Do barking dogs make you Crazy?

[IPSY]

My BCs and beagle are another story. I cant stand the barking in the house. It goes right thru me.

I let them bark if some comes up the drive but thats it. Job is done, anything after that makes me grind my teeth. Esecially the beagle who only uses her bay bark if she trees something or needs to alert me of danger , like her toy got stuck under the couch or something . Other than that , she doesnt really bark , she leaves that up to the female BC who's bark can kill plants and make wood splinter...LOL..

The young puppy BC isnt sure what to do yet . He still barks at the mirror in the bedroom but constantly checks himself in the bathroom mirror . I dont know why he doesnt like the other mirror , I guess its because its on the closet door and he can only see himself at certain angles ?

But he has a healthy bark non the less and Im sure he will learn to use it more given the time.

[bc4ever]

None of my dogs bark in the car. Not if I'm gone, not if someone walks 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.

LOL! That's Scooter. He will readily get in to the car but promptly heads for the back seat where he lies quietly most of the time that I'm driving. Every once in a while, if I come to a stop or make a turn, he'll pop his head up and look around, but then he's down again. I've had people do a double take at a stop light when Scooter makes an unexpected appearance.

[Anda]

Ouzo is not allowed to bark in the house - we live in an apartment so of course that's not permited. However, we've caught him a few times barking while we were coming in or leaving and he was thinking we cannot hear him, so we corrected him for it. He knows he's not supposed to bark.

 

He also barks when we're playing outside, as he expects me to give him certain commands. I have to remind him "no barking" and then he plays quietly for a while. He doesn't bark on leash or when he's just fetching or swimming, at the dog park. But if you ask him "Where's the squirrel?" or "Go touch the fence" you have to brace yourself for a true dialog.

[airbear]

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.

Why not? Hyping up a dog doesn't necessarily mean they have to be barking their fool head off. Wick was not allowed to bark when she was doing flyball. I let her bark when she was learning agility, and I regret it as she is a serious big-mouth in that venue. So when we started her in flyball (she was about 6 years old), I would remove her from the line if she barked. Did that two or three times, and she learned that in order to get her turn, she needed to be quiet. For this to work, though, the opportunity to do the activity has to be more rewarding than barking. Susan Garrett's blog has a post about dogs that bark during the training process. An excerpt: "Because barking is so cheap, of little cost, it will attach itself to any behaviour if you allow it to go on while you are shaping. Once there it becomes extremely difficult, if sometimes impossible to extinguish. Get rid of it before you shape for each reinforcement you give the dog while he is vocalizing will help to connect the barking or whining stronger to the behaviour you are shaping." If you've ever seen SG's dogs run agility, you will agree that they exhibit unbelievable drive and keenness so perhaps barking needn't be part of hyping one's dog?

 

None of my male dogs barks to alert me to anything. Sometimes Wick will let a little growl out if someone's at the door, but she's just as likely to go upstairs and hide. They none of them bark while in the car, whether we're moving or parked. Unless Wick thinks we've arrived at our destination. Then she makes these odd chanting sounds that make people think that I am transporting a monkey.

 

Anyone who has seen me run Wick in agility will find the next sentence very ironic. I can't STAND barking dogs. That's what's so nice about stock dog trials. So. Blissfully. Quiet.

[PSmitty]

I don't mind barking at flyball (as I said), but I can't stand it in agility! Alex does not bark at agility (practice or trials), thank goodness, or I would have to put a stop to that!

[IPSY]

Why not? Hyping up a dog doesn't necessarily mean they have to be barking their fool head off. Wick was not allowed to bark when she was doing flyball. I let her bark when she was learning agility, and I regret it as she is a serious big-mouth in that venue. So when we started her in flyball (she was about 6 years old), I would remove her from the line if she barked. Did that two or three times, and she learned that in order to get her turn, she needed to be quiet. For this to work, though, the opportunity to do the activity has to be more rewarding than barking. Susan Garrett's blog has a post about dogs that bark during the training process. An excerpt: "Because barking is so cheap, of little cost, it will attach itself to any behaviour if you allow it to go on while you are shaping. Once there it becomes extremely difficult, if sometimes impossible to extinguish. Get rid of it before you shape for each reinforcement you give the dog while he is vocalizing will help to connect the barking or whining stronger to the behaviour you are shaping." If you've ever seen SG's dogs run agility, you will agree that they exhibit unbelievable drive and keenness so perhaps barking needn't be part of hyping one's dog?

