Is Your Dog Just Barking for Attention?

We’ve all been there. You’re in an important Zoom call, engrossed in an exciting new book, or locked into the season finale of your favorite show when, suddenly, it starts. Your dog is barking for seemingly no reason. There’s no mail carrier outside, and no one’s even said the word “outside,” but nevertheless, something’s got them riled up.

What do they even want? Often, our dogs bark at us because they want or need something specific. They’ve realized it’s dinner time, they’re itching for a walk, or they’re begging you to break away from your laptop and run laps in the backyard with them instead. But if you’ve ever suspected that your pup is prodding you just for attention, you could be right. 

According to Laurie Lawless, a certified dog behavior consultant and owner of Shelter Behavior Integrations, dogs do sometimes bark as a way of shouting, “Notice me!” That said, she adds, whenever our pups choose to bark, we need to treat it like a form of communication, not just a nuisance. When it comes to barking, any barking, she says, we must ask: “How do we meet their needs, and how do we figure out their language?”

Why is my dog barking at me?

If you suspect your dog is barking just to bark, it can help to rule out other possibilities first. You can start with some of the most common instigators.

They need something.

Our dogs depend on us to help them satisfy most of their basic needs, and barking is often their way of asking for help. They can’t let themselves outside or open the pantry to pour themselves a fresh bowl of food, so they verbally nudge us. 

Lawless compares this kind of barking to a human asking someone taller to grab something off the high shelf at the grocery store. “We will sometimes see the similar behavior of a dog wanting to go outside and hitting the door repeatedly with their paws,” she says. “That is the same type of behavior as demand barking. They’re requesting something, and it’s our job to decipher what it is.”

If your dog does a lot of this, Lawless suggests training them to perform specific actions as cues. For example, you could train them to sit by the door, boot your knee and run toward the door, or ring a bell when they need to go potty. For playtime, they can grab a toy and bring it to you. Clarifying their needs will help them get what they want faster (and more quietly) than by barking. 

They’re bored.

Humans aren’t the only ones who get punchy when we’re bored. Some dogs start barking “if they have an abundance of extra energy, and we haven't exercised them,” Lawless says. This counts double if we’ve never taught them another way to communicate that they want to play.

They just want our attention.

Don’t we all crave the spotlight sometimes? According to Dr. Carly Fox, senior veterinarian in the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center’s Emergency & Critical Care Service, our dogs are especially prone to this kind of barking if we’ve rewarded the behavior before. 

“Dogs can quickly learn that barking results in some sort of attention,” Dr. Fox says, and any kind of engagement, negative or positive, can reinforce the behavior.

How should I respond to my dog’s barking?

If your dog has just started belting out their favorite operatic howls, don’t fret. Instead, start with some light detective work to see what they might want. 

Lawless and Dr. Fox differ on how best to handle this. Dr. Fox advises that pet parents avoid responding in any way: “No eye contact, talking, or touching.” Ideally, she says, you’ll create a long-term plan to teach your dog what to do instead of barking. “For example, tell your dog to go to their bed or sit down. Then associate this alternative behavior with positivity — petting or a treat.”

Lawless, meanwhile, suggests engaging with your dog in the short-term while also creating, as Dr. Fox suggests, a long-term plan to modify the behavior. 

As for why Lawless isn’t a fan of the “just ignore them” idea? She herself received that advice from a dog trainer when she was younger: “Just wait until he’s calm.” The dog barked for 45 minutes, she says, “and by that point, he was just exhausted. And the next day, it was another 45 minutes.” 

If you plan to take Lawless’s approach, she suggests standing up and seeing how (or if) they try to guide you. If they grab a toy or try to lead you outside, that might offer some clues as to what they really want. Then, if the barking doesn’t stop after you’ve satisfied the need, Lawless suggests either distracting them with an activity or giving them some quiet time. This can mean a few minutes of crate time if they’re crate trained, and if not, it could be a few minutes in another room with a toy. 

Either way, it’s important that you also work on a plan to help them communicate more clearly.

One thing Lawless doesn’t suggest? Punishing your dog for barking. “Typically, there is a reason the dog is attempting to communicate with you,” Lawless says. “If we suppress that communication, we’re not really meeting that dog’s welfare needs.”

Does this kind of attention seeking ever signal a bigger problem?

If the barking is sporadic and doesn’t last too long, then it’s probably just your dog being a dog. As Dr. Fox points out, barking for attention is “normal for many dogs and is their way of communicating. Dogs are social animals and often will express their needs this way.”

At the same time, if the barking is constant or lasts for long periods of time, it’s worth examining further. As Lawless points out, some dogs might bark a lot because they’re feeling emotionally dysregulated. This can be especially common among pups who are fresh out of the shelter, Lawless says; they “may get to your house and not even know what they want.” 

Setting a predictable schedule can help all dogs, including fresh arrivals, feel more settled. That means set times for walks and meals, plus some dedicated playtime. But that doesn’t mean doing away with all spontaneity. Just like with children, Lawless says, “I think we want to balance creating a nice, predictable schedule but also adding novelty in so that it’s never so predictable that it gets boring.”

All of that said, if your dog is well fed, properly exercised, and enjoys lots of playtime but still can’t stop barking, it’s worth consulting a professional. Same goes for dogs who suddenly begin barking for attention when they’ve never done so in the past.

“Always start with that veterinary check to make sure the dog doesn't have anything going on, that they're unable to communicate otherwise,” Lawless says. Then, you might look into professional training.

Whether your pup is an intermittent barker or a marathoner whose yowls echo off the walls, the most important thing to remember is that they’re trying to tell you something. As busy as we might be, Lawless says, “I think it's really important that we recognize that we’ve brought the dogs into our lives and take care of them as we would any other member of the household.”