Do barking dogs make you Crazy?

[geonni banner]

I meant to put this in Coffee Break, but I stupidly got it in General BC Discussion instead. Oh well, I guess it's no more out of place than the Tennis Ball thread...

I started this in the "Tennis Ball" thread, and got a couple of answers. I'm still interested in why dogs bark and at what, and how people feel about it, so...

 

QUOTE(geonni banner @ Dec 14 2009, 02:08 PM) *

Ok, that makes a certain amount of sense, although the (police) dogs I've seen bark all the time - even on the way to Starbucks. rolleyes.gif But I keep thinking it must be incredibly wearing for the officer in the car. I was wondering... If the dog is revved up about the opportunity to work - a reasonable assumption - is it specifically bite-work, or work of any kind? Do Schutzhund dogs always bark when they are in cars? Or, do police dogs bark when they are in their civilian cars? I'm not trying to be critical here, just trying to understand why this behavior is triggered/tolerated. I don't think that BCs bark when waiting to herd sheep. Is it because BCs are simply less "barky" than GSDs, etc.? And what is the connection - if any - between the barking pre-run flyball dog and the barking Police dog in a black-and-white unit? Is it simply excitement? I've never been to or seen an Earthdog event. Do terriers bark continuously when waiting their turn to go after a varmint?

 

Should this be a new topic for the Coffee Break section?

 

 

From Ipsy:

 

Coffee Break Anybody ?

 

Do terrriers bark at earth dog events ? WELL YAA !! It can be very noisy at those events. I was at a few with friends and they bark wildly before going into the holes and when they find the rat. Thats what they supposed to do. The mazes get pretty tricky and narrow. it's amazing how those little guys do it ! I went to just check it out , I'm up for anything when it comes to dogs , I want to see it all. I left the last event wanting a JRT in the worst way. Still do , and it might happen one day.

 

As for the K9s , they do bark alot , but they wont be corrected or told to "shuddup" . Some are protective of their cruiser . Some are revved up because they are going on a call, lights going, siren on. It helps prepare the dog ,he knows he is going to get a chance to play with his towel or ball. (once he does his/her job)

The K9 officers learn to tune out the barking and look past it . (Learning to tune it out has also helped in second marriages too ) laugh. ( I feel a slap coming behind me )

 

It's not all bite , where do you live ? blink.

K9's are used for tracking alzheimer patients to kids and sometimes the criminal that thinks he can get one over on a K9 . (really stupid assumption) LOL..

K9s are used at ballparks , malls and concerts. The act as a deterrant, with their (quiet) presence , stupid human tricks are usually discouraged .

 

Once the badge goes on these dogs and they get in the cruiser , its all business. But when they are home , they are "off duty" and know it , they are back to being goofy , slobbering lap dogs. They also know when they are in the truck , they dont have to be "on duty" and if he knows you , you can stick your hand in and give him a pat. Kids love him and he has a passion for kids . Just lays down and wants to be cuddled by them. He gets all wiggly when he sees them.

As for barking while going to Starbucks , I'll ask around and get back to you on that one , Geonni Banner..

 

My BC girl barks wildly if you approach the truck , so much that if you were to (stupidly) stick your finger in , you might loose it..But if she knows you , you could let her out of the crate and she would give you a good licking.

protective , or crate aggressive ? Not like that anywhere else when she is in a crate , like agility practice or a trial setting , or even home. I feel she is protecting her territory. She is the same way behind a fence.

As for my boy , he doesnt waste time barking. He just wants a hug , no matter who you are !

The only other time my girl would bark at me is if I send her on a wrong course at agility trial. How she knows , she just does ,( I try not to act deflated ) and she gives me a good talking too. LOL...

 

 

Schutzhund dogs( that I know) bark mostly when left in their vehicles and you come close to it. But when out , no they dont bark unless asked to or they are doing a hold and bark. I would think this is territorial barking.

