Barking: The Sound of the Language (Dogwise Training Manual)

I have two 13 year old dogs from a litter I got as a surprise about a month after adopting their mother from a farm 13 years ago. One of them has talked nearly non-stop from the day she was born, sometimes outright barking of one sort or another and other times the faintest of whines, and everything in between. She has also always tended towards anxiety and fearfulness, with a nervous system that is easily overloaded. Her sister is calm and generally quiet. I bought this book mostly out of curiosity after reading a synopsis of it in a dog newsletter yesterday. Over the past 13 years I have learned many of the things the author discusses on my own, rather haphazardly, out of love, curiosity and necessity, and am pretty good at understanding about 80-90% of what my talkative gal says. Yet reading this book now was helpful still, as I have recently seen her working quite vocally to train me to feed her on command, as she had trained a neighbor we moved away from a few months ago. This book has helped me look at what is going on in a broader way. She is probably hungry, having lost about 20 pounds over the past several months since the move, but also probably somewhat lonely and rather bored in our new living situation. The book also serves as a good reminder as to the influence of my behavior in the situation. I have a clearer sense now of what I need to do, and not do, lol, to meet her needs better, before the barking and other behaviors get out of hand. It's a quick read, straight to the point, simple and filled with kindness. I definitely recommend it!

I have an adorable and most loving dog who just LOVES to bark at any sound or activity. He is very reactive. His bark is one of interest and not any aggression at all, but it is disruptive and he just didn't want to learn to stop. At my wit's end, I read this book. Although it is scattered in places, such as you can read a whole section that goes on for a few pages and wonder where was the "meat" of that section. Rereading, I could always find it, although often it was just one or two sentences. Perhaps this is due to the the cultural and language difference as this lady lives in Norway. Having found what I was looking for, I started immediately to keep a barking log and to do as she suggests when my dog barks his excited barks. WOW! It works! Before, in my old way, he would just keep barking, nothing seemed to get through to him to stop. The first time I used Ms. Rugaas' technique, he stopped barking and let out a whine or two and then left the window where he'd been watching and barking at the "action" outside (a car driving by) and went back to the sofa to laze around. Every time since then, it has continued to work and he has drastically reduced his barking even before I can get between him and the "action" and do as the author instructs. I am totally impressed!

After reading 'Calming signals' of the same author you know how the book is structured: Short background, theoretical description, examples and advices on how to solve the problem. This is done for all the different kinds of barking she identifies and describes. This book is not as short as 'Calming signals' and not as revolutionary for my understanding as the first book. However, it enriches your understanding further and opens your mind to new problems as well as methods to solve them in your contact with our friends Dogs! I recommend this book just as much as the first one!

This book makes so much common sense. It answers Every dog owner should have a copy to better understand their pet pup!

Another excellent little book from Turid Rugaas, this one dealing with a common complaint from dog guardians - "My dog barks too much." Rugaas explains the many reasons dogs bark and offers advice on how to determine why your dog is barking. She also offers suggestions on how to change your dog's behavior so they bark less. Since many of the reasons dogs bark excessively are a result of stress and anxiety, Rugaas addresses the need to reduce the dog's stress, which may mean changing our behavior as well. She also clearly explains why punishment based strategies and tools like anti-barking shock collars are more likely to make the problem worse, rather than better. If you feel your dog is barking too much, this book is a MUST READ. Even if your dog is quiet as a mouse, I recommend this book as it will give you greater insights to your dog's vocalizations and their canine point-of-view. Don Hanson, BFRAP, CDBC, CPDT-KA

Turid Rugaas has an innate understanding of dogs that few other professional dog trainers have. Her insights into dog behaviour are eye opening, her solutions common sense, effective, easy to put into place and most important, are humane to the dog. She presents explanations and solutions that work because they are developed from current,evidence based research and Turid Rugaas's unique approach, which centers around setting your dog up for success. I would be shocked if a dog owner did not get very favourable results using her methods. Turid's training philosophy teaches both the owner and the dog appropriate behaviours that will last for life. Dogs are not being coerced, brutalized or terrorized with this training style, which tends to be the typical 'quick fix' training MO.

As one who was raised by people who bred and trained animals, the action of training is second nature to me. Reading animals body language (horses, dogs and cats) is an automatic thing. I've just read Barking: The Sound of a Language for the first time. When reading Barking I was fascinated by how much I didn't know about barking. How much I did know was also fascinating. It only took a day to resolve a couple of barking, hmm problems is too strong a term, but it'll do. We live in the country and, for the moment, have critters in our attic. Since babies are involved this drives my female Cardigan Welsh Corgi wild. I just hadn't realized that she was barking so much and so loudly because she thought I wasn't listening to her. A couple of times of walking over to where she was, looking and listening, and then saying "Yes, I hear them. Nothing I can do. And I'm not letting you up there because you'd fall through the floor." and she calmed down to the point where all I had to do was say "I hear them." after her first bark and she stopped. I also was able to separate "excited" barking from "ya gotta do something right now" barking. Very helpful out here. I already knew about the "don't leave us" barking, but didn't have any idea of how to resolve it. It is only a problem when I have them in the car and they bark themselves silly until I get back. That, I think, is going to take more than a day to resolve. As always I enjoyed reading her book just for the style and vast amount of knowledge she can convey in such a small volume.

We have a 1+ year Jack Russle Terrier that barks at the TV, MAC, Things through the window, Other dogs, Loud Noises, Door Bells, .... Bought this book towards reducing / controlling such actions. The book is well written and has some ideas on how to do such but so far no major wins on barking. Will keep at it

Helpful and provided me insights to understand my dog much better. Greatly recommended to all the dog owners out there

Product is as described.

I live in an apartment building with an 11 month old Chihuahua Miniature Pinscher mix who I literally got a month ago from someone who just could not take care of him. My dog felt the need to bark at our neighbour in the hallway from inside our apartment, bark at people passing by on the street, bark at other dogs, bark at cyclists and pretty much anything that moved. There's a lot of information in this book and step by step instructions on what to do particularly with guests arriving in your home, approaching other dogs, the different barks/sounds a dog makes that mean very different things, barking in the car, barking from being left alone and etc. I found this all to be very helpful and specifically that it actually worked! To my amazement and relief (again I live in an apartment building). It's a short read but highly insightful. Although, I'm a first time dog owner I have not seen other dog owners in the neighbourhood perform these techniques. I will be purchasing more books from this author for sure!

Excelente libro!! El cual va más allá del tema de los ladridos y sus tipos. Más bien, alrededor de estos comportamientos vocales nos ayuda a formarnos una valiosa aproximación conceptual y práctica del comportamiento canino en su unidad con el comportamiento humano, haciéndonos notar lo cerca que estamos como animales mamíferos, en la escala del largo camino de la evolución, en nuestras respuestas sentimentales y emocionales.

Clair et précis, ce livre donne les clés pour résoudre les problèmes d'aboiements selon leurs origines. J'en ai été très satisfaite.