Dog who never ever barks - anyone else had this?

[somm]

I'm asking because I wonder if it's more normal than I think, or it's just that our dog is strange? He has got vocal cords that he can use, because we have the occasional weird noise, so I'm not worried on that score. He's our fourth rescue sighthound, and he was eight when we adopted him in 2019. He was a very successful racer, later used for breeding; and then he was handed to a greyhound rescue site.

For months he was mute. When we'd had him a few months and he finally made some kind of weird sound I was so pleased. From time to time he'll make a noise that I try to interprete, but barking isn't part of his vocabulary. I was used to knowing what my dogs were trying to indicate because of the noises they make; can't do this with him.

I have picked up on one sound, which I interprete as 'Woe is me, I'm not getting another breakfast just after my first breakfast'; 'Woe is me, you're not getting my tea, mum, even though I'm an hour too early'. So he can say, 'Woe is me', but not bark to say, 'I think that's an intruder mum, you need to protect me'.

My greyhound will occasionally do one bark if he thinks I'm not providing his dinner quick enough but that's all.

We've had our 7 year old lab since he was a pup. For the first 5 years he only ever barked when he was in the garden and wanted back in, it wasnt even a real bark just a half hearted grunt sound. He was never keen on vocal dogs when he was out on walks.

We were home most days before, but now have to get dog walkers a couple of days a week for the last couple of years. They pick him up in a van with the other dogs and they are all barking, I said to the walker ours never barks and she said oh yes he does, just as much as the rest. Didn't believe her until she picked him up one day and the van was empty, as soon as he got in he started barking excitedly.

We now have a very vocal 😡GSD living next door that barks at everything, for the first few months when ddog went out it would charge the fence and bark at him and ddog would scarper back inside, a few months later he built up the courage to just stand at a distance and watch it as it kept barking at him, now he runs up and barks back at it just 2 or 3 times and it shuts up. Really funny to see when he's been quiet for so long.

Our rescue GSDX only barks for 3 things:

To be let in from the garden (very quiet cough bark)
To tell us someone is at the door (then stops when we congratulate him)
To tell us the ice cream van is coming (can't shut him up - he always gets a 50p cone)!!

@Lougle is your ice cream van coming from the 1980s?

2Geometricprince - love the idea of, ... "gets over excited playing and then he looks really surprised at himself!". Dogs can be such idiots, and how lucky we are to have them.

Yup, my late big scruff of a Lurcher, Morse, never once barked at home or in the garden.

He perfected the art of getting attention by firstly having a lovely big drink of water, then gently pacing his soaking wet beard on your lap and looking at you with his beautiful smiling eyes 😍😍

The only time he ever barked - and this was very occasionally - was when he did a fantastic recall from a good distance away, and he'd run right at you, and just swerve at the very last minute with an enormous WOOF and his big laughing face! I miss him dreadfully.

His only other noise started in the last year of his long life, when he'd do the most melodic "awoooooooo" when he heard a siren on the main road, it was so cute!

I think they're bred to be silent hunters.

*placing his beard

@Love51 no, we just have a lovely ice cream family who always give us a cone with a bit of ice cream on it for him. They refuse to charge us for it, but I sometimes sneak the 50p on to the counter

Our dog is so funny - he hears them right from the bottom of the road and barks madly. When we come in with the ice creams, he runs to the kitchen and sits expectantly for his cone

We had a lab, and would only bark once if there was a knock on the door, that was it. He used to be a working dog and was trained not to. His bark was LOUD so it was a blessing!

@CarrieMoonbeams Awwww, the way you describe him melts my heart a little bit. Sounds like it was true love on both sides 💕

It was indeed @userxx, he was an absolute diamond. He was a complete tart though, adored women, and once walked away with a random woman in a pet shop when I'd momentarily dropped his lead so that I could choose a new collar for him! 🤣

Rescue collie doesn't bloody stop after 9 months of silence!

Oh these doggies, making me sad but also making me happy.

CarrieMoonBeams > I feel for you x