A dog that is barking all the time would certainly be very annoying. One way of dealing with this concern is to take the dog in the car, drive to the nearest dog shelter and leave the annoying pet. PRESTO, peace and quiet! Finally you will have an uninterrupted good nights sleep. No more complaints from the stern and dour faced neighbor across the street and no more baleful glances from the people next door. It would even be possible to share a six pack with the neighbors. Of course not many dog owners would take this option considering the bond that develops between owner and dog.
All dogs bark. Well, except for the Basenji that is known to be a non-barking breed. Barking is the dogs way of communicating with people, with other dogs and with other animals. Barking is fun (for the dog). Notice how a dog would bark at the arrival of its favorite person. A dog will incessantly bark while playing with the kids. Some dogs are even trained to bark. Dogs are endowed with very sensitive senses and when they sense anything out of the ordinary they will bark to warn the owners. Guard dogs are the reasons why people sleep soundly at night. The fact remains though that incessant barking will be very annoying. If the owner that loves the dog is annoyed by the noise, think how much more pestered the neighbors will be.
So your dog is barking all the time. The grating noise is robbing you of the much needed sleep and earning you left and right complaints from the neighbors. Excessive barking is a common problem of dog owners. There are many ways to curb the dogs excessive inclination to bark. One way of dealing with this problem is to understand the cause for the barking. Is the dog uncomfortable? If it is an outside dog, does it have adequate shelter? Is it hungry or thirsty? Dogs are social creatures. A dog tied up outdoors with no toys and seldom provided with a chance to interact with the family will have a very BORING existence. The dog will bark all the time in an effort to get the attention of the family. Inside dogs left alone at home all day will incessantly bark too. Exercise activities are good stress relievers. Play with the dog before leaving for work or ask someone to walk the dog an hour or so every day. Tired dogs have the tendency to sleep. Sleeping dogs would not bark of course.
Beating and screaming at the dog will never stop its propensity to bark. Physical punishment will develop fear in the dog. The dog will cower and stop barking once you are seen but as soon as your back is turned, the dog will again start barking. Obedience training is another way of curbing the pets unwanted habit of barking. Obedience training though will not be a quick fix to the problem as you will have to recondition the behavior of the dog. The dog must be trained to respond to a command that would stop the barking. STOP, QUIET, NO BARK are some of the commands you can train your dog to follow.
If all these methods fail you still have another way to stop the dog from barking all the time. Ultrasonic collars and devices are gaining acceptance among dog owners these days. Dogs are wonderful animals to have around but they have unwanted habits that can test the patience of a saint. A collar, CD or a device will emit a high pitched sound that will be triggered by the barking of the dog. This sound cannot be heard by humans but it would be very irritating to the dog. The dog will eventually learn that by not barking the annoying sound will be stopped.