At home , my guys bark at everything a dog would bark at , like squirrels and rabbits , etc.

I think flyball is much noisier then any other doggie event I know. Nothing against flyball, I love it .

But the amount of excitement at them is electric ! So I think the Barking Award would go to them..

Hope this helps . GSD arent all BARK BARK BARK. But when they are , foolish be the person to not heed the warning.

 

note: I somehow lost the emoticons when moving to this thread. Hope I put back the right ones!

[JohnLloydJones]

Our local K9 police units have relatively calm dogs -- I don't hear them barking excessively at all. At home, my dogs alarm bark when someone approaches the door, but I am OK with that as I may not hear the door bell, if I am in my office. I expect them to stop when I come down, though.

 

I do get a bit irritated with my female, Senneca, who goes berserk if the cat from the house opposite comes and sits outside our front door. That's the #1 reason she gets a crate timeout, but it doesn't seem to be getting the message across. Sigh.

[in2adventure]

I HATE BARKING!!!!!!! I can handle the typical stuff like barking at doorbells, etc. But the constant chatter for "no reason" drives me insane. neither of mine bark for no reason. lucia barks at the doorbell or a knock and when she's in the car in protection mode. Even in that mode, you need to be standing at the window, not just randomly walking by. Grady barks when he's stressed, like when I mess up in agility or we're learning a new skill. Once the skill is mastered, he works silently. If he's impatient for something, he wines and grumbles, but no barking. Once again, constant barking while running a course is irritating.

 

I find nothing more irritating than trying to listen to my instuctor and having a constant high pitch, repetative woof in the back ground. As an owner, how do you not hear that?! Not only is it irritating, it's rude!

 

As for police dogs, this is their job. Intimidation!!!!! I worked with a malinois in LE academy that was taught to bark at anything and everything that came near HIS car. They are taught this by having every person walking by bang on the glass or hood. Not all police dogs do this. Many of them are pretty quiet. I think a lot of it has to do with the type of training they receive.

 

Sorry to sound so down on barking. I know it has a place, it just needs to be minimized in MY place

[IPSY]

I HATE BARKING!!!!!!! I can handle the typical stuff like barking at doorbells, etc. But the constant chatter for "no reason" drives me insane. neither of mine bark for no reason. lucia barks at the doorbell or a knock and when she's in the car in protection mode. Even in that mode, you need to be standing at the window, not just randomly walking by. Grady barks when he's stressed, like when I mess up in agility or we're learning a new skill. Once the skill is mastered, he works silently. If he's impatient for something, he wines and grumbles, but no barking. Once again, constant barking while running a course is irritating.

 

I find nothing more irritating than trying to listen to my instuctor and having a constant high pitch, repetative woof in the back ground. As an owner, how do you not hear that?! Not only is it irritating, it's rude!

 

As for police dogs, this is their job. Intimidation!!!!! I worked with a malinois in LE academy that was taught to bark at anything and everything that came near HIS car. They are taught this by having every person walking by bang on the glass or hood. Not all police dogs do this. Many of them are pretty quiet. I think a lot of it has to do with the type of training they receive.

 

Sorry to sound so down on barking. I know it has a place, it just needs to be minimized in MY place

 

OH I hear ya ( barking in the backround) it can and does get irritating. Between the GSDs and the BCs , OMG

But for the most part , they are good , and I know it could be worse, LOL...I suffer from migrains and beleive me, when they are told to be quiet , they are QUIET !

[MicheleS.]

I let the dogs bark to an extent but enough is enough or will drive me insane. My ausse and BC are the most barking-est dogs I've ever owned. I think alot of it may be alarm barking but it will go on and on if I let it. It starts for one reason like the postman coming, etc. and the next thing you know they're barking at a leaf blowing across the yard! ha

 

The GSD's I've owned weren't excessive barkers. They definitely barked to let us know that someone was at the house, pulling in the driveway etc. They were always right on with that and never barked more than necessary to get my attention. They were also very quiet riding in the car (although I wouldn't recommend trying to stick your fingers in to say hi). Chase the BC whines in anticipation of going somewhere fun. You can always tell when we're close to the training place.

