15 Reasons Why Barking At Dogs Is Dangerous

1. Provoking Aggression

Dogs, particularly those with stress or anger issues, can get aggressive when bark at them, invading their personal space. The bark is often perceived by the dog as a show of aggression.

As they know their owners well, most dogs will not react the first time or give a dumbfounded expression. However, if the dog is stressed or belongs to an aggressive dog breed, it might react negatively.

The reaction shown by these dogs is often comparable to spoilt children who always want the upper hand in everything; the same is true in some dogs who can be provoked by a small sound or a bark from their owners.

2. Miscommunication

Dogs don't understand human language and neither do they perceive human barking as a real bark. This situation can create confusion as the dog is left to wonder about the essence of the thing said by its owner.

In some cases, the dog may associate the human bark as the closest sounding command that it has learned and race to complete the task. And, when their parents don't react as expected or don't give them their usual treats, the dog will be visibly confused as to where did they go wrong.

3. Triggering Fear

For all their lives, dogs get used to the idea that barking from other dogs is a sign of potential threat and conflict. But, when you bark at your dog for the first time, it may not be able to link the sound to their humans. Instead, they perceive this bark as a sign that another dog is hiding somewhere.

Barking automatically triggers fear and a defense mechanism; when the bark is frequently repeated, they may attack their owners as an instinctive response to a possible danger.

4. Reinforcing Bad Behavior

You may have seen parents pretending to cry to make their babies stop crying. While this method often works with human infants, the success rate is far lower in dogs.

When you try to bark back to the dog as a way to give them the taste of their own medicines, it can hugely backfire. Dogs who bark frequently, upon hearing the return bark, will assume it as an approval of their initial bark and may even try to bark harder.

5. Triggering Past Trauma

Just like humans, dogs can develop PTSD if they are raised in an abusive home. While dogs move on quickly from their traumatic experiences, the memory can still be triggered by visual or audio stimulants.

Loud noises are a common PTSD trigger for humans and dogs alike. When they hear a loud barking or an unfriendly noise, dogs may show PTSD-like symptoms.

PTSD in dogs can be treated with therapy and the presence of a loving owner. As they get used to their new homes away from the traumatic environment, they recover quickly and may not show any times over time. However, loud barks or a similar experience can make them relive the horrors of their previous home.

6. Inviting Attacks in Pack Situations

This is a possible threat, especially in homes with multiple dogs. When in a group, dogs often behave as a pack, with a clear hierarchy among them. Inherited from their wolf ancestors, this pack mentality can help them hunt a much larger animal and protect against predators.

While this pack mentality is harmless to humans in most cases, a human jokingly barking at a group of dogs can have dangerous consequences. If the dogs assume the human as a possible threat, one aggressive dog is enough to incite the others to attack the human. It's dangerous enough against one dog, never try to pretend barking at a group.

7. Encouraging Dominance

As pack animals, dogs always want their owners to assume the position of leaders. However, not all dogs are submissive and may even try to dominate their human parents as the alpha of the family.

While this behavior is often reduced by proper training, dogs still retain some of their nature of showing dominance to others. When a human jokingly barks near them, they may become aggressive and try to show dominance over their owners.

Although the dog will eventually calm down, the sudden reaction can turn destructive- they can cause you serious physical injury or even destroy precious items in your home in a matter of minutes.

8. Confusing Commands

During their training and time spent with humans, dogs began to understand the gist of what the person was trying to say. Body language and the tone of voice also play crucial roles in how dogs communicate with humans.

While the canine might not be pursuing the bark as a threat, it will still not pursue the sound as a legitimate command. Hearing a bark is usually a call for danger or intimation in the dog world. But, when the bark is paired with the playful body language of a human, visible confusion may arise in dogs.

As a result, many dogs might start responding poorly to regular commands from their humans, hindering the training process.

