Is your dog a barker?

[Brenda in SC]

Rudy only barks when pllaying or when impatient for dinner. Otherwise, he's quiet as a mouse.

[Charlifarley]

Bosco has barked from the first night we got him. He barks at everything, the birds, the tv, dogs he doesn't like, cats, the wind, noises, the door bell, the hoover, shadows, to go out, to come in, and horrifyingly, for the first time last night, at a man we met when out walking. he does my head in but I love him anyway

[chloe92us]

Our three...Casey our oldest barks about 5 times a year, and only when there's something *really* weird that she has never seen (the last was an upside-down umbrella). She does talk, though, when the water bowl is empty and on the few occasions when she's really playful. It's more like a high-pitched growl though. When she does bark, it almost seems like it's hard for her to do; she acts sometimes like it chokes her or something?!

Winston was a rescue- we've had him 8 months and I've heard him bark twice- again, only at something peculiar he had never seen before.

Ollie will bark- at lizards, cats, when someone rings the doorbell, and when he smells or sees an animal or someone in our yard. He is our watch dog. He has an amazing sense about him and I always know he will alert us if something is amiss. He is also very vocal when he plays with Winston. I don't consider him to be overly barky, but he barks when I like him to and not at other times.

[Karlin]

Cavaliers are not a yappy breed like some of the toy and smaller breeds can be, but all individuals vary . Some can bark a lot; others rarely bark. Also many puppies don't bark a whole lot til after 6 months anyway -- it is something that tends to come up as the puppy begins to mature and the hormones kick in! Jaspar hardly ever barked til he was over 6 months.

Mine all will bark at something going on -- a cat on the roof or someone at the door -- but not just to bark, excepting Lily who gets overexcited at all sorts of things. Still she is quiet most of the time. Often dogs start to bark when you get more than one -- as they set each other off and a barker will often encourage a non-barker.

[team bella]

Bella's not too bad. She does bark a lot at the postie or if she hears other dogs barking.

[hbmama]

Dottie rarely barks unless she sees anything with four legs on tv, and then it is more of a quick bark then a fussy whine. If she wants to get our attention, her method of communication would be to sit and STARE at us until we move to do her bidding, or if that doesn't work, she hits the spring door stopper with her paw and we just hear the BOING...BOING....BOING....over and over again until we respond.

Now for Claire, she is never yappy, but will sit at the bottom of the stairs and bark if we go upstairs and she doesn't feel like climbing up to follow us. She will also "talk" for Dottie when necessary. The two girls sleep together in their crate at night, and last night Dottie had a late night bathroom call and needed to go out. Claire is the one who woke us up with the barking. As soon as we opened the door, Dottie ran out into the yard to go potty, and Claire just sighed, went back into the crate and back to sleep, then Dottie joined her when she was through. They are quite the team!