 

Both aussie and BC would go nutso barking when I was in working the other with sheep. That drove me insane.

 

We have neighbors with a terrier and my shepherds ignored it. My aussie and BC bark back and have to be told enough.

 

My friend has had 3 GSD's and all were barking cujo fiends in her car. BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK......

[Maralynn]

I. do. not. like. random. barking.

 

The dogs can bark a couple times when someone is at the door or an alert to something, and two of them have bark alerts for SAR. But other than that? drives me nuts!

 

At SAR training most dogs are pretty quite unless the handler has two dogs and one is working while the other is crated. The crated one sometimes gets a bit hyped up.

[IPSY]

I. do. not. like. random. barking.

 

The dogs can bark a couple times when someone is at the door or an alert to something, and two of them have bark alerts for SAR. But other than that? drives me nuts!

 

At SAR training most dogs are pretty quite unless the handler has two dogs and one is working while the other is crated. The crated one sometimes gets a bit hyped up.

 

What signal do your dogs give when they find someone ? Do they "down" near the person and wait or bark , or something else ?

[juliepoudrier]

I've already noted that I can't stand barking. The dogs are allowed to bark when someone comes in the drive or to the door, but they also better be quiet when I tell them to. Farleigh tends to bark out in the yard and is routinely corrected for it. Sometimes I'd like to choke him to death, but it's part of his OCD behavior, and if I yell it him he stops. As I said in the other thread, the one exception to the no-barking rule is the LGD. It took me a while to get used to her barking, mainly at night. Mostly I don't even notice it any more, but sometimes I find even that irritating (usually if I've woken up for some reason and she's barking as I'm trying to go back to sleep). But at least her barking serves a real purpose. Dogs just yapping out of excitement or silliness send me over the edge.

 

I don't understand the reasoning behind police dogs barking when in the vehicle. It makes sense if someone approaches the vehicle, but just for the dog to be in there barking is crazy, IMO. K-9 units are generally clearly marked as such, and even unmarked vehicles that carry dogs generally have really dark tinted windows, etc., so I'm not sure why anyone would think it's necessary for the dog within to be barking all the time--I don't see folks routinely walking up to cruisers with dogs in them. I can understand if the siren is wailing, the lights are on, and they're on their way to a call, but in a car parked somewhere it makes no sense to me for the dog to be barking.

 

J.

[hsnrs]

Our Aussies bark quite a bit too. Keesha gets a "shut" and Sam gets a "no bark." They don't always obey though. DH really hates the barking and yells at them which makes it worse. Luckily we live in the boonies so no one ever says anything. We have the best neighbors.

[PSmitty]

Random barking isn't allowed in our house. Alert barking and at someone at the door is ok for a few seconds, then they need to quiet down.

 

The only place I allow lots of barking is at flyball practice and in the lanes at tournaments. Crate time is quiet time, no matter where we are.

 

ETA: I meant to say that at home, yes, barking drives me crazy, but I do find it's easy to tune out at flyball tournaments. People are always complaining about how loud flyball is, but it doesn't bother me there at all.

[geonni banner]

I've already noted that I can't stand barking. The dogs are allowed to bark when someone comes in the drive or to the door, but they also better be quiet when I tell them to. Farleigh tends to bark out in the yard and is routinely corrected for it. Sometimes I'd like to choke him to death, but it's part of his OCD behavior, and if I yell it him he stops. As I said in the other thread, the one exception to the no-barking rule is the LGD. It took me a while to get used to her barking, mainly at night. Mostly I don't even notice it any more, but sometimes I find even that irritating (usually if I've woken up for some reason and she's barking as I'm trying to go back to sleep). But at least her barking serves a real purpose. Dogs just yapping out of excitement or silliness send me over the edge.

