Our neighbor has a Schnauzer, which Sunny absolutely adores and calls her “big dog buddy.” However, we rarely see it during the day; usually, we only run into it occasionally when walking our dogs at night.Our floor has eight small apartments. The neighbor mentioned that her dog is quite strange—it’s normally very well-behaved, but every time one particular household returns home, her dog starts barking wildly.If other neighbors come back and make noise, the dog doesn’t bark at all—only that one household, and the barking is very intense and aggressive.Sunny, on the other hand, doesn’t bark nonstop just because someone walks by the door; she might bark a few times, but it’s random and not targeted. When her “good friend” walks past outside, I can feel how excited she gets.This clearly shows that dogs’ ears and noses are incredibly sensitive—they can distinguish exactly who is passing by outside.So what could be the reasons behind a dog suddenly barking furiously? Here are a few possible explanations:
-
Sensing Strange or Unpleasant Smells
Anyone who has owned a dog knows their sense of smell is incredibly sharp. Dogs can detect subtle odors that humans can’t even notice.If someone is, say, a butcher, the dog might smell the scent of blood on them and therefore dislike that person, barking uncontrollably whenever they see them.It’s even said that if a person has eaten something like dog meat, dogs can smell that too and might develop a strong dislike for that individual.
-
Fear or Dislike of a Specific Person
Although dogs don’t have the best memory, their emotional memories are surprisingly strong.They remember people or events they like or dislike for a long time.If a dog has ever been frightened or scolded by someone, it might develop a kind of “psychological shadow” related to that person, causing it to bark fiercely every time they appear.This behavior shows fear—it’s the dog trying to bluff and scare the person away.
-
Territorial Instinct and Alertness
Dogs have a strong sense of territory. When a stranger enters their domain, the dog perceives this as a threat and barks loudly to drive the intruder away.I used to pass by a house with a dog on my way to school. Every time someone walked by, it would bark furiously until the person was far away.This kind of dog is a classic guard dog—its job is to protect the home by scaring off strangers.There are also dogs that don’t bark but instead just stare at you unblinkingly. They’re said to be even scarier because they’re confident in their own strength. If you really offend them, running away might be too late.
-
Picking Up on Their Owner’s Dislike—Loving and Hating by Association
Dogs are really fascinating—they can sense if their owner dislikes someone.If the owner doesn’t like a person, the dog often follows suit and starts to dislike them as well. Sometimes, the dog will bark at that person every time they meet, as if trying to scare them off.In chatting with my neighbor, I finally understood why her dog only barks at that one household.Apparently, that family often leaves their food scraps by the door after meals and doesn’t take them out for days, letting the garbage rot and smell badly.Despite several complaints, nothing has changed. The dog must have sensed its owner’s hatred toward that family. So every time it hears them coming back, it barks wildly—like it’s scolding them on behalf of its owner.
So far, Sunny hasn’t had any experiences of barking wildly at anyone.Has your dog ever done that?