to bark or not to bark

I've been busy reading through old posts, and all of you are so very helpful. Most questions I've had are already answered. We've been going through losts of puppy stuff that a lot of you have been through also, which gives me much needed comfort.
I do have a question that I haven't seen talked about. I live next door to a very vocal Pomeranian. He does not stop barking EVER. I've grown used to it over the years even at 3 in the morning :x . Well I was wondering if this will affect Chloe. She rarely barks, but she was outside barking back a bit yesterday, which is cute now, but I do not want her to be like the dog next door. Do you think she will pick up his terrible habit? So far she's been very afraid of him, but yesterday she was trying to tell him to shut up already :lol: I'd love to here about cavaliers' barking habits.

Here's Chloe doing what she does best


Then trying to act innocent,

It seems that cavaliers barking habits really depend on the personality of the dog. Within my three, there is a huge variation.

Cody is the sweet silent type, the only bark I have ever heard out of him is when he is wrestling with Zoey or chasing the cat.

I still have yet to hear a real bark out of Zoey, but boy is she mouthy when she plays!! She doesn't bark at noises or knocks at the door at all, she just runs asnd looks at what all the fuss is about (like Cody).

Wesley however, is my barker. He is like a security system that goes off at every squirrel, duck or golfer that passes our yard. He also does a sound off lap in the morning, like he is trying to stir up trouble at 7am. I still don't know what he is barking at, but he circles the yard barking like a maniac, then comes inside like his job is done and lays down.

I really wish I could help you more, but I would love a solution to Wesley's habit. :roll:

We also live next door to two Pomeranians that never stop barking. They are kept all day in a bathroom that has a window that opens toward our house and during the summer we listen to these two dogs' constant barking! When they are out in their yard, they go wild with their barking every time someone walks by, which is every few minutes. We've decided to install a solid 6' stockade fence inbetween our two yards just to try to keep some of their dog's barking from being so annoying. Right now when we go into our yard with Molly & Maxwell and the Poms are out, I say to my two 'Go say hello' (bark) and then I take my two to the other side of the yard and tell them 'no more barking' and they generally do very good minding me while the neighbor dogs never stop. It's annoying to say the least. Our town has a barking ordinance....you have to document by recording a dog bark for one hour straight and the owners get warned then fined if it continues, but because it's a small community (3000 people in about 10 square miles) most people try not to cause too many issues with neighbors.


I'm not sure if my two have picked up bad habits from the neighbors, but we do have occasional barking 'problems' with our pups and would love to find out how to discourage this. I have heard that bored dogs tend to bark more.

Chester very rarely barks. We did wonder if he couldnt for a while :lol: but he surprises us every now & again.

We do have a 2yr old Jack Russell who lives next door to us who barks at absolutely everything whether he is inside or outside. So much so that he & the dog on the other side of him have torn a hole in the fence trying to get to each other.

Chester doesnt pay any attention to him/them whatsoever. If Chester is out in our garden when they start he doesnt even raise his head to see where the noise is coming from and it certainly hasnt made him want to bark. It definately comes down to their individual personality.

a friend of mine just got a german shepard puppy (this weekend) and he has been barking at every new sound he hears. once he's heard the sound a few times, he stops barkign at it, but she has been trying to get him to learn to bark on command. she said that's the best way to get a dog to stop barking. not entirely sure why but i can ask her more about it if anyone's interested.

jadan will bark when we let him out at night for his last ones and twos before bed....he runs down to the end of the garden barking on the way as if to let people know hes there in the dark :sl*p: he doesnt do this in the day!!! otherwise he will sort of bark yelp at anything he may want to chase but its not a real bark more of an excited yelping :roll: we make his sit and calm down with a firm shhh!!!!! then as soon as he stops he gets a treat. its starting to pay off as he does stop straight away most of the time, depending on whether it was a yelping bark or bark bark!!! icon_whistling

Thanks for the feedback. I figured it would be part personality and part training, some environmental (what she's exposed to). Because she rarely barks it is very cute when she does. I do feel for all of you who live next to extreme barkers. I am surrounded, but I wouldn't ever blame the dogs, they are just lonely or bored. We have entire conversations going on in our neighborhood in doggie language :roll: If I only understood, the things I'm sure they would say would be quite interesting.

Zoey is a real barker as well. We're not sure how to combat it. Her trainer suggested a squirt bottle with water but shes been squirted so many times now that it doesn't phase her at all. We'll be watching this thread closely!

Maxx is and always has been a reasonably quiet dog but when we got Charlie he would join in with the retriever who lives across the back to us. This poor dog is left out to his own devices 24/7 & barks incessantly

I managed to stop Charlie from joining in by saying 'Quiet' in a loud stern voice and then bringing him straight in. I don't ever stop him from barking at anything else though. I also used the same routine with a foster that I had for six months and it worked with her too.