 

I don't understand the reasoning behind police dogs barking when in the vehicle. It makes sense if someone approaches the vehicle, but just for the dog to be in there barking is crazy, IMO. K-9 units are generally clearly marked as such, and even unmarked vehicles that carry dogs generally have really dark tinted windows, etc., so I'm not sure why anyone would think it's necessary for the dog within to be barking all the time--I don't see folks routinely walking up to cruisers with dogs in them. I can understand if the siren is wailing, the lights are on, and they're on their way to a call, but in a car parked somewhere it makes no sense to me for the dog to be barking.

 

J.

 

Hmmmmmmmmm. re: police dog barking. I can sort of understand it if the officer is away from the car and the dog is inside. It's a big chunk of cash sitting there - I mean just the dog and his training represent a tidy figure and then the car, the Xmas tree, the shotgun, and all the stuff in the trunk. I think I would want the dog to feel pretty protective of that. But just cruising - driving around on regular patrol? It seems like a dog would wear itself out barking like that. Wouldn't it be better to have the dog simply bark if someone is giving his ride "unnecessary" attention? If he's ALWAYS barking how does the officer know when something suspicious or threatening is really happening? I guess what I don't understand is how would teaching a dog not to bark incessantly undermine his effectiveness as a police dog?

 

In my town there's a Starbucks half a block from me, and that's where many of the officers get their coffee. I can hear them pass by my place. (I'm almost able to identify individual dogs!) They are always barking. But when the officer parks and gets out, the dogs stop barking. Unless someone on foot stops walking close to the car, or looks into the car, the dog is quiet. I'd just like to understand the logic of this behavior. It seems to be a trained behavior, so I assume there's a reason. But I can't quite grok it.

 

I really have a great deal of admiration for the K9 officers and their dogs that I have met. They used to do training sessions in the ball park attached to our local elementary school. Amazing to watch. Sadly, we lost an officer in our area several months ago. He was killed on duty in a car accident. Seemed like the whole town grieved for him. Nice guy. The dog was retired with his family.

[Maralynn]

What signal do your dogs give when they find someone ? Do they "down" near the person and wait or bark , or something else ?

 

They do a bark alert.

[Rave]

The only barking I find irritating is when my neighbor's dogs are at it non-stop in the middle of the night. I find it pretty easy to tune out at flyball; it just becomes background noise.

[Dixie_Girl]

Cheyenne was my worst barker. She even barked at noises only she could hear, bless her little heart. If she was in the truck or my pickup, she barked like crazy at anyone that came within 20 ft. of it. Holly only barks if the boys are playing and she is chasing them. She doesn't play, but she sees them doing stuff and feels like she should do something, so she chases them and barks. Skip only barks at the wild life outside at night. Or the riding lawn mower if it looks at him funny. Jackson very, very seldom barks. Really the only time he barks is if I am in the house, and I holler out, "HELLO!" Skip and him both go running outside, barking. Don't know why they do this! But it cracks me up so I will do it at least once a week. None of them bark when they are in the car. They don't bark when someone knocks on the door. They are pretty quiet. Mostly it is Skip and his outside barking. I make him stop after awhile. I just hate the barking going on and on. Jackson is so quiet, if he barks it startles me!

[Alaska]

The barking I find most irritating is the lonely, unanswered bark of a "family dog" left out in the backyard 24/7.

[bc4ever]

The barking I find most irritating is the lonely, unanswered bark of a "family dog" left out in the backyard 24/7.

OMG! YESSSS!!! When Scooter is outside, he may get out a bark or two before I put an end to it. I think because I'm so sensitive to it, I don't want to annoy my neighbors. Inside, he's a good warning barker and stops quickly if he knows the person. A stranger, like door to door salespeople is another story, which is fine with me!

