Our 10 month old Lab. barks excessively. She barks at the slightest sound, inside or out. She barks at people when they walk past the house, up the drive, knock at the door etc. She also barks when she's separated from us, even if only by a stair gate, and barks while we prepare food. We feel that she probably suffers separation anxiety and is a bit over protective/territorial, but the barking is driving us mad and it's probably only a question of time before the neighbours start complaining. We've tried ignoring. We've tried saying 'no' to barks and treating 'quiet'. We've tried calling her, whistling for her to come and so on. So far nothing is working. Of course all dogs are going to bark a bit, but this is excessive. Any suggestions?
There are many reasons why dogs bark. In your statement you have listed some of them.How you might deal with the issue depends on the cause. I would ask a dog behaviourist to observe your dog in your home in order to see what is going on. The behaviourist should evaluate at least whether the dog is offering warning signals, whether there is incipient separation anxiety, and whether you are inadvertently reinforcing the dog's behaviour.And to offer, of course, some solutions. It can be a difficult issue to tackle. Some dogs are more talkative than others.
If he barks whilst your preparing his food, you could try stopping the preparation immediately änd restarting once he is calm again. Otherwise you risk the situation of him barking and then getting rewarded with his meal. That reinforces his wish to bark
