Laurie Lawless, founder of Shelter Behavior Integrations (SBI), was recently interviewed by Kinship, an organization specializing in expert pet care guidance. During their interview, Laurie and the Kinship team discussed the intricacies of demand and attention barking, with special emphasis on how pet parents should respond to this common type of behavior. Check out Kinship’s website to read Laurie’s interview and to access other helpful pet care information!

Because this is such an important topic for both pet parents and animal welfare specialists, we’ve decided to expand on it here on the SBI blog! Let’s talk about how we can re-frame how we think about dog behavior, both in and out of the shelter.

Barking & Stress

First, let’s state the obvious: demand and attention barking is stressful. Research has shown that constant barking leads to higher stress levels in shelter animals, and a study examining the effect of environmental noise on stress levels found that dog barking led to significantly high physiological signs of stress in human subjects. Shelter workers see anecdotal evidence of these findings every day–a loud shelter environment leads to stressed dogs, staff, and potential adopters.

When faced with high stress and overwhelm, it’s tempting to take the easy road: blame the dog and try to stop the behavior. However, when we don’t slow down and examine why a dog is barking, we’re likely to make the problem worse. What’s more, we leave opportunities for enhanced animal welfare on the table.

The “Ignore It” Method

The “ignore it” method is a commonly suggested strategy for dealing with demand and attention barking. In the abstract, the logic of this method seems sound: if a dog barks for attention, don’t give them the attention and they’ll eventually stop. Dog trainers who give this advice often do so under the very real premise that any response–whether positive or negative–will reinforce behavior in a dog. By removing the response, the behavior will eventually dissipate. Sounds simple enough, right?

A black-and-grey dog stands in a shelter kennel area with its paws on the enclosure door. Behind them, the back half of a brown dog is visible, along with a covered crate and various toys. — “Bad behavior,” like barking or tearing up bedding, is often a sign of an unmet need. As animal welfare professionals, it’s our job to look through the behavior and decipher the need beneath it.

A Quick Segue into Human Psychology

Interestingly, this same strategy is regularly suggested to parents of human babies. Popularized by 20th century behaviorist John Watson, the “cry it out” method suggests that too much parental affection results in whiny, dependent children. Instead of responding to their baby’s cries throughout the night, behaviorists like Watson encourage parents to ignore them to promote independence and self-sufficiency.

Again, this response seems like it works. After ignoring a baby’s cries long enough, the cries will eventually stop. Parents get a full night’s sleep, babies learn to be self-sufficient, and everybody’s happy… right?

What behaviorists like Watson failed to recognize is that this response has the opposite effect. Like dogs, human babies are entirely dependent on their parents to meet their most basic needs. After consistent failure to get these needs met, human children will learn that they cannot rely on their caregivers. Instead of promoting self-sufficiency, this results in high levels of emotional dysregulation. Babies subjected to the “cry it out” method often end up growing into dysregulated, co-dependent adults.

So… What Does This Have to Do With Dogs?

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: humans and dogs are very different. We have different body language cues, sensory perceptions, and psychological processes. However, it’s interesting to note that dogs and human babies have one very important thing in common: they’re dependent on their caregivers to meet their most basic needs. Like babies, most domestic dogs rely on their human caregivers to provide them with food, water, bathroom breaks, and mental stimulation.

As Laurie noted in her interview with Kinship:

“Typically, there is a reason the dog is attempting to communicate with you. If we suppress that communication, we’re not really meeting that dog’s welfare needs.”

We are our dogs’ entire world. Domestic dogs have evolved to learn to perceive human emotional expressions in order to get their needs met, and it’s our job to respond in kind. While the “ignore it” method might be effective at suppressing barking, what does it really do to a dog’s sense of safety, ability to regulate, and trust in people?

Laurie Lawless stands beside a tan, on-leash dog. The dog sits beside a small, pink mat and a bowl, and it looks attentively up at Laurie. — Positive reinforcement training is one effective way to meet the physical and mental needs of shelter dogs, indirectly decreasing excess barking.

Re-Framing Your Response: 3 Steps Your Shelter Can Take Today

If the “ignore it” method doesn’t work, what are you supposed to do when faced with excessive barking at home or in the shelter? Here are 3 ways to re-frame how you think about demand and attention barking today.

1: Look Inward Before Placing Blame

When faced with excessive barking, many peoples’ knee-jerk reaction is to immediately place blame, label the dog as “bad” or “needy,” and resort to punishment or suppression. What if, instead of asking “what’s wrong with this dog?” you asked “how do [I] meet their needs, and how do [I] figure out their language?” This is the advice Laurie gave in her interview with Kinship, and it’s the first step toward a welfare-centered approach to barking. Here are a few questions to ask yourself if a dog in your care is barking excessively:

Do they have enough food?
Do they have enough water?
Have they pottied recently?
Have they been getting enough exercise?
Are they needing more mental stimulation?
Is their schedule predictable?
Are they getting enough attention?

All dogs–and especially shelter dogs–rely on a combination of consistency and novelty to satisfy their mental and physical needs. Before blaming your dog for excessive barking, consider whether you’ve established a consistent feeding, potty, and exercise schedule.

2: Modify Your Shelter to Fit the Need

Shelters are particularly dysregulating spaces, and excessive barking can have wide ranging impacts on everything from staff and animal welfare to adoption rates. Here are some ways to limit barking in your shelter while centering animal welfare along the way:

Provide enrichment: Ensure that all dogs in care have access to outdoor enrichment time and in-kennel stimulation. This can include things like food puzzles, playgroups (when appropriate), positive reinforcement training, and in-kennel time with staff. Adequate enrichment will help to manage energy levels and minimize noise in your kennel environment.
Keep kennels calm and comfortable: Utilize comfy bedding, noise dampening, and visual blockers to promote a comfortable and quiet kennel run with minimal excess noise and visual stimulation. Be sure to minimize any unnecessary sounds, like squeaking doors and rattling kennels, and loud cleaning equipment wherever possible, and consider housing easily stimulated dogs in quieter areas.
Consider audio and scent tools: Put calming noise to work for you by utilizing audiobooks, which have been shown to have a calming influence on dog behavior. Likewise, scents like ginger, v anilla, and valerian have been suggested as tools to reduce vocalization and activity in shelter dogs.

Laurie stands beside a shelter staff member. Laurie instructs the staff member as both hold onto a lead pole, attached to a toy that a dark-brown dog holds in its mouth. — Laurie offers hands-on training options for shelter staff, with the goal of empowering shelters to center animal behavior in their everyday practices.

3: If All Needs Are Met, Look to the Professionals

Sporadic barking is normal for dogs, especially when it only lasts for a short time and the dog responds well to interventions like the ones mentioned above. However, if you notice that a dog in your care is barking constantly, they don’t respond to calming efforts, and environmental interventions aren’t effective, there might be more to examine. Excessive barking that doesn’t stop often warrants a vet visit to rule out physical causes like pain or mental confusion. Once medical causes are ruled out, it might be time to access professional behavior intervention.

Laurie Lawless founded Shelter Behavior Integrations to help shelters center behavior in their everyday practices, and minimizing excessive barking is a big part of that. Laurie offers a number of on-site and remote services to address the root causes of behavior struggles in the shelter. Check out the SBI website to access educational resources, schedule a one-on-one call, and so much more.

Demand & Attention Barking: Re-Framing How We Think About Dogs