Average Reading Time: 2 minutes, 36 seconds

Want to learn more about dog aggression?

Tune into my twice-monthly podcast on dog aggression, Dog Aggression Answers.

Barking in the backyard is a common behavior for dogs, and humans don’t always appreciate it on either side of the fence. What many people don’t know is that the act of barking can be a self-rewarding behavior for dogs – they like barking! We need to get it under control, as it typically only gets worse for a number of reasons.

In your dog’s mind, however, there’s always a good reason to bark, so the first thing to do is figure out why they want to bark in your backyard. It’s always best to find the root cause first. If the root cause can be addressed, the barking will usually be eliminated or at least reduced.

I find that there are two primary reasons that dogs bark in backyards:

The first and most common reason dogs bark in the backyard is barking directed at humans and/or dogs walking by the fence. Many dogs feel threatened when they see humans and/or dogs walking by and feel compelled to bark at them in order to scare them away. The barking behavior is reinforced when this happens. How? In 100% of the cases, these triggers always move on down the road as the dog is barking. The dog thinks, “That certainly worked! I’m going to keep doing that!”.

The second most common reason that dogs bark in the backyard is their prey drive. Dogs, if nothing else, are predators, and many of them simply cannot resist barking at and chasing squirrels, birds, possums, rabbits, etc. in the back lawn. Yes, I know, your dog has been barking at and chasing these small critters for eight years and has never gotten one. Most dogs just can’t resist “the chase,” even though it is rarely, if ever, successful. In short, don’t wait for it to stop.

Given the two primary reasons for barking in the backyard, here are four ways to address unwanted backyard barking:

Keep them indoors rather than leaving them outside all day. They won’t bark at what they don’t see or hear. Get your dog crate trained if necessary.
If there are holes in your fence that they find irresistible, cover them. If you have a chain-link or wrought-iron fence, change the fence so that your dog can’t see through it, or, at the least, create a section that blocks their view and confine them in it. If your dog can’t see triggers, they usually don’t bark. This is probably the single most successful thing that can be done to help get barking in the backyard under control.
If your dog seems to be barking at nothing in the backyard, they’re likely bored. Think honestly about whether your dog is getting enough mental and physical exercise in general. Ensure you’re exercising your dog every day. Dogs need lots of exercise and also want attention from you. Thirty minutes of exercise (e.g., a walk) in the morning will go a long way toward helping your dog settle down and reduce barking. You may consider having someone come over at lunch to exercise them a second time each day if you’re not able to.
Food puzzle toys and hollow rubber toys (e.g., Kong toys) that can be stuffed with treats are great entertainment for dogs. They give your dog something fun to do while you are temporarily gone. Keep a couple on hand so you can leave one for them in your absence.

You can combine these techniques or use them individually. It is unreasonable to expect your dog to never bark, as barking is the way dogs communicate their intentions with the world, but these simple techniques can go a long way to address the root causes of barking in the backyard.