Why dogs bark at window cleaners… and why you shouldn’t stop them

I often get asked by dog owners to help them stop their dogs from barking at the window cleaner. It’s a question that pops up frequently, and understandably so – having your dog barking non-stop while someone is cleaning the windows can be frustrating. But, every time I’m asked this, my answer is the same: no, don’t try to train your dog to stop barking at the window cleaner.

Now, you might be wondering why I’d say that. Isn’t barking something we usually try to train out of our dogs, especially when it becomes a nuisance? The truth is, there’s a good reason why your dog barks at the window cleaner, and it’s not necessarily a behaviour you need to fix. In this blog, I’m going to explain why that is, and why managing the situation is far better than trying to suppress what is, after all, a perfectly natural behaviour for your dog.

Understanding Why Your Dog Barks

First of all, it’s important to recognise that barking is a completely normal behaviour for dogs. It’s how they communicate, and they do it for a variety of reasons, many of which are deeply instinctive. There are three main reasons your dog might bark:

1. Alerting the Pack: Some dogs bark to let their pack – that’s you and your family – know that something is happening. They hear a noise, see movement, or sense something different, and their immediate reaction is to inform everyone that something’s up. Essentially, they’re saying, “Hey, there’s something unusual going on. Take note!”
2. Warning Off a Threat: Dogs also bark to warn off potential threats. If something or someone comes near your home, your dog might bark to tell them to keep their distance. It’s their way of saying, “This is our space, and you’re too close for comfort!” This is especially true for dogs who are protective of their territory and their family.
3. Calling for Backup: If your dog feels unsure or threatened by something, they may bark as a way to call for reinforcements. They want their pack – again, that’s you and your family – to come and help them deal with the situation. It’s their way of rallying support, thinking, “I can’t handle this on my own – I need help!”

Why the Window Cleaner is a Special Case

When it comes to the window cleaner, all of these reasons for barking are in play, but with an added layer of confusion for your dog. Unlike regular visitors like the postman or delivery person, the window cleaner behaves in a way that’s completely out of the ordinary.

Think about it from your dog’s perspective: the postman arrives at the front door every day, drops off the mail, and leaves. Delivery people are much the same – they approach the front door, deliver the parcel, and then they’re gone. Even regular visitors to your home follow a predictable pattern: they knock on the door, you answer, and they are either let in or turned away.

But your window cleaner? Well, they do things very differently. They don’t come to the front door like other visitors. Instead, they appear around the outside of your home, at unpredictable intervals (maybe every six to eight weeks), and they don’t behave like a typical guest. They’re tapping on windows, looking in, moving from window to window, and going around the front and back of your house.

To your dog, this behaviour is highly suspicious – and rightly so! After all, who else do you know that goes around your house peering through windows and checking out every angle? If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s your window cleaner, you’d probably think the same! Your dog doesn’t understand that you’ve hired this person to clean the windows. As far as they’re concerned, this stranger is acting like a burglar – a potential intruder who’s sizing up your home.

Why It’s Hard to Train This Behaviour Out

If you wanted to stop your dog from barking at the window cleaner, it would take an incredible amount of work. For starters, this kind of barking is driven by very primal instincts – your dog need to feel safe in their space. Suppressing that natural urge would require you to go against their deepest instincts, which isn’t an easy task.

Secondly, you’d have to recreate the situation regularly for training purposes. But since the window cleaner only comes every few months, you’d have very few opportunities to practise. To put it in perspective, if you were training your dog to improve their recall, you’d practise several times on every walk. But with the window cleaner, you’re looking at six to eight opportunities per year – and that’s not nearly enough to make any real progress.

You might think of bringing in some more aversive methods, but that’s not something I’d ever recommend. Not only do they carry risks for your dog’s emotional wellbeing. After all, no one’s mental health ever benefitted from being punished for simply trying to feel safe! But it’s also unnecessary for a problem that can be managed far more easily in kind ways.

Managing the Situation Instead

Instead of trying to teach your dog to stop barking at the window cleaner, it’s much simpler and kinder to manage the situation. Here are a few things you can do to keep the peace when your window cleaner arrives:

• Take your dog for a walk. If you know when the window cleaner is coming, take your dog out for a nice long walk during that time. It’s the easiest way to avoid the barking and gives both you and your dog a break.
• Move your dog to another room. If walking isn’t an option, simply moving your dog to a room where they can’t see or hear the window cleaner can help. Out of sight, out of mind!
• Create a safe space. Give your dog a quiet, comforting space they can retreat to when the window cleaner is around. This could be their crate or a specific room where they feel secure.

Why Suppressing the Barking Isn’t Necessary

Lastly, it’s worth considering that your dog’s barking at the window cleaner isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If it was 2 a.m. and someone was snooping around your house, wouldn’t you want your dog to bark and let you know? In those moments, you’d be very grateful for their barking!

So, training your dog not to react to “burglar-like” behaviour doesn’t sit right with me. In fact, for the small inconvenience of your dog barking at the window cleaner a few times a year, it’s far better to manage the situation than to try to suppress their natural instincts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while barking at the window cleaner might feel like a nuisance, it’s actually your dog’s way of feeling safe from what they perceive as a potential threat. Instead of trying to train them out of it, managing the situation by taking them for a walk or removing them from the area is a far more practical solution.

So next time your window cleaner arrives and your dog starts barking, just remember that they’re only doing what comes naturally to them – and that’s something to be respected, not trained away.