We have always had medium to large dogs in our family, and I have certainly heard my parents express this sentiment about small dogs: the smaller they are, the more noise they make! That certainly sounds like a sweeping generalization but is there any truth to this belief?
Why do small dogs bark a lot? Do they really bark more than large ones?
Small dogs may indeed bark more but only some are genetically predisposed to be very vocal. Research suggests that small dogs are treated differently and receive less training because they are taken less seriously. In other words, owners often condition their little pets to be noisy.
Causes Of Nuisance Barking
Attention Seeking
Barking to demand attention is an example of dominant behavior in dogs. Some dogs may also lick the owner’s hand to get a neck rub or a treat.
Wrong Rewards
We often pet or treat our pets when they act out to get some attention, without realizing that we perpetuate the demanding behavior. Many owners treat a dog just to make it settle down and stop barking. The dog then learns to associate barking with rewards.
Breeding Selection
Many dog breeds have historically had a specific function in people’s lives. Corgis and beagles, for instance, had an obligation to be vocal due to their roles in farm life in the past. These dogs, and many others, were selectively bred to be loud and communicative.
Boredom and Separation Anxiety
Many dogs who struggle with being alone at home, due to boredom or separation anxiety, express their frustration by barking and howling. If your pup does need to stay alone for long hours, provide some good toys and dog puzzles.
Defending Territory
Dogs, in general, will bark to let others know to stay away. The dog may also be alerting the owner of danger. Small dogs may be more likely to perceive a passer-by as a threat, so defensive barking and growling are common for many little pooches.
Excitement
If a dog barks, jumps, wags its tail and maybe tries to lick your hands, she is excited to see you. Still, that behavior is not appropriate or desirable in many situations.
Do Small Dogs Really Bark More?
The way a particular breed has functioned in society is more predictive of the dog’s vocalization patterns than the dog’s measurements. If dogs of the breed were bred to be vocal – usually to guard property, herd livestock, or assist on hunting trips – the animal is likely to be a vocal one.
There may, however, be some truth to the notion that smaller dogs, in general, are more excitable and more likely to bark at noises, movement, people, animals, and sometimes seemingly for no reason.
Small pups may view everything as more threatening because other objects appear large and imposing to them. If, say, a Bernese Mountain dog encounters a Maltese, the latter is more likely to feel threatened by the large and mighty Berner than the other way around.
The ways in which owners treat their large versus small dogs are often strikingly different. We may inadvertently condition our small dogs to bark more.
Differences In The Behaviors Of Small And Large Dogs
Christine Arhart leads a team of scientists at the University of Veterinarian Medicine in Vienna to conduct a study of dog behavior. The team compared the excitability and aggressiveness of smaller and larger dogs. According to the findings, there are some significant differences:
- Owners indeed perceive their small pets to be more excitable, anxious, and aggressive than large ones.
- Small pets score lower on obedience.
Owners Treat Small Dogs Differently
The team also studied the differences in the treatment of small versus large dogs by the owners. Some of the differences were self-reported by the owners themselves:
- Owners of larger dogs dedicate more time to training them.
- Owners of large dogs are also more consistent with maintaining the rules, responding to misbehavior and phrasing commands the same way.
- Scolding and punishing inconsistently is counterproductive for any animal but the negative effect is greater on small canines. Intense and inconsistent punishment is associated with increased anxiety and fear-based aggression in small dogs.
- The adverse impact of inconsistent or negative training is stronger on small animals.
Perhaps the differences in treatment stem from the tendency to view large animals as needing more discipline and training because they are more likely to frighten someone when they vocalize. They are viewed as capable of causing injury or fear, so they have to be disciplined.
We consider their smaller peers less serious or threatening, which is why they often do not get the benefit of structure and consistency.
At the same time, consistency, rules, and training are crucial elements in the task of helping the dog self-regulate behavior and manage anxiety. If a stressful situation arises, the dog just needs to follow the rules or look at the owner to know how to respond to a situation.
How To Discourage Nuisance Barking
If your pup comes from a breed known for being loud, training and changing behavior may take longer.
It is important to determine if there are triggers for barking. It is also crucial to make sure that there is nothing that you do to perpetuate the issue, inadvertently.
| Intervention | How it helps |
| Provide opportunities to exercise | Excess energy can be hard to contain and a dog who runs and plays as needed is far more likely to lash out due to boredom. |
| Ignore the barking dog | It is important to avoid reinforcing the nuisance behavior. If your dog barks to get attention, it is vital to avoid giving her attention when she is barking. Pet your dog when she is calm and quiet. |
| Avoid rewarding bad behavior | Avoid giving a treat or picking up to hold when your pet is barking without an apparent reason. Many owners do so in order to calm the dog, but doing so rewards and perpetuates the behavior. |
| Teach the ‘quiet’ command | Most dogs can learn this command, or a version of it, very well. Use it consistently, calmly, and firmly. Reinforce compliance with treats and other forms of reward, until the dog responds to this command appropriately and reliably. |
| Provide opportunities to socialize | If she is used to seeing strangers, cars, and other dogs, she is less likely to bark at them. |
| Address separation anxiety | If your pup is anxious alone at home, find something to alleviate her anxiety. You could try leaving some noises on for her, such as the TV – something to create a sense of normalcy for your pet. Close the blinds if you feel that your dog is reactive to the noises and visual stimuli outside. |
| Be consistent | The rules and expectations should not change. If you do not respond the same way to the dog’s misbehavior, your pet could be confused, which triggers anxiety and, hence, more barking. |
| Avoid punishing | Physical punishment and verbal scolding/raising the voice could increase anxiety and behaviors associated with it. Punishment is also cruel and confusing to the dog. Animals do not learn to change their behavior by being punished, they develop fear or aggression instead. |
To Conclude
So, small dogs may indeed be louder overall. The behavior is multifactorial in nature, and the bottom line is that we can address it by changing the way we treat our small dogs and by providing more consistent training for them.
Not all small dogs are prone to barking but if your pet belongs to a breed known for this behavior, it could take some time and patience to train your pup to change the way it responds to things. It is definitely easier to train puppies and young dogs but even older pets learn to modify their habits at least to some degree with proper training.