[IPSY]

I've already noted that I can't stand barking. The dogs are allowed to bark when someone comes in the drive or to the door, but they also better be quiet when I tell them to. Farleigh tends to bark out in the yard and is routinely corrected for it. Sometimes I'd like to choke him to death, but it's part of his OCD behavior, and if I yell it him he stops. As I said in the other thread, the one exception to the no-barking rule is the LGD. It took me a while to get used to her barking, mainly at night. Mostly I don't even notice it any more, but sometimes I find even that irritating (usually if I've woken up for some reason and she's barking as I'm trying to go back to sleep). But at least her barking serves a real purpose. Dogs just yapping out of excitement or silliness send me over the edge.

 

I don't understand the reasoning behind police dogs barking when in the vehicle. It makes sense if someone approaches the vehicle, but just for the dog to be in there barking is crazy, IMO. K-9 units are generally clearly marked as such, and even unmarked vehicles that carry dogs generally have really dark tinted windows, etc., so I'm not sure why anyone would think it's necessary for the dog within to be barking all the time--I don't see folks routinely walking up to cruisers with dogs in them. I can understand if the siren is wailing, the lights are on, and they're on their way to a call, but in a car parked somewhere it makes no sense to me for the dog to be barking.

 

 

J.

 

Who said it was necessary for a K9 to bark all the time in a cruiser ?

[IPSY]

Hmmmmmmmmm. re: police dog barking. I can sort of understand it if the officer is away from the car and the dog is inside. It's a big chunk of cash sitting there - I mean just the dog and his training represent a tidy figure and then the car, the Xmas tree, the shotgun, and all the stuff in the trunk. I think I would want the dog to feel pretty protective of that. But just cruising - driving around on regular patrol? It seems like a dog would wear itself out barking like that. Wouldn't it be better to have the dog simply bark if someone is giving his ride "unnecessary" attention? If he's ALWAYS barking how does the officer know when something suspicious or threatening is really happening? I guess what I don't understand is how would teaching a dog not to bark incessantly undermine his effectiveness as a police dog?

 

In my town there's a Starbucks half a block from me, and that's where many of the officers get their coffee. I can hear them pass by my place. (I'm almost able to identify individual dogs!) They are always barking. But when the officer parks and gets out, the dogs stop barking. Unless someone on foot stops walking close to the car, or looks into the car, the dog is quiet. I'd just like to understand the logic of this behavior. It seems to be a trained behavior, so I assume there's a reason. But I can't quite grok it.

 

I really have a great deal of admiration for the K9 officers and their dogs that I have met. They used to do training sessions in the ball park attached to our local elementary school. Amazing to watch. Sadly, we lost an officer in our area several months ago. He was killed on duty in a car accident. Seemed like the whole town grieved for him. Nice guy. The dog was retired with his family.

 

Never once did I say the dog constantly barks while in the car . Only on a call or if someone approaches it. sheesh... It's amazing how one post can be read so many different ways .

I think you were worried about this post belonging in coffee break , dont worry it will soon go full circle and end up about the pros and cons of puggles.

[juliepoudrier]

Never once did I say the dog constantly barks while in the car . Only on a call or if someone approaches it. sheesh... It's amazing how one post can be read so many different ways .

Actually what you said is that they "bark a lot" and "would not be told to shuddup" by the officer. You gave a couple of examples as you repeated here, but in the sum of your several posts on the subject you did seem to imply that they "bark a lot" and not just when the siren is on or someone approaches the car. Really, if those were the only two instances when the police dogs barked, then one could assume that they really aren't barking a lot, wouldn't you, unless the particular officer works in a location where they run a lot of calls or a lot of people are stupid enough to approach a car with a police K-9 in it. Geonni Banner even notes that the police dogs where she lives seem to bark constantly--that is, not just when the siren is on or someone is approaching the car. So it would seem that indeed in some areas the dogs do bark constantly or nearly so. Sheesh!

 

J.

[bcnewe2]

I'm not fond of barking either.

