Dogs who become overly territorial and bark at loud noises or passers-by can be a headache for their owners — but it’s a problem easily dealt with, as Ben Randall explains.
Dogs — like most animals, not least humans — can be very territorial creatures. Most of the time there’s nothing wrong with that, but if it brings with it overly protective or nervous behaviour, it’s something we need to help them with. That’s the issue faced by this week’s reader:
Dear Ben,
We need your assistance! Every time someone walks past our house on the street, our dog starts barking furiously — especially if they have a dog, but it happens regardless. It’s so disruptive that we’ve taken to keeping the blinds shut in the front room, which is a terrible shame because one of the key things that attracted us to the place was the view of the trees.
It’s not just people walking past who create the reaction: every loud noise she hears sets her off, from car doors being shut down the road or the neighbours doing some DIY. She barks for about three four minutes after the noise has stopped — and she’ll do the same when greeting guests, as she gets very excited. We have tried distracting her, telling her to stop, giving her treats, and treating her.