9. Reducing Trust

How would you feel if your dog pranked you by asking to go outdoors for a morning poop but immediately runs back once you reach outside? Though not a great analogy, dogs do like they're being pranked when a human mockingly barks at them to test their reaction. 

Humans and dogs have had a friendship of thousands of years based on love and mutual trust. What happens when a human breaks that trust? Well, the dog may not trust the dog again.

Dogs, particularly those rescued from abusive families, have a hard time trusting a human again once their faith is shattered.

10. Causing Overstimulation

Due to sensitive hearing, dogs can get triggered easily. When they are already stressed, even a low bark can be overwhelming for the canine to cope.

Regularly barking at your dog can make it overstimulated, which could then result in aggressive or unwanted behavior. Such behaviors can be the pup jumping uncontrollably, barking back, or even biting the owner.

11. Physical Harm

Dogs consider their humans as members of their pack and will never wish harm on them. However, as they don't have the same thinking capacity as humans, canines are more likely to make an impulsive reaction when anxious.

Humans or other dogs barking at them sets off the same reaction as activated by a confusing or anxious situation. And, as their protective instincts take over, they might perceive their human friend as a danger, triggering a dog bite in the process.

Dogs normally don't attack their owners even when barked at first. However, all dogs have individual nature that can make them attack and cause physical danger to humans.

12. Increasing Anxiety in Nervous Dogs

Nervous dogs often get carried away easily by the slightest disturbance in their surrounding. A bark is a possible trigger in almost every canine, more so in dogs with anxiety issues.

As these dogs become anxious, they become unpredictable, risking a chance of a physical attack. Meanwhile, some dogs may go into hiding and may not come out until they feel a sense of safety.

13. Increasing Territorial Behavior

Dogs are extremely territorial animals; they mark their territory and often become hostile when a strange dog invades it. The dog may not initially recognize a human barking at them; instead, they may assume the unique sound to be made by a rival dog who wants to take over their home.

The feeling of an invader can set off their natural defenses, with some even trying to pursue the source of the sound. They eventually give up this action and settle down; however, playing the same trick multiple times can irritate the dog to the point of getting physically aggressive.

14. Undermining Training Efforts

Dogs spend years learning to react to specific human words and keep up with the commands given by their owners. When they are in the middle of training, barking can get them distracted and unable to securely follow a command.

Similarly, if the barking is done regularly, it has the potential to undermine years of training. With each of these pranks, the dog becomes more resilient and may start to ignore their owners, even during valid commands.

15. Setting a Bad Example

Children try to mimic the behavior of adults as a playful gesture. While this innocent mimicry is harmless in most cases, this can be extremely dangerous if the behavior they're trying to copy is particularly destructive.

When children see their parents or other adults in their lives bark at their dogs and laugh about it, they will mistake the behavior as a way of playing with the canines. However, they may not fully grasp the grievousness of the situation.

What Do Dogs Think When You Bark At Them?

To be honest, all dogs don't interpret the same meaning when you are barking at dogs. Based on their training, socialization, and past experiences, the same of each dog might be different.

While some dogs believe the bark as an invitation to play and may even get visibly curious about the noise, most dogs exhibit negative reactions when hearing humans bark at them.

In most cases, barks are a reminder of an emergency or danger, forcing the dog to react accordingly. Due to their instincts for survival, dogs might start a physical confrontation to eliminate any possible threats, thus making barking at them extremely dangerous.

What Happens If You Bark At A Dog?

Most dogs don't suddenly turn violent at the first glance of a human barking. In most cases, you will notice a visible confusion on their face or no reaction at all. This is true of dogs that were socialized from a young age or have known humans for years.

Barking at dogs has a particularly higher likeliness of triggering a violent reaction in rescued dogs, mainly in dogs who were abused by their owners. Assuming the bark to be a precursor to danger, these dogs can try to physically intimate the humans or even try to bite them.

So, although it appears harmless at the first glance, barking at dogs should not be considered harmless due to the unpredictable nature of dogs and the damage they can do with their physical strength.