Expose puppy to different things in your home that move and make noise. Each exposure must be gentle and non-threatening so start small. Depending on the innate confidence level that your puppy was born with will determine how quickly you move forward. If we take a middle-of-the-road dog, neither too fearful nor too confident, we can start with the appliance lying on the floor when the puppy enters the room. Let the puppy explore if she is curious and then praise her when she loses interest in it. Next move it a little and stop if she starts to get too excited. Wait for her to calm down, praise. Save turning the machine on for the next session. You can see how it may take more time to show a fearful puppy that there is no danger from what initially looked like a potential predator lying in wait to attack her. You may have to remove her from the room if you intend to put the vacuum away until your next training session.

Past trauma can contribute to a dog with excessive or problem barking

In some cases, a dog may show signs of trauma from a bad interaction with an inanimate object. Sadly, some people think it’s funny to terrorize a puppy with a vacuum cleaner, a garden hose, a blow dryer, etc. Then they discover that they can’t use the item without their dog going into fits of barking or even attacking. Always remember that a behaviour you foster when your dog is a cute puppy may not be so cute when she is fully grown.

The ultimate goal of socialization for preventing problem barking

The goal of dog socialization training is to bombproof your dog. When you expose your puppy to all the stimuli that you encounter in your daily home life in a kind and gentle manner, they won’t be as troubled by a surprise encounter and react with out-of-control barking. 

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