Dew is my "barker" she barks cause she's happy. You can tell her to be quiet (in many forms of expression) and she will, for a minute, but she will quickly forget what you said and bark again. Not all the time, only when something good is happening.

She doesn't bark while waiting to work sheep but she has a soft irritating whine. As long as it stays really quiet I let her whine, she'll quit after she realizes it's not really her turn but then we change out dogs she whines again. Guess she's reminding me she hasn't had her turn.

Mick will bark when I come out to do chores. But I let him train me to have a conversation during that time. We have a bantering back and forth talk while walking out to do chores. It only lasts a few seconds, I hate to say it, I sorta enjoy it. Once we get started he's quiet.

 

They bark at all strangers coming to the house. But if you come over allot they get used to you and just greet instead.

 

All my dogs will bark at "things" outside but only an alert bark for a bit.

Raven is a nervous dog. When she barks I usually get up and check on her. She can get protective when she alert barks so I need to make sure I tell her it's ok if she's outside. If I tell her it's ok then she's quiet.

 

None of my dogs bark in the car. Not if I'm gone, not if someone walkes up to the car, for nothing. It's almost bizarre. I can go to the bank and only the dog in the front seat will be offered a cookie cause the dog in the back is quietly laying on the seat and goes unnoticed. Most of the time they just lay down and go to sleep or quietly watch the scenery go by.

 

I hate car barkers the most but that's not why my dogs don't bark in the car. It's Mick. He's a quiet car rider so he enforces the rule that everyone is quiet in the car. He's the fun police and the car police. He always rides shotgun. But in my current car he doesn't fit just right in the front seat. He sits there anyways. If any dog would get excited he growls and makes them lie down again. I don't mind the job he's doing. It makes for great quiet rides.

[Laurelin]

I have a high tolerance imo for barking. I seem to have this habit of picking dogs with the most obnoxious barks you have ever heard. Nikki could probably shatter glass and Summer is the most high pitched bark that just pierces your eardrums.

 

I lived with multiple shelties for years so you kind of have to be okay with some barking. Though contrary to popular opinion you can teach a sheltie to shut up, they just seem to be set off easier than most dogs. Mine all learned to stop after a few barks. I don't tolerate constant barking one bit.

[IPSY]

Actually what you said is that they "bark a lot" and "would not be told to shuddup" by the officer. You gave a couple of examples as you repeated here, but in the sum of your several posts on the subject you did seem to imply that they "bark a lot" and not just when the siren is on or someone approaches the car. Really, if those were the only two instances when the police dogs barked, then one could assume that they really aren't barking a lot, wouldn't you, unless the particular officer works in a location where they run a lot of calls or a lot of people are stupid enough to approach a car with a police K-9 in it. Geonni Banner even notes that the police dogs where she lives seem to bark constantly--that is, not just when the siren is on or someone is approaching the car. So it would seem that indeed in some areas the dogs do bark constantly or nearly so. Sheesh!

 

J.

 

To hopefully clarify this, those K9s wont be told to "shaddup" like we would correct our dogs for barking. If my dog barked everytime I made a left turn , I would want to strangle her. And all the dogs in K9 arent cut from the same mold. Some bark more then others. Those dogs are trained with positive reenforcement as are our dogs . In flyball you wouldnt tell your dog to be quiet. You want them hyped up . I wouldnt tell my dog to be quiet before a agility run.. Some are talkers and some arent . Its the same idea with the K9s . I hope this helps with understanding why they arent corrected for barking.

The last thread I wrote , answering Geonni Banner was all said in a homorous tone , not a nasty or rude tone. Sorry if I affended you.

[Root Beer]

Some barking I don't mind at all and some barking really bothers me.

 

Alarm barking is fine. Even when the dogs hear something and I'm not sure what it is, I don't mind some alarm barking. They generally stop pretty quickly, or when I ask them to. If they don't stop when I ask them to, there is usually something that needs my attention - like the time there were trespassers in my back yard. I was very grateful that the dogs kept barking on that occasion!