 

None of my male dogs barks to alert me to anything. Sometimes Wick will let a little growl out if someone's at the door, but she's just as likely to go upstairs and hide. They none of them bark while in the car, whether we're moving or parked. Unless Wick thinks we've arrived at our destination. Then she makes these odd chanting sounds that make people think that I am transporting a monkey.

 

Anyone who has seen me run Wick in agility will find the next sentence very ironic. I can't STAND barking dogs. That's what's so nice about stock dog trials. So. Blissfully. Quiet.

 

Very interesting point , but I still cant imagine a barkless flyball tourney , LOL..I do see alot less of dogs who bark continuously while running agility though .

[geonni banner]

Once, a friend requested me to accompany her to a blessing of the animals in a schoolyard. When we arrived there were six lines of animals of all kinds waiting to be blessed. The priest was walking from the head of one line to the next, bending over cats, dogs, parrots, iguanas, tarantulas, gerbils and rabbits. Once in a while he would flinch at an exceptionally shrill bark or screech.

 

My Doberwoman sat at heel, moving up the line when I did, utterly calm and silent. When the priest came to us, he leaned over Blaise, placed his hands on either side of her face, touched his forehead to hers and said softly, "You're one of the good ones!"

[IPSY]

Once, a friend requested me to accompany her to a blessing of the animals in a schoolyard. When we arrived there were six lines of animals of all kinds waiting to be blessed. The priest was walking from the head of one line to the next, bending over cats, dogs, parrots, iguanas, tarantulas, gerbils and rabbits. Once in a while he would flinch at an exceptionally shrill bark or screech.

 

My Doberwoman sat at heel, moving up the line when I did, utterly calm and silent. When the priest came to us, he leaned over Blaise, placed his hands on either side of her face, touched his forehead to hers and said softly, "You're one of the good ones!"

 

I grew up knowing a priest who was very close to my family. He was like an uncle to me. He made a trip to my barn to bless my horse when I had gotten her. When he tossed the holy water on her , she picked her lip up and held it there for a minute or two. LOL..

He had a cat who wondered into church and cuddled up at the feet of a statue of St. Frances . This was during mass !

He signaled to the ushers to leave the cat till after mass. She was pure white , and sickly. My Mom had taken her to the vet , and after recovering from a URI , she was spayed and lived in the rectory till the ripe old age of 12 years. She died two days after the priest did. Her name was Angel. It still hurts me to tell this story , but I think it's a beautiful one.

Nothing to do with the thread , but when opporunity presents itself...

[Mariji]

OMG I swear this thread was made for me! Haha. I completely despise barking of any kind, whether its quiet, loud, whinging, incessant or only occasionally. It only takes one bark from my dogs for me to blow my top and storm out there demanding them to shut up. I know I sound like a mad woman but I work with screaming (hundreds of screaming) dogs everyday and just can't deal with it at home.

 

My oldest is brilliant never, ever barks but my little one is learning that barking is not okay, and unfortunately she is very vocal. So every morning she starts her little barking ritual whilst Mylie is standing there going "I don't think that's a good idea!" and I will come storming outside to tell her to shut her gob, because people in China can hear her. Haha I am completely noise intolerant. And I won't accept it at all when I'm at home, I know they bark when I'm not there but they (or should i say Mylie) wouldn't dare utter a sound if I am in hearing distance. This includes people coming through the gate or at the door or the doorbell, anything, not a sound, so what would be barking for most dogs Mylie growls, it's not aggressive it's just her way of rebelling. She's kinda going "you know what? you said i can't bark so I'm gonna growl, ha take that!"

 

Working with noisy dogs has made me swear alot and i mean alot! You eventually learn to deal with the fact that no matter how much I scream that I will debark them all they don't listen and I must deal will the headache when I go home. Complete sarcasm intended

[Soda-pop]

OMG I swear this thread was made for me! Haha. I completely despise barking of any kind, whether its quiet, loud, whinging, incessant or only occasionally. It only takes one bark from my dogs for me to blow my top and storm out there demanding them to shut up. I know I sound like a mad woman but I work with screaming (hundreds of screaming) dogs everyday and just can't deal with it at home.

 

This.

