My anxious puppy barks at everyone and everything. How to stop it?

Question

Ruger barks at every new person he sees, it has gotten to the point where I go to the drive thru at McDonald's, and he'll bark at the the person's voice, and the people in the cars behind us... And in front of us... And beside us... If he sees himself in a reflection he'll start barking at himself. What can I do to keep him from doing that? Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Male | 5 months and 1 day old | 50 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Poor Ruger! It sounds like he's extremely anxious - barking at things like this is how dogs communicate that they are scared and uncomfortable. Especially in a 5-month-old puppy, this is very concerning because this behavior is likely to get worse as he gets older without proper treatment. There is also a significant risk that this may progress to lunging and biting when he is an adult, which is extremely serious in a large-breed dog like a GSD. Because of this, I would strongly recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Ruger in person and put together a detailed, step-by-step treatment plan to address this problem - success rates for treating behavior problems like this are highest when treatment starts while the dog is still a puppy, so I would do this now. Don't wait until he's older, or it will be much harder to make progress. The general approach to treatment for anxiety and barking like this involves teaching Ruger to be comfortable seeing strange people by associating them with treats and other good things - but for anxiety this severe, it will be extremely difficult to do this successfully on your own, which is why I really recommend seeing the behaviorist as soon as possible for some hands-on guidance. Medication may also be helpful, and the behaviorist can talk to you about this option as well. You can search for a veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

My anxious puppy barks at everyone and everything. How to stop it?

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