Expert: Angela Donald - 1/24/2010

Question
Is there such a thing as too little barking. Sometime I think my wife and I over did the ignoring strategy because now my three year old male Boxer simply never barks (except when we really get him going and he drops in to the play-bow position) When a stranger comes to the door he will watch the person pull in the driveway, get out of the car, walk to the door and then knock on the storm door, and still our Boxer will not bark. He only barks if you get him really worked up in play mode... Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that he's a quiet dog, but is it possible we over ignored him as a pup, especially when in his crate, the place he barked most. Our trainer gave us a rule to curb his barking. He said  "don't look, touch or talk" essentially ignore him when he barks. It worked because within four weeks he stopped barking all together. Now If he needs to go out or wants attention, well he has a few dances to communicate his needs. And if he notices a stranger walking past our house he stares the person down but won't make a sound (of course in most cases his nub is going a mile a minute) so I guess you could say this is a form of "watch dog". Thanks I look forward to your comments.
Adam C.
Massachusetts


Answer
Hi Adam,

Sounds like you and your wife socialized him very well and he sees no need to alert you to strangers as they are not a threat to him. If you want him to bark at strangers to alert you to their presence then you'll have to train him to do just that since you did teach him that barking wasn't going to get your attention. I would try to have a stranger come to the door and really bang on it and make lots of noise, pretend to break in and see if his behavior changes. Also you and your wife may be present the first time and then try it when you both are not present.This will be the real test.Please let me know how this little test goes.Thanks for your question.

Angela Donald
Canine Behavior Consultant
http://www.hitowerboxers.com