So what could it be that is causing your Maltese dog to bark? First of all, they were born to bark, it is their thing in life to bark. But that doesn’t help you when your neighbors are knocking at your door or complaining over the fence. So what is it that is causing your Maltese to bark? Well, it can be from anger, excitement or just plain scared. Here are a few other reasons why your dog barks.
Protecting his or her territory. Barking to sound an alarm. Attention seeking. Your Maltese puppy may be greeting you. He or she may be frustrated. I see this happen to my dog when he can’t get the cat or bird because it is out of his reach. Compulsive barking, especially when a dog walks by our place and again he can see them.
Injury Or Illness Related Barking
Barking is a key part of what our dogs do and it will be impossible to completely stop them from barking, it would be like asking us to keep quiet all day long.
How To Stop Barking Dogs
If your pet Maltese just can’t stop barking you need to find out what is causing it. Determine what the trigger or triggers are for your dog. For instance: when does your dog bark? What is your dog barking at? Is there a specific trigger?
My Maltese puppy has a couple of triggers that can really get him going. One is when a bird flies into the yard. he will run after it and give a short bark to ward it off. Another time he barks is when we have some rats enter our palm trees in the yard. This only ever happens at night and at certain times of the year.
There is another time that he barks and that is when another dog happens to walk by in the street. He can see them and he will bark at them until they have passed. Interestingly he does not bark at the same dog when he is on a lead and meets them in the street.
Yelling at our pet Maltese doesn’t stop the barking. For instance when my pet Maltese is barking from behind the fence because he wants to protect his territory all the yell in the world won’t stop him. In fact, negative reinforcement for territorial barking can often lead to biting or aggression in other forms. Your dog doesn’t understand what you’re trying to tell them. They stop the barking, but the territorial issues are still there.
Instead, you need to create a situation in which your dog will not feel that territorial urge to defend itself. This starts by taking control of your household. Be the alpha leader of the pack and show the dog that you are the one in charge of protecting that space. Secondly, you can simply reduce the dog’s ability to see those in-cursive threats to its territory. By placing a screen up on the fence he cannot see the other dogs walking by. You can also draw your blinds so he cannot see the dog or person.
In the case of my pet Maltese, when the rats begin to enter our yard, I take a couple of measures. Firstly when we go to bed we place him in the garage so that he cannot see or hear them in the palms. Secondly I take measures to control the rats and remove the source of irritation to my dog.
Stop Barking Dogs With Anxiety
If your dog is continuously barking because it wants to reach you then you will need to do a few things. So how to train a Maltese dog from behaving like this? The two best ways are easy.
Daily Routine
First up change your daily routine especially in the morning before you head out the door for work. Your pet Maltese has over time picked up on your routine and has put two and two together and can work out that you are about to leave the house. You need to change what you are doing each day even if it varies just a little.
This could include a slight change in the time you get up, the order you dress and have breakfast to even putting your shoes on a little sooner than normal. Your Maltese puppy may have clicked that when you put your shoes on and pick up the keys the next thing you do is head out the door. Try putting the keys in your pocket when you first get dressed. Hanging around for another 30 minutes after picking up the keys suddenly changes the routine. The same goes for putting on shoes.
Behaviour Reinforcement
One other thing you should never do is give them attention, patting and scratching them and then heading out the door. Also never give them attention the second you get back home and in the door. You are reinforcing their behavior. Wait for 10 to 15 minutes after you get home before you lavish them with any attention. Your Maltese puppy will will be the better for it. Never, never ever give in to their barking or whimpering when you are leaving or entering the home.
Timing
If your Maltese puppy begins to bark or whimper the minute you walk out the door, then you need to stop this behavior. The best way is to do it is to leave your pet for a short while and gradually build the time away. Your Maltese will soon understand that you will be gone but you will certainly return each time. The anxiety will soon diminish and so will the behavior problems associated with it.
Remember you need to be the alpha leader and your dog needs to have confidence in you. If you want to ensure your dog is relaxed and anxiety free you need to be firm and consistent. This is not being cruel to your pet Maltese, you are in fact doing him or her a favor along with your neighbors. No more barking dog, no more whimpering or destructive behavior. This is the pack order.
If your dog has anxiety issues, the barking is likely a symptom of something much greater. They want to reach you and will continuously bark until you return. Most of the time, this is because you have rewarded them for this behavior in the past. When you return home and they are excited, you immediately give them attention. Rather than rewarding them in this instance, you should ignore your dog for as long as 10-15 minutes so they stop associating your return with attention.
Finally, to stop your barking Maltese you should teach your dog how to speak and be quiet. By creating a command that allows you to control the behavior, your dog will learn to control the barking when it is not necessary. A benefit of this is that, if there is an intruder or something you want your dog to bark at, they will still alert you.
Dog barking can be a frustrating issue to control and it can become rather embarrassing if your neighbors are complaining about it. Make sure you are quick to follow up on any of these issues and be consistent with your dog in your approach.
Forrest is a lover of dogs, the wild outdoors, deep mysterious conversations… and coffee. He is the owner of several websites, including Canine Weekly. He resides in Austin, Texas.