 

I don't yell at them but they know when I say "quiet" they'd better damn do it. It's one of the reasons I don't work in the dog section at work anymore--the barking drives me batty. It's stressful for the dogs, bad for the ears and stressful for the people but it doesn't seem to bother my coworkers so I'm the only one combating it, which really isn't that effective and makes me angrier that they are being so permissive and it's just a vicious cycle. Cats are so much quieter!

[border_collie_crazy]

I own an e-collar to make my terrier shut the heck up..does that answer the question? I dont mind a little barking, but there is a time when enugh is enugh. that said....I used to compete in Flyball and I listened to a couple hundred dogs indoors barking for 2 days straight..after 2 days you just dont really notice it anymore...not until your packing up and heading home..and everything sounds freakishly quiet! I also work in a boarding kennel..a very LARGE boarding kennel most in the city have room for about 12-16 dogs, one with room for 36...we have room for about 150. there are times when it gets LOUD, and on those days I would gladly snap someones neck. but for the most part, the dogs are out roughhousing all day and by the time they come in they are relaxed and quiet. I been there over a year and only had about 2-3 days where the dogs would not shut up.

[Mariji]

This.

 

I don't yell at them but they know when I say "quiet" they'd better damn do it. It's one of the reasons I don't work in the dog section at work anymore--the barking drives me batty. It's stressful for the dogs, bad for the ears and stressful for the people but it doesn't seem to bother my coworkers so I'm the only one combating it, which really isn't that effective and makes me angrier that they are being so permissive and it's just a vicious cycle. Cats are so much quieter!

 

I wish they would listen, but other peoples dogs especially at this kennels won't even manage a sit, let alone a shut up when i tell you. Haha other people seem to block it out but it drives me mental. I'm off to work now and I'm not looking forward to it....christmas holidays......about 300 dogs...yay

 

We got some noisy cats though They are quiet but we get some nasty ones as you usually would and the hair sticks to me ewwwww the last thing you want to be doing when its 40 degrees is sweeping out cat cages

[Mariji]

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!

 

This is where i differ i think, i am past the point of even allowing alarm barking. When i mean not a single bark, i mean not a single bark

 

In agility that another story......on the contact equipment Miles screams so loud she can barely hear me say contact. And she will bark at me when i stuff up or when the course is tight and she can't go as fast as need be. Saying that she will focus and the barking doesn't deter her concentration or mine, if she barks to much on the contact i will tel her to shut up and she will just whine lol. I will only allow barking at agility as it is what riles her up and gets her going, i know when she barks she is ready to go.

[2 Devils]

I don't like constant barking and I don't care that one of them hears dead people talking to them. Alas, my acd is a horrible barker which gets the toy poodle barking (and vice versa with these 2) which in turn may get the borderjack barking but he quiets down quickly and during all this barking my bc will usually go hide. She is scared of barking... this barking only lasts a couple minutes though.

 

I will allow alarm barking but will make them quiet down.

 

At flyball our crating area (that is the club's area) is usually bark free. The only barkers are usually outside being crated. The members all have permission to correct barking dogs in the crating area so ours is pretty quiet. I do get annoyed with all the barking at flyball but I can usually just ignore it. My acd will bark some at flyball (she is much better than she used to be). Excessive barking only wears the dog down faster in my opinion so I don't allow my dogs to bark while waiting or on the lanes but won't get on them too bad if they do though. I want them to show excitement but excessive barking is not allowed.

[geonni banner]

I wish they would listen, but other peoples dogs especially at this kennels won't even manage a sit, let alone a shut up when i tell you. Haha other people seem to block it out but it drives me mental. I'm off to work now and I'm not looking forward to it....christmas holidays......about 300 dogs...yay

 

We got some noisy cats though They are quiet but we get some nasty ones as you usually would and the hair sticks to me ewwwww the last thing you want to be doing when its 40 degrees is sweeping out cat cages

 

Two things I used to do in my days as a kennel-maid:

 

Wear earplugs

 

Bring a portable CD player loaded with "Environmental Sounds" discs. Not the ones with the irritating Wyndam Hill music added, but the ones with natural sounds only. The dog's favorite was a disc of Amazonian jungle sounds, mostly insects and the occasional bird. It really made a difference. Mozart string quartets worked well too.

 

 

PS. NEVER trust a cat in a kennel situation! I used to wear safety goggles when cleaning and feeding the cats. I knew two AHTs who were blinded in one eye by cats. Their warning behaviors can be subtle to non-existent, and the wounds they make get infected if you don't get on them instanter with something hi-test like Betadine scrub and then Neosporin. I love cats but they are DANGEROUS when scared or cranky. I'd rather deal with 2 nasty GSDs than one nasty cat ANY day.

