Dog questions

[skhill]

Well, Stella's settling in well-- it's been a week and a half since she joined the household. She's feeling like she's at home it looks like, and all the cats are willing to be in the same room with her. The still don't approve, though!

Question 1: will she ever bark? She hasn't yet-- and apparantly didn't while she was at the humane society. I've heard her growl and groan, and she's done so little dream arfs while asleep, but no barking. She's definitely not deaf, so that's not it. I'd rather live with a quiet dog than a loud one, but this is extreme. Any thoughts?

Question2: will she play? She's polite and civil to other dogs, but when they offer to play with her, she's not interested. When I offer to play with her, she's not interested. She does want to play with the cats, but they are definitely not interested! And she does like to chase a tennis ball. But will she loosen up and have a good romp, or is that just not her thing?

Thanks, y'all

[Trek420]

Question2: will she play? She's polite and civil to other dogs, but when they offer to play with her, she's not interested. When I offer to play with her, she's not interested. She does want to play with the cats, but they are definitely not interested! And she does like to chase a tennis ball. But will she loosen up and have a good romp, or is that just not her thing?

Thanks, y'all

My shelter mutt did not play at first. She did some "zooms" in open space, learned to love and play with "her" cats but ignored toys. No telling what her puppyhood was like and the shelter itself is a stress:o But I still have and she loves that first squeeky hamburger toy. Just keep playing, trying new things.

Just as we love doing different sports you never know what your dog will love. If she likes the tennis ball will she like a chuck-it, like chasing it into water, is she a frisbee dog, will she play soccer with a large ball, does she like sliding down the kiddie slide (my mutt does)?

[Biciclista]

what is Stella's breeding? that is a lot of how to determine whether or not they will bark.
She doesn't have to bark right now. I bet if there was the right situation, she would.
and the cats don't have to approve... they just have to deal.

[Irulan]

I had a golden that was super mellow, and rarely barked. Sure I wished for more of a watchdog personality ( Golden? Not.) but otoh, having had to listen to waaay too many barkers, I'd say don't worry about it.

[NbyNW]

We had Gordy for 6 or 8 weeks before we ever heard him bark.

He will probably never be great at playing with other dogs. He prefers to play with us. He is well-socialized enough to be around other dogs, at the park or in day care. Otherwise for him it is usually enough to sniff a little and then move on if he decides there is no threat. If he feels like another dog is getting too much in his space, he will but them with his hip or warn them off, but he's really not one to initiate play.

We've talked about maybe getting a second dog when he is much older, but that is a few years away.

[spokewench]

I love, love, love dogs that don't bark. It is a problem you don't have to deal with so be happy about that.

She'll get used to all things and probably play more later, but she may not ever like to play with other dogs due to her upbringing. Who knows? But she has a lot of adjusting to do still.

[Pax]

My older Border Collie didn't bark until she was almost four years old, it really seemed to startle her when she did it. :p

[GLC1968]

Our boxer/shepherd/chow mix didn't bark for the first 9-10 months of her life, either. She was born in the shelter, so she knew nothing but cages and cement floors when we adopted her at 4 months old. It took her forever to learn how to 1) play and 2) bark.

She does both with much frequency now that she's 6, so be careful what you wish for! ;)

[skhill]

And now she has barked! Not sure if it was at a squirrel she saw out the window, or if one of the cats was taunting her, but there was a definite woof. Just one.

She's mainly a yellow lab, about a year old, btw. It's nice to see her relaxing and loosening up as she settles in. Now we just really need to tackle the pulling on the leash thing...

[bmccasland]

Nala (Aussie shephard) wasn't a barker, except at other dogs. She was an stray that wound up in a shelter, then her first owner had a little girl (age 4), so Nala wasn't allowed to play with toys in the house. She would play some outside, but never in the house. She didn't grasp the concept of tug-of-war or catch. Branwen (Spaniel mutt) was a stray, and had been beaten before my neighbor found her and brought her home. She never learned to play, learning to trust people was a big advance, she didn't bark much either.

[Aggie_Ama]

My parents had a Rottweiler, Athena, who rarely barked. Oddly she only liked to turn to the neighbor next door and bark. All the dogs we have seem to dislike him.

Heidi, my 10 year old schnauzer, has never been much for play. She had no interest in toys as a puppy. She would always engage in a fun game of chase but that was all. Jens on the other hand will play with any dog, toy, person, cat he is allowed and even those who don't want to play.

[Norse]

As others have said, dogs have different personalities and like to "play" different things. You could toss sticks, balls, frisbees... all day for my last dog (Willy) and he would just look at you with a bemused look as if to say "You chase it." Current dog will play frisbee until she drops.

On the barking, I do like the guard dog aspect, especially not having a man around. ;) I got my Willy as a pup and he did not bark. Then existing GF and I actually taught him to bark by having one person ring the doorbell/pound the door and having the other person inside with Willy trying to get him all fired up. He eventually got the idea and went on to become the best dog ever in so many ways (to this day my dog-loving family continues to view Willy as the most wonderful pet ever). He was gentle as a lamb with my then toddler nieces and with the cats. But he was entirely different when someone approached the house or he sensed a threat - he was junk yard dog ferocious. He may have actually saved me from harm. I was living alone, it was about 3 am and I woke up because he was on the couch (something he never did) under the picture window barking vehemently. I looked out and saw some strange guy hanging hanging out across the street - he moved on shortly thereafter. I'll take the bark.

[zoom-zoom]

It's been ages since I lived with a dog, but our neighbor's GSDs crack me up. They have such different personalities. Her male, Seneca, was the runt of the litter and has always had a very quiet, somewhat shy and gentle personality. He's actually afraid of my big hubby, but adores our son. He pretty much only barks little yips at the door when he wants to go back in.

Her new dog, Ruby, is a small female...who doesn't really look like a GSD (She is the offspring of Seneca's brother). She is reddish colored and almost looks like a hyena. She is a sassy one, too. ALWAYS barks, every time she's outside and sees someone. We tease her and call her silly girl, since she really has no reason to bark at us. Sometimes she even gets her hackles up, even though I suspect she's not really aggressive, just likes to put on an act. I think she sorta wears the pants, though. Sometimes she will bark at us and Seneca will follow suit, mostly due to peer pressure, it seems. He never barked at us before Ruby came along. He looks sheepish when he does it.

Even though these dogs are the same breed and are from common bloodlines, they are very different creatures.

[marni]

I have had two labs and two corgies, the labs were male the corgies female. The labs played like demons and enjoyed barking in good fun but were quiet in the house. Neither of the females will play at all. Both were breeders and never learned how. Of the two corgies, one was very quiet and rarely if ever barked, our current corgi however is a non stop barker with the memory span of a goldfish, which means that every second is new and every stimulus is new and needs to be barked at and run away from.

Be grateful that yours is a non barker. Enjoy the quiet lab dog who might prefer cuddles to chasing.

marni

[zoom-zoom]

our current corgi however is a non stop barker with the memory span of a goldfish, which means that every second is new and every stimulus is new and needs to be barked at and run away from.

You must read these (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/07/dog.html#uds-search-results).