Does your dog keep you too well informed about every sight, sound, and happening around your neighborhood with more than enough barking?

Many dogs see themselves as chief alert officer and express their "duty to warn" through excessive barking. Every time the doorbell rings, other dogs pass by, or a squirrel appears, an alert-barking dog will make sure you know about it.

If that sounds like your dog, and what normal dog behavior has grown into more situations where your dog barks excessively, you've come to the right place. So how do you understand what's behind your dog's barks and work with your dog to stop barking?

Certified professional dog trainer and Dogly Advocate Tressa Fessenden-McKenzie created this guide for you and the many dog parents who ask what to do when their dog starts barking to alert them to all kinds of perceived alarms of daily life.

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Alert Barking Guide: The Why Behind Alert Barking & How to Stop It

What you'll learn in this guide on alert (aka alarm) barking & what you can do about it:

• What's behind your dog's barking and why dogs bark to alert everyone to various happenings around their home
• What to do for dogs barking out of sheer excitement rather than an alerting instinct
• What you never want to do if your dog barks
• What to do if your dog's behavior and barking is out of fear rather than alerting you

For fear-based situations, Tressa explains counter-conditioning, which is changing your dog's emotional response (fear) to a conditioned response of expecting only good things instead (high value treats).

What counter-conditioning success usually looks like

Counter-conditioning success looks like when a former fear trigger appears in sight, your dog makes eye contact with you with a look saying, "Hey, where are my treats?" And of course, you reinforce that reaction with high-value treats.

The happy result: no more (or very limited) dog barking and you and your dog have better, deeper communication between you.

(For an in-depth look at fear-based barking, check out the full guide dedicated to fear barking here in the Barking Channel.)

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How to replace your dog's alert barking with an alternate behavior such as "go to mat"

In the full guide, Tressa takes you through 4 steps to solidifying an alternate behavior so your dog will stop barking to alert you and want to do the other behavior instead...

Here's a quick overview...

1) First, teach your dog the alternate behavior separate from the trigger - a person at the door/ the doorbell rings, for example

(You can find Tressa's series on how to teach your dog "go to mat" here if this versatile skill, useful just about anytime you want a calm and quiet dog behavior, isn't already in your dog's repertoire.)

2) Then you can begin to add the knock or doorbell sound as a new cue for the behavior.

3) Have family members or friends help with your training by knocking or ringing the bell, then immediately give the cue and reinforce (with high-value treats).

Once your dog is calm, let the person in, and as your dog stays calm, give all the rewards - the treats + the attention of the visiting person.

4) Repeat and slowly fade out the behavior cue so the doorbell or knock becomes the cue for the alternate behavior (go to mat).

+ Pro tips on how to practice for success..

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Tressa shares how to practice the alternate behavior in training sessions to make it solid and reliable so your dog stops barking in real life situations. The full guide includes activities to try with different and less stressful triggers if best for your individual dog.

Over time with practice and experience in real life, your dog will learn to generalize this reaction (the alternate "go to mat" behavior) to more alert-barking triggers and want to choose the new behavior as more rewarding and comforting.

To get started addressing your dog's alert barking, jump into the full guide here.

Next up in the Barking Channel on Dogly

Once you have a good understanding of alert barking - and how to replace your dog's barking behavior with other behavior you want to see, check out the rest of the Barking Channel. You'll find guides dedicated to other barking problem solutions that may apply to your dog from demand barking to excitement barking, all from force-free, certified professional dog trainers and Dogly Advocates here to help you and your dog.

For any questions about your dog's barking, just ask in the discussion here in the Barking Channel.

Or if you ever need more personalized dog training guidance, please reach out!