[Mariji]

Two things I used to do in my days as a kennel-maid:

 

Wear earplugs

 

Bring a portable CD player loaded with "Environmental Sounds" discs. Not the ones with the irritating Wyndam Hill music added, but the ones with natural sounds only. The dog's favorite was a disc of Amazonian jungle sounds, mostly insects and the occasional bird. It really made a difference. Mozart string quartets worked well too.

PS. NEVER trust a cat in a kennel situation! I used to wear safety goggles when cleaning and feeding the cats. I knew two AHTs who were blinded in one eye by cats. Their warning behaviors can be subtle to non-existent, and the wounds they make get infected if you don't get on them instanter with something hi-test like Betadine scrub and then Neosporin. I love cats but they are DANGEROUS when scared or cranky. I'd rather deal with 2 nasty GSDs than one nasty cat ANY day.

 

Earplugs...Brilliant cannot believe i didn't think of it before.

 

As for cats yes give me a terrified dog over a cat anyday as well. I had DSH latch onto the front of me not long ago, tore me to shreds.....haha so is the joy of working with animals

[IPSY]

Ok, cats.....who's ever tried to catch a somewhat feral cat that has gotten loose and has found its way up into the dropped ceiling of the vets office...LOL... eeeeeewwwwwwwww....

[geonni banner]

Ok, cats.....who's ever tried to catch a somewhat feral cat that has gotten loose and has found its way up into the dropped ceiling of the vets office...LOL... eeeeeewwwwwwwww....

 

Can't say I've had that pleasure, but I had to get a white Persian down from a chimney once. The practice was in a converted house and the waiting area had a fireplace... Wasn't he just a mess when we finally extricated him?

[border_collie_crazy]

PS. NEVER trust a cat in a kennel situation! I used to wear safety goggles when cleaning and feeding the cats.

 

jeeze, how stressful was the cat area?! we have cats at the kennel I work for and there are no issues at all..I mean we have one cat, Pistol that had to stay in a cage..he's nasty. but currently we have 6 cats, all strangers to eachother running loose in the room together, even sharing their food. they are perfectly happy and not stressed..usually greeting us at the door with purrs and kisses when we walk in. its not even a struggle getting them into their carriers to go home, just set the kennel down, call their name and 99% of the time the cat meanders on over and walks right into the carrier...the other 1% of cats would rather stay forever, they wont even say hi to their owners lol

[juliepoudrier]

My mother took care of a feral cat population and she would trap the females and take them to the vet to be spayed. There was one black cat who earned the nickname Houdini because she escaped to the ceiling not once, but twice, while at the vet's office. Both times she eventually came down for food.

 

J.

[geonni banner]

jeeze, how stressful was the cat area?! we have cats at the kennel I work for and there are no issues at all..I mean we have one cat, Pistol that had to stay in a cage..he's nasty. but currently we have 6 cats, all strangers to eachother running loose in the room together, even sharing their food. they are perfectly happy and not stressed..usually greeting us at the door with purrs and kisses when we walk in. its not even a struggle getting them into their carriers to go home, just set the kennel down, call their name and 99% of the time the cat meanders on over and walks right into the carrier...the other 1% of cats would rather stay forever, they wont even say hi to their owners lol

 

The whole practice was a disaster. A cat once died during a routine spay because the oxygen bottle ran out and the vet was using an oxygen/halothane mix. (During the late 1980's) I noticed the cat's gum color and asked where the back-up O2 was. They didn't have one. The only had three surgery instrument paks so if they had more than three spay/neuters they would just use the same paks on more than one animal. Oh, and they boarded birds in the surgery bay. Little bits of cockatoo powder-down floating everywhere.

The boarding runs for dogs were a tangled mess of chain-link runs and the cat cages were in the same room. It was bedlam during the holidays. I worked there for two years and did what I could, but I finally quit in disgust when I had a poodle mix die in my arms in the tub. She came in with thousands of fleas, a coat that came off in one piece when she was clipped (because it was one solid mat.) She also had scabies, and everyone else refused to bathe her. I tried to make it as little stressful as possible for her, but her heart just stopped.

