5. Barking for joy
But there are also nice occasions: Sometimes puppies just bark Joy. They often do this for… greeting: When you come home, they often sense it from a greater distance. They can hardly believe it and become very loud because of their happiness.
Typically the little four-legged friend has a very excited-enthusiastic body language with a wagging tail, and “welcome pee” is often still the order of the day for young animals.
There really isn't much reason to worry. The barking only lasts for a short time, and it should calm down again once the dog has made physical contact with you.
6. Fear
When your puppy comes into the house, he is probably very curious and will not be fazed by anything. But that changes: From around the 12th week of life The second phase of socialization begins, sometimes referred to by experts as “fear phase” designated.
During this time, the four-legged friends are suddenly very skittish. That's a good thing, because fear is a very important survival strategy in the wild.
As soon as dogs become frightened, Stress hormones poured out. The puppy often reacts aggressively, so it can happen that he barks at you, often accompanied by a yelp or whine. Body language is usually defensive.
7. stress & Overwhelm
But stress hormones are also released when… Puppy overloaded becomes. This is often the case Lack of sleep: Very young dogs need to rest a lot; snooze times of around 18 hours a day are actually normal.
But not every dog child gets what they need: If things get very wild in the household, the animal will hardly be able to fulfill its rest quota. When the puppy doesn't get enough sleep, it often behaves strangely and then barks at you, for example.
Also physical and mental overload can then play a role, for example when walks are too long or if the young dog does not understand a training session.
8. Separation anxiety
Many dog owners make the mistake of leaving their puppies at a very early age without any preparation to be left alone in the apartment for a long time. This is absolute torture for the four-legged friends; they react very frightened and are often traumatized.
If you ask your neighbors, you will probably hear that the puppy left alone whined and barked a lot. This nervous behavior often continues even when you are back in the house.
Separation anxiety is not something to be trifled with: Many four-legged friends still have behavioral problems in adulthood because they were left unattended too early and/or too long as puppies.
9. reaction to stimuli
Also have puppies and young dogs excellent senses: They smell and hear excellently, for example they can detect high-frequency sounds or people and animals that are very far away from our home.
This means that the little four-legged friends perceive many more stimuli than we do. In some cases they respond by barking.
10. guard instinct
Some puppies, especially older ones, are particularly susceptible to stimuli. That has above all genetic reasons: Certain breeds, especially those bred as working and herding dogs, have a very strong alert instinct.
If they notice an alleged intruder, they want to let you know immediately. They then bark excitedly at you and then often move in the direction of the “troublemaker”.
On the one hand, this is a good sign because the puppy accepts you as an “alpha animal” and the most important caregiver. On the other hand, it can also take on a life of its own that the four-legged friend becomes a problematic barker in adulthood.
11. Invitation to play
Puppies often use barking when they just want to have fun with you. They then do this to get you to to encourage play.
They often only bark briefly, have an excited posture and sometimes even have a small ball in their mouth.
If you do not comply with this request, it is quite possible that the four-legged friend will become a little more aggressive, continue to bark and also nudge or jump at you.
The Play instinct is very important for puppieswhich is why you have to respond to such requests regularly. It not only serves to pass the time, but also trains the social behavior of the young animals.
12. First sign of house training
Does your puppy bark desperately at you and then “pee” or even do his big “business”? In the future you should no longer ignore it, because the cause can be a very happy one.
Puppies need a lot of training but also a lot of understanding before moving step by step house trained become. Once they have reached this stage of development, you of course have to take him outside and praise him extensively for his work, otherwise the puppy could give up and continue into your apartment.
13. Pains
In some cases, however, they can also Pains be a reason why your puppy barks at you. He then becomes more desperate and the release of stress hormones also makes him more excited.
Pain in puppies is comparatively common: They are normal, for example, during changing teeth and due to Growth spurts. However, there are also some diseases in which chronic pain occurs, for example due to genetic factors or malformations of the skeleton or musculoskeletal system.