Anybody Owned a Dog That Never Barks?

[SakiSiam]

We've had our boy for nearly two years now. He's getting on for 10. His background is very successful ex-racer, and then used for breeding. He is terrified of everything outside of his normal experiences, which makes life a bit difficult. He's our fourth rescue dog (all sight hounds), but before him we haven't had a dog that has never barked. He is the most gentle creature; even though he spends his days frightened, couldn't image him attacking anything.

Anybody else had this experience? We're doing all we can, but would love him to feel that our garden, as well as his house, is safe.

My Jack Russell does not bark. But I trained her not to bark when she was a puppy so not the same situation.

My lurched never barked

I have a border terrier who's very 'barky'

My sprocker doesn't bark (but the collie more than makes up for it!0

Lurcher

Yeah my friend's dog never barks, he's a rescue and we reckon he was mistreated all the time, but that something particularly bad happened when he barked

I don't think there's anything you can do about it - it's become a learned behaviour. There are some things you'll never be able to 'fix' unfortunately and 8 years is a long time in dog-years. Just make him feel safe and comfortable as you're doing, but don't worry about the bark - he's probably forgotten how to answer that instinct.

Two spaniels one has never barked ever, the other barked when we were burgled a few years ago and if playing ball you stop throwing it. They are nearly 11.

We have a rescue greyhound who we have had for 3 years - she’s barked a handful of times. Growing up we had a lurcher who we had from a puppy, fine, well adjusted, well treated, loved beyond reason. Didn’t ever bark - not once in his whole life. I think sight hounds are a lot less barky than other breeds. I’m grateful, I hate barky dogs.

My dog is a lurcher and she does bark but way less than my previous dog. I read being quiet is actually a breed trait of lurchers as it makes them good at poaching. Could be a sighthound thing in general?

It's not quite true that she never barked but we had a Pekingese who very rarely barked. And when she did, it was very deep and gruff - the opposite of yappy. Not sure why she didn't bark but she was far from timid or nervous.

Apparently greyhounds don't bark, so maybe some breeds just don't.

There was a news story years ago about a greyhound that died in police 'custody' because it didn't bark. They collected it from somewhere and took it to a police station, shut it in an outbuilding but forgot about it. The dog didn't bark in distress and it died before the police found it again.

We have a older dog who has barked once in his whole life, that's it! But he makes some amazing noises in his sleep.. no idea why he doesn't woof.

My neighbour has two bull terriers and I've heard them bark maybe twice in three years. My dogs sometimes bark at them through the fence but they never bark back.

I've had 2 greyhounds. My previous one barked once that I every heard, at a fly. It shocked me so much I spilt my coffee all over myself! We have had our current greyhound a few months and I've never heard her bark yet. She whines when she's excited but doesn't bark.

I have a yorkie I had to teach to bark.

Bloody thing was like a silent stalker when we first got him, i tripped over him so many times!

We just did the over excited reaction to the doorbell, or someone passing the side gate. Lots of “who is it?” “See ‘em off” dancing to the door . And praise when he reacted by coming with us to the door. Eventually little noises leaked out, more praise and they turned into barks.

He was a bit younger though. He has it about right now, alerts us to the door or someone passing, but stops once they’re gone and doesn’t bark other than that.

My 9 yr old staffy who we adopted as a 10 week old pup never barks, she’s very laid back but confident and has a strong personality so not frightened or mistreated just chooses not to bark, she does huff and sigh if I’m not obedient enough though 🤣

I did but then she got dementia and now she won't shut up!

I think that's quite common in greyhounds. I've heard that before that they very rarely bark.
My mum had 2 yorkies that NEVER barked, and one of them was a nervous wreck the wee soul. No reason for it, she was just a really nervous wee thing. The other was the most layer back lazy dog ever.
My sprocker never used to bark, then he got to about 7 and started barling every now and then. He's terrible when the kids play, he thinks he has to run along barking with them, but only outside, and god forbid you take a couple of seconds to throw his ball for him 🙄

My daughter has a Lhasa also who has barked once as a pup

He scared himself so badly he shat the bed-which happened to be mine-and I was in it

He’s never barked since-we put it down to the breed but I could be wrong

Not never, but seldom. I've heard my dog bark a handful of times
She does howl and make a myriad of other annoying noises though.

One of thee many reasons I love lurchers is that they don't, or only rarely, bark.

Hopeless guard dogs but excellent when you have neighbours.

Our Lurcher has never barked - howls in her sleep sometimes!

Yes. She’s been accidentally left outside before because she doesn’t ever bark and we forgot she was out there. She wouldn’t even make a noise to tell us to let her in or to alert us to anything.

She’s never once barked but is very happy and good natured and we’ve had her since a puppy. 7 years old. I asked the vet and he said sometimes they just don’t feel like barking and that’s fine.

Sounds like heaven to me! My jack Russell barks at bloody EVERYTHING 😖

Oh and we had a pointer when I was younger. He was an big gentleman giant. He also never barked, but my parents did trained him not to bark. Didn't take much though.

My mum's springer spaniel doesn't bark. Its one of the reasons she went for that breed. He'll literally stand in the garden staring at the neighbour's super barky dogs - with a look that almost screams why on earth are you making such a fuss. Tail wagging on the other hand is never ending