Dutch Shepherd Forum

Roxie has really discovered her voice lately! She is very loud!

uh oh!!

I tell mine that their opinion is not appreciated. (Too much) barking is certainly discouraged here.

Funny, I remember somewhere around 6 months or so Sugar "found her voice" too. She was so quiet as a puppy, it would be rare for her to bark. Then one day she became a "watch dog" and started barking at things outside, etc.

Gunner found her voice at 6 months old too! She is pretty good at just letting us know she senses something and then goes back to what she was doing. Her bark is loud and I like that she lets out a few protective barks.

She is also 6 months old. We do discourage barking at the neighbors, people walking thier dogs, cars passing by. They are allowed strangers, out of place noises at night, and those sorts of things. She is very good at most of the rules. She sometimes decides to bark at neighbors but she's getting better. She has started the "I'm so happy you're home" bark recently. Which we are working on. She doesn't bark a lot....just barks loudly!

She is also 6 months old. We do discourage barking at the neighbors, people walking thier dogs, cars passing by. They are allowed strangers, out of place noises at night, and those sorts of things. She is very good at most of the rules. She sometimes decides to bark at neighbors but she's getting better. She has started the "I'm so happy you're home" bark recently. Which we are working on. She doesn't bark a lot....just barks loudly!

Oh yes, they do have very loud barks. You only need one Most of Sadies barking is at us to play. Thalie is super quiet, when she barks you know its important.

Olaf rarely barks. He barks when someone rings our door, and that`s only a couple of barks, and he sometimes barks at some dogs if he is annoyed by them.
But when he barks, he can reach some serious dB.

Lotus was fairly quiet in his kennel in the back of my SUV for awhile but now he has discovered his voice. Pedestrians and bike riders are to be barked at as well as anyone who wanders too close to his car. His bark is magnified by the cage and is very loud.

Typically, at sometime after 6-9 months, the dogs start to experience some natural defense. Think of a wild bunny. At young ages, you can walk right up and pick them up. Then they hit an age and flight is a natural reaction. With working dogs, they typically are excited to see new things and open to tons of socialization when babies. Then one day, they hit a level of maturity where they start to be cautious of things and experience some natural defense. How we handle that time frame dictates a lot about who the dog becomes. They develop their voice because they feel a real reason to use it for the first time ever. That is a very critical period for working dogs - in my opinion.

Xena has always been very judicious about using her voice. Although she is so loud when she does bark that a deaf woman in the neighborhood (totally deaf since the age of 7) can in some way hear her. The lady thanks Xena for bringing some sound to her otherwise totally quiet world...

Thor on the other hand talks about everything. NON STOP. Happy to see you! Can't wait to play! Time to wake up! someones here! FOOD FOOD FOOD!!!!! He also grumps, mumbles and sounds like chewbakka a lot. He will talk right through going to the bathroom and even drinking. THIS is going to take a lot of work. He makes my eardrums want to rupture. It is helping that I use calming signals and turn my back on him when he is screaming for food or the frisbee. But dang. I bet our neighbors HATE us.

We were so excited when Rune found his voice. He was a quiet puppy too. We want him to warn us of intruders. He is very good at only barking when someone comes up. He also loves to talk back to us, which we encourage. He is very loud! Ear piercing.

Leo will become very loud and obnoxious when he wants attention, or is trying to communicate something. (Potty, needs water, wants to go outside and play, hears a noise etc.)

Then he gets frustrated when people ignore him, or tell him to be quiet, and he starts pulling clothes/being mouthy.

One thing I have to keep reiterating is, don't push him around. It just makes him angry, and he starts being an a$$.

It seems like sometimes, it doesn't matter how many times you tell someone something. They just have to learn the hard way.

Hank is very vocal, we've almost gotten him to stop barking for attention but he is definitely a "talker". Lots of mumbles, little noises and grunts about everything all the time, its almost like you're having a conversation with him. He does alert/bark at anything out of the ordinary and it is VERY LOUD & VERY DEEP, I cant imagine how much louder it will get as he grows.

Odin barks when he is alerting and I Love hearing his really deep bark. He sounds so scary!!
Well, he does bark at the squirrels in the backyard, but that is quite a different sound.

rembrandt has always barked with a big big voice for a skinny puppy. He has barked for 3 days when he came home. Mum and dad asked me kindly to move me, the dogs and all my stuff from home. Then olympia saved our life. When he stayed in the box in her company he never barks. But some months ago Bran became a big guy. So he moved to his personal box called "welcome to sparta" and for the moment i have to say he's a good boy.. But when bells play starts "singin"... Poor our ears!

Lauren wrote:Thor on the other hand talks about everything. NON STOP. Happy to see you! Can't wait to play! Time to wake up! someones here! FOOD FOOD FOOD!!!!! He also grumps, mumbles and sounds like chewbakka a lot. He will talk right through going to the bathroom and even drinking.

OMG, Lauren, that's so freaking funny (easy for me to say, I know )

My spousal unit has often said, "Don't you wish they could talk?" NO!!!!!!!!! Do you really want to hear how much she wants to play/eat/play/pee/play/work/play? That's what you'd hear, ALL THE DAMN DAY. She'd never shut up!

Geyser's not a talker like Thor...she alert barks, but that's about it. Thankfully

also when we start workin he always scream MUMMY MUMMY I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING C'MON! ALLONS Y! ON Y VA! you ALWAYS know when rembrandt is around...