It's funny because my neighbours all complain about the Retriever but all say how well behaved and quiet my boys are so something obviously worked :lol:

I used to have A GSD who would bark on command, I just used to tell her to 'speak' and she'd bark. It does take some training but it's worth it - especially if you want them to be a 'deterrant' (and I don't mean guard dog because mine was as soft as cotton wool!).

Hey we have a new neighbour with a yappy white fluffy thing - I feel sorry for it as often late at night the thing is barking in the freezing snow for 2 hrs sometimes. Occassionally the man opens the door to scream SHAAADDDD UUUPPP at it, nice man :roll:

To answer your question - Kodee can actually see the dog through the fence - Nope not once has she returned a bark in 3 mths. the only time kodee will bark is if chasing the soccer ball or pop bottle on the snow. That dog can yap the whole time we are out, and kodee ignores it. Mind you, it did scare her a bit at first, now she drones it out.

I was wondering about the barking too. As we are getting our new puppy in about 2 weeks and I am already around a lot of barking dogs all day long!

I am a dog groomer .

So it would be nice if Tinker Bell decided to be more of a non-barker.

Colin who is 3 does bark at other dogs, noises, etc. He did not start barking at other thing or dogs until around 1.5 years old. We have learned a trick out of the book The Other End of the Leash (terrific reading if you want to understand why your dogs does what he does). When the dog barks you say "Enough" and take a treat in front of his nose to where you want him to end up, he will follow. They you give him a treat after he has had a few quiet seconds. It definitely seems to be working for Colin. More often than not, he just hears the word 'enough' and comes running for a treat.

As for our puppy, Teddy only barks when playing with Colin in a play bark. He listens to other dogs bark, but does not join in. I think that this behavior doesn't really begin until later if they are going to do it.

My breeder has several adult dogs and there is only one barker in the bunch, so I definitely think it is a personality thing.

The barking pom sounds like he is already beginning to act as a trigger for some response barking. Beware of ever allowing any behaviour that is unwanted because it is initially cute -- you are right to recognise it won't be cute before long but by then may be ingrained. It is always much harder to train away from an unwanted beahviour than to shape wanted behaviour from the start.

The best way to discourage barking is to give the dog an alternative activity to do that is desired. So if the pom is barking, or you are in a situation where you know your pup will hear him, have a fun toy at the ready. As you see her gear up to bark back, distract your dog with the toy and praise happily the moment her attention shifts to the toy and to playing with it and you, rather than the barking. You can actually work to take her into situations where you know he will be barking, to work at this type of distraction.

You can also teach 'speak; as she learns to bark, then 'no speak' or 'quiet'. I taught Jaspar 'quiet' very early on, which he does know -- but tends to ignore for a bit if he wants something. :roll:

Lily barks a lot at other dogs and can be snappy. I am working to recondition this behaviour by taking out a pocket of treats (I use cat food as the kibble is tiny). When she starts to bark at another dog, I ask her to 'look' (at me) and when she turns her attention away from the dog and looks quietly at me, she gets a treat! (you have to teach 'look' of course first but that is easy). This does really work but needs to be worked on consistently. I am always forgetting to take treats with me (as on our cavalier walk last weekend). But what happens is soon the dog sees other dogs as a cue to immediately focus on you, quietly -- as they associate other dogs with possible rewards for WANTED behaviour, not punishment for UNWANTED behaviour.

Dogs can totally change over time in barking behaviour especially as you introduce more to the house. Jaspar never barked much til I got Leo and one or the other will ocasionally set them off. But Lily is really barky and she sets all three off all the time; which can be quite frustrating. They now will regularly bark at other dogs when we are on walks, because Lily does it. The boys NEVER did this before Lily arrived. Just some of the joys of multiple dog households. :roll:

Holly is my barker, but not in an annoying sense. She barks reasonably- when she wants something, when she hears something odd, when she smells something odd (she's saved me from burning my dinner a few times :roll: ), and at the phone. Her barking is worse when she wants to play or when Amber has something she wants. It's uncanny- Holly ignored every kong I bought her when she was a pup. Now Amber's come along- and they both adore the kong, to the point that the beloved rings have been put away for a while! If the kong rolls somewhere, Amber will try to get it. Holly will just bark until I get it. I think that sums them up quite nicely.

Although Amber was barking hysterically earlier and when I went to investigate I found her sitting on top of the soft crate, front paws on window sill, nose against window, and yapping madly at this gang of teenage boys across the street. Looks like I'm gonna have to teach her 'quiet' too. At least, she knows 'look'!