 

I don't mind barking as communication. Sometimes in Agility Dean barks at me when he doesn't understand what I want. It's a single bark and the meaning is very clear. That's great.

 

Sammie barks when he needs to go outside or when I've forgotten mealtime. That's fine.

 

There are generally two kinds of barking that bother me - barking for no real reason and continuous barking in public that is ignored by the dog's owner and just continues forever. I have a friend whose dog just barks to bark. It drives me nuts. And every now and then I run into people at classes or competitions who just allow their dogs to bark willy nilly.

 

Back when I first took training classes where we used to live, we were told on the first day that we were not to allow our dogs to bark in class. Thankfully, Speedy was never a barker at classes. But the dog's owners were expected to keep the dogs quiet - and everybody did! To top it all, we were told bluntly that anyone who was nasty or harsh or rough with their dogs would be excused from the class. So people were keeping their dogs quiet, and doing so in a very neutral manner. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, not all places have such great standards and I've run into situations since where dogs are just allowed to continually bark.

[geonni banner]

To hopefully clarify this, those K9s wont be told to "shaddup" like we would correct our dogs for barking. If my dog barked everytime I made a left turn , I would want to strangle her. And all the dogs in K9 arent cut from the same mold. Some bark more then others. Those dogs are trained with positive reenforcement as are our dogs . In flyball you wouldnt tell your dog to be quiet. You want them hyped up . I wouldnt tell my dog to be quiet before a agility run.. Some are talkers and some arent . Its the same idea with the K9s . I hope this helps with understanding why they arent corrected for barking.

The last thread I wrote , answering Geonni Banner was all said in a homorous tone , not a nasty or rude tone. Sorry if I affended you.

 

Aww, heck... I'm not offended. Just wondering if I'm a little thick. I get that all police dogs are not trained/managed the same way. I just marvel that anyone can stand the metronome-like "ARF!, ARF!, ARF!" that I hear coming from our local K9 units. Imagine that at the back of your head all day or night... I have almost zero tolerance for barking - but then, I do have an anxiety disorder. I'm trying to imagine how getting a dog to be relatively quiet during the quiet periods of a shift could negatively affect the dog's enthusiasm for its work. I mean, Sugarfoot is quiet and civilized in the house until I say, "Where's your Frisbee?" Then she goes from zero to 60 in 1.2 seconds! (but her enthusiasm is not expressed as barking - thank doG!)

 

I was also curious to see how others experience the sound of barking dogs. And, having come to BCs via Rough/Smooth Collies, I'm also wondering if the blabbermouth factor was as prevalent in BCs as it is in the Lassie dogs.

[IPSY]

Aww, heck... I'm not offended. Just wondering if I'm a little thick. I get that all police dogs are not trained/managed the same way. I just marvel that anyone can stand the metronome-like "ARF!, ARF!, ARF!" that I hear coming from our local K9 units. Imagine that at the back of your head all day or night... I have almost zero tolerance for barking - but then, I do have an anxiety disorder. I'm trying to imagine how getting a dog to be relatively quiet during the quiet periods of a shift could negatively affect the dog's enthusiasm for its work. I mean, Sugarfoot is quiet and civilized in the house until I say, "Where's your Frisbee?" Then she goes from zero to 60 in 1.2 seconds! (but her enthusiasm is not expressed as barking - thank doG!)

 

I was also curious to see how others experience the sound of barking dogs. And, having come to BCs via Rough/Smooth Collies, I'm also wondering if the blabbermouth factor was as prevalent in BCs as it is in the Lassie dogs.

 

LOL...glad no offense has been taken. I personally would be ready to shoot the dog (kidding) after 5 minutes of barking . I wouldnt last being a K9 officer. My husband goes to the GSD they bark happily to see him , he can tune out the barking like it's not even happening.