Okay, dog people ... Why is my dog barking?

[dirty ethel rackham]

So, Bear the Wonderchewer has recovered from his illness, no longer vomitting, back on regular food. But, now he is barking a lot more often. Before, we always commented on how little he barked. He would go weeks without barking so I would forget what he sounded like. When we passed other dogs on our walks, he wouldn't bark at them (sometimes whined because he wanted to go play.) He never barked when company came over. Every once in a while, he would pop up out of a nap and start barking - like he had been dreaming of chasing squirrels or something and startled himself.

 

Now, he barks when someone comes home. He barks when he wants to go out. He barks when he is confined to an area of the kitchen for his meal (partly so he doesn't take his Kong to other parts of the house and partly to keep him from swiping something the table.) He sometimes barks mysteriously ... he will growl and bark at the door to the garage like there is something out there. I have to say that, when he was sick, we paid very close attention to his behavior partly to make sure he was OK and partly to make sure that he wasn't vomitting on the rug. In the past, we always paid attention to his barks because they were so rare that they must have meant something. It is not a constant thing, nor is it annoying like the puggles down the street. It just has us puzzled. The bark starts with a growling noise, but no aggressive posturing. More like he is working up to a bark.

 

So, why is he doing this and what should we do about it?

 

ETA: Here is a picture of him hiding from us because he didn't want to take his medicine. And no, he doesn't have glowing green eyes - more tawny in color:).

Edited March 6, 2012 by dirty ethel rackham

[Unicorn.]

I don't know, but maybe he still doesn't feel well, and wants a little extra attention? Like the kids when they feel all oogie, and just want to be cuddled? Maybe his illness made him super sensitive to sounds? Poor thing. I think that was the saddest doggie face I have ever seen! I hope things quiet down soon.

[Ruby Rose]

My guess is he isn't feeling 100% and is a bit on edge.

[RoughCollie]

We used to get excited when Aidan barked because it was so infrequent and so cute.

 

He barks a lot more now, beginning a couple of months ago. He isn't neutered (his appointment is 3/20), so I figure testosterone has something to do with it. He can hear more sounds than we can, so he is not barking just to hear the sound of his own voice. I know he can immediately hear a certain cat when she silently steps onto our porch.

 

He barks when anyone who doesn't live here comes onto our property.

 

He barks to get whoever is in there to open a closed bedroom door. Since he knows what upstairs, get, and our names are, I use this to get DS3 up in the morning. "Go upstairs and get DS3" -- Aidan doesn't have a snooze button, so this is effective.

 

He gets instant attention when he barks, and he has been known to take advantage of that. If he wants to play and his target playmate does not, he will bark at them.

 

I don't want to stop Aidan from barking. He isn't a yappy dog, and I like being warned that someone is here, especially if they are strangers. I like knowing when the cat is out there, so I don't blithely take Aidan out and have to deal with him barking and lunging (he is on a leash) and the cat calmly sitting there, watching him, unafraid.

 

Aidan has turned out to be a good watchdog.

Edited March 6, 2012 by RoughCollie

[J-rap]

Is he still puppy-ish? Under one? Our dog didn't start barking until he was around 8 months or so. Then suddenly he "found" his voice.

[dirty ethel rackham]

He's over 2. We got him at 18 months. The barking started a week or so ago - after he started getting his energy back from being sick and returned getting into stuff to let us know that we weren't paying enough attention to him. Nothing like my favorite gloves in his mouth to get me to notice that he needs to go out:D. He has been on a bland food diet for 3 weeks and we just started him back on kibble, with no apparent ill affects.

 

He used to go the door or window and making a soft whining sound if someone was coming home, a stranger at the door, someone or something was in the yard or in the garage. Now he has added the barking to it. (He did occasionally bark if a stranger was at the door - usually at men - or someone unexpected was in our yard - like a man looking for his lost dog.)

[Remudamom]

I don't know but that pic is hysterical.