Maddy rarely barks. She does not even bark when she wants to go out in the middle of the night, she just licks you awake!
She loves to watch things going on, but does not bark at them.
So you can imagine I was very surprised when my husband said that some friends of ours were spending the night (I was away) and had to leave at 5am. Maddy heard them leave and barked!
That made me wonder if she would bark at an intruder.
Pam

Great advice and input, you guys are the best. I will get her in check before anything escelates. It does help that she is eager to learn. I was working on speak, but she doesn't bark much yet so she doesn't get it. We will have plenty of opportunity to teach her to ignore the pom, especially during the summer months. I have to say, the dog next door is well taken care of and loved, he's just an excessive barker. :|

I've wondered the same thing.

Next door to us in the adjoining townhouse is a VERRRRY obnoxious bulldog named Sugar who is left on the front porch literally all day long. Poor thing. We've had a few convos with our (clueless) neighbors about please take your dog inside the house so it will stop barking morning, noon, and night. To no avail. ARGH.

It worries me b/c I will be taking our puppy out the front door to go potty, and we'll have to go past Sugar each day.

Julie I'd call the SPCA or humane society in your area. First off this would not be considered acceptable because the dog is a nuisance barker. Secondly this would not in most places be considered adequate shelter for a dog.

You can talk to the SPCA about whether you need to formally write a letter to complain to the neighbours or can note the times you have spoekn to them. In Ireland, there's a process of receiving formal complaints which then can result in the dog being impounded. If the latter happens perhaps you can talk to a bulldog breed rescue to notify them -- the dog sounds like it has a very poor quality of life as is.

California as most of the US is fairly strict on noise ordinances and nuisance barking (a call to your city offices or town offices should clarify your local laws). Even here in Ireland where we practically have the wild west in terms of animal welfare laws -- someone could not leave a dog bark outside all day.

Back to the main topic -- cavaliers generally are not a barky dog and when I am at home, my three only ever bark when triggered -- eg if they hear a dog outside, some off noise on the radio or TV :roll: , or see a cat on the roof. Mine WILL now bark outside in certain situations though they all tend to stop pretty soon at the park once the excitement of getting out of the car eases. Jaspar is the only one who barks regulkarly and briefly (usually a single attention bark at me!) for communication -- meaning he wants something, usually for me to throw his fetch toy. :roll:

Jaspar is an excellent guard dog for alerting me. It is worth noting that many trainers suggest not discouraging the dog from barking, as that is the main way they 'talk', but to train a word to make them cease and to praise first in most situations (because after all, they are usually alerting you to something). If they are barking at the doorbell going at my house for example, I say thank you! Then ask them to be quiet. I also use 'enough' as a command when I want them to cease barking and they pretty much do. In my case, I WANT them to bark at the door and if they hear something outside -- but I also do not want it to be excessive and I want a cue for them to stop and know their 'job' is completed.

My mailman BTW is terrified of the dogs. Three small dogs barking madly behind the door can sound scary -- which I want it to; I consider it better than an alarm (and I detest alrms -- I refuse to live with one, never have and can;t see the point when the neighbours' go off regularly and no one ever comes :roll. I try to remember to close the hall door so he won't get them going, but it is gratifying to know their barking makes quite a few deliverymen uneasy. I always tell these guys I am putting the dogs away before opening the door so they won't worry some doberman is about to spring out the door :lol:.

I would warn that most cavaliers do not really get barking until they are over a year... Jaspar was practically silent for ages. And as noted, behaviour can change wuite a bit depending on whether you add more dogs, or they learn to respond to certain stimuli.

Karlin said:

Julie I'd call the SPCA or humane society in your area. First off this would not be considered acceptable because the dog is a nuisance barker. Secondly this would not in most places be considered adequate shelter for a dog.

You can talk to the SPCA about whether you need to formally write a letter to complain to the neighbours or can note the times you have spoekn to them. In Ireland, there's a process of receiving formal complaints which then can result in the dog being impounded. If the latter happens perhaps you can talk to a bulldog breed rescue to notify them -- the dog sounds like it has a very poor quality of life as is.

California as most of the US is fairly strict on noise ordinances and nuisance barking (a call to your city offices or town offices should clarify your local laws). Even here in Ireland where we practically have the wild west in terms of animal welfare laws -- someone could not leave a dog bark outside all day.

Click to expand...

Precisely what I've been thinking, Karlin. Thanks for reinforcing this, so I can get a move on it. I was honestly about to start to research CA laws and barking/shelter laws, as I know new ones have been recently passed or are on the books.

It is just so incredibly sad - this poor thing is left on their porch all day long and sometimes at night, too. There is feces all over the cement porch and no food. Heartbreaking.

A few weeks ago I angrily knocked on their door (in my PJs) at 12 AM, asking them to please take their dog indoors so we could get some sleep (she had been frantically barking for hours) and I took the opportunity to tell them that the dog shouldn't be outside for that long, anyway. It fell on deaf ears - the man apologized and then laughed, saying that he needed to "put a muzzle on that dog."

"No," I said, "You need to take your dog indoors. She's left outside all day without food and a place to go to the bathroom."

So I did what I could. Ugh. I'm a few steps away from calling the SPCA.