Then there was the English Setter that was torn to pieces by a pit-bull - in the kennels - both were boarding, and the kennel-maid that day didn't bother to follow protocol in switching the runs for cleaning. The owners praised the 172 free stitches their dog received for free. They weren't even angry. Continued to board him there.

Oh, and the young, beautiful tabby cat that ( A divorcing couple had her put down because they couldn't decide who would get her. ) took 25 minutes to die because the vet didn't give her enough euthanol, and wouldn't be persuaded to give her any more.

 

The place was a pit. I didn't turn them in because I had already lost one battle with a different vet who strung up a cat with a lab-lead, swung him around on the end of it, slammed him down on the stainless steel exam table 3 times and beat him. The cat had bitten him. It was very ill and frightened, and had a temp of 105F. I called the owners and they came and took him back but would not press charges. I tried, but as there were no other witnesses, it was my word against his and the inquiry was dropped. I quit and didn't work for another practice for 10 years.

 

Not all vets are created equal...

[painted_ponies]

Dogs, maybe - but one of my favorite "sounds of the season" is hound music.

 

This morning I could hear a neighbor's pack for a couple of hours or just at and after sunrise (it was very cold so scent stayed good). Several times I heard the strike hound's voice ringing out like a church bell as she found the line, then the handbell choir of the pack as they opened. No sweeter sound, IMO.

 

I let my four bark their fool heads off when they choose and are outside, because we have coyotes and bobcats (but no close neighbors). In consequence, I never see coyote or bobcat too close for comfort. Foxes, of course, are a law unto themselves, and yesterday morning it looked like Reynard had hosted a fox dance on my truck. But that was at night, when all the dogs were in the house.

 

I don't think my dogs bark unless they have a good reason, but then I admit I trust their judgment and don't always go out to verify.

[IPSY]

Dogs, maybe - but one of my favorite "sounds of the season" is hound music.

 

This morning I could hear a neighbor's pack for a couple of hours or just at and after sunrise (it was very cold so scent stayed good). Several times I heard the strike hound's voice ringing out like a church bell as she found the line, then the handbell choir of the pack as they opened. No sweeter sound, IMO.

 

I let my four bark their fool heads off when they choose and are outside, because we have coyotes and bobcats (but no close neighbors). In consequence, I never see coyote or bobcat too close for comfort. Foxes, of course, are a law unto themselves, and yesterday morning it looked like Reynard had hosted a fox dance on my truck. But that was at night, when all the dogs were in the house.

 

I don't think my dogs bark unless they have a good reason, but then I admit I trust their judgment and don't always go out to verify.

 

Thats just scawwy !

[IPSY]

The whole practice was a disaster. A cat once died during a routine spay because the oxygen bottle ran out and the vet was using an oxygen/halothane mix. (During the late 1980's) I noticed the cat's gum color and asked where the back-up O2 was. They didn't have one. The only had three surgery instrument paks so if they had more than three spay/neuters they would just use the same paks on more than one animal. Oh, and they boarded birds in the surgery bay. Little bits of cockatoo powder-down floating everywhere.

The boarding runs for dogs were a tangled mess of chain-link runs and the cat cages were in the same room. It was bedlam during the holidays. I worked there for two years and did what I could, but I finally quit in disgust when I had a poodle mix die in my arms in the tub. She came in with thousands of fleas, a coat that came off in one piece when she was clipped (because it was one solid mat.) She also had scabies, and everyone else refused to bathe her. I tried to make it as little stressful as possible for her, but her heart just stopped.

Then there was the English Setter that was torn to pieces by a pit-bull - in the kennels - both were boarding, and the kennel-maid that day didn't bother to follow protocol in switching the runs for cleaning. The owners praised the 172 free stitches their dog received for free. They weren't even angry. Continued to board him there.

Oh, and the young, beautiful tabby cat that ( A divorcing couple had her put down because they couldn't decide who would get her. ) took 25 minutes to die because the vet didn't give her enough euthanol, and wouldn't be persuaded to give her any more.

 

The place was a pit. I didn't turn them in because I had already lost one battle with a different vet who strung up a cat with a lab-lead, swung him around on the end of it, slammed him down on the stainless steel exam table 3 times and beat him. The cat had bitten him. It was very ill and frightened, and had a temp of 105F. I called the owners and they came and took him back but would not press charges. I tried, but as there were no other witnesses, it was my word against his and the inquiry was dropped. I quit and didn't work for another practice for 10 years.

 

Not all vets are created equal...