Dog questions

[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.

[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...