Is it normal for your dog to not bark much?

My grandma recently got a pocket beagle, and the thing is cute as hell. She's still just a puppy, I think only a months old, but I've noticed something about her: She rarely barks. The only time I've heard her bark is when she was playing with my Aunts Australian Collie, and that was only to get his attention and a few more times when he played a little rough. I always thought that puppies were supposed to be huge barkers, because, well, they're still puppies and learning how to be one. Is this normal for a puppy, or is this a sign of a more serious problem? My grandma doesn't seem worried, but she loves the thing to death and I want to make sure that the dog is fine.

(06-04-2013, 07:30 AM)maelstrom Wrote: My grandma recently got a pocket beagle, and the thing is cute as hell. She's still just a puppy, I think only a months old, but I've noticed something about her: She rarely barks. The only time I've heard her bark is when she was playing with my Aunts Australian Collie, and that was only to get his attention and a few more times when he played a little rough. I always thought that puppies were supposed to be huge barkers, because, well, they're still puppies and learning how to be one. Is this normal for a puppy, or is this a sign of a more serious problem? My grandma doesn't seem worried, but she loves the thing to death and I want to make sure that the dog is fine.

I think one of the more important things to ask is if your grandma has brought her pup to the vets for a general check-up. We should at least know if the puppy is healthy. Here's the basic puppy EEMPC exam to check if she is healthy.

There are some dogs that rarely bark. There are breeds that don't bark at all. Although it's quite weird that your grandma's dog is a beagle and is not a barker. Do you live with your grandma?

Usually, if a dog rarely barks, the next thing to check is lethargy. Not barking can mean she has a medical problem. But it can also mean she's contented, mentally stimulated and happy as excessive barking can be an effect of boredom or excess energy.

No, I don't live with my grandma, though she does live only 45 minutes away and we visit her often.

This isn't the first beagle she's had, so she has experience with them. I actually think it may be the "happy, content, and mentally stimulated" situation, actually. She often plays with my Aunts dogs (grandma lives 5 minutes away from them, now brings her beagle with her), and her and my grandpa often play with her at their house. I didn't know that barking excessively could mean boredom, I thought it meant the opposite. I have noticed she has a tendency to get tired out and stop playing, but I thought that was just her being a puppy and playing too much. She is only a month or so old.

I would tend to think barking more or less might just be an aspect of the dog's personality. For example, a more neurotic dog would likely bark at every little noise. Hopefully, you're just lucky and got a dog with a personality that doesn't bark much. I see that as a good thing, mine barks a little if someone new comes to the house, but otherwise it's pretty rare for her to bark. Most people say chihuahuas are "yappy", but not mine. I don't think mine is lethargic either, she runs around the house and loves to play fetch and generally get exercise. Which isn't to say I don't recommend getting your dog checked by a vet just to be safe, a general check-up is certainly a good idea anyway, but hopefully nothing is wrong.

Well, just like humans, I think that dogs just have their own different personalities, some are barkers and some just aren't. Years ago me and my sister adopted two German Shepard puppies, brothers, and as they grew up mine wouldn't bark at all unless I said 'Speak' Because I taught him to do it when he was little. Mine learned all sorts of things and my sisters.. Even though I trained them, he just wasn't too into being trained.
As long as your grandma is getting the pup checked out, the vet will typically notice if anything is wrong and if your grandmother has experience with them, it's likely she knows what she's doing to some extent. I'm sure the puppy is fine.

Dogs have personalities too. Sometimes their personalities differ from breed to breed. I have noticed that smaller dogs bark more often and are much more noisy than bigger ones. They tend to get bothered by different things more so they also bark more. You can also think of it as being protective of themselves and their territory. It is also possible that dogs who bark a lot are protective of their masters.

Of course it is totally possible that a breed that is supposed to bark a lot can be quiet and a breed that is supposed to be quiet can be noisy. If your dog has been that way since day 1, perhaps that is what is normal for him or her. There are many dogs that don't bark much. If your dog is healthy, I don't think you have to worry about anything.

I was out mowing my yard today, the neighbor let her dog out into her backyard to pee. Her dog ran up and down the fence barking nonstop at me, meanwhile my dog chilled on the porch enjoying the sun. Even with a dog so close barking, she didn't even bark once. She definitely kept an eye on the other dog though, but I was very impressed with her behavior. I think it's nice when a dog can not freak out at a situation, let's face it... who likes a barking dog really? My neighbor's dog is a little annoying, it goes into the backyard and sits and barks for no real reason. I've even tried to make nice and pet the dog once a while back, but the dog freaked out so much around me my neighbor could barely hold the leash so she just ended up saying, "Well, let's just not push it." Once again, point being: if your dog has a chill personality, enjoy it because I think that's lucky!

I don't know of many dogs with this wonderful quality, but I don't think it is anything to worry about. Both my Yorkies, Peanut and Prissy are SO YAPPY! However, my sister has a Yorkie and she is super quiet.
Between the 3 Yorkies, all of their little personalities are so different.

Peanut is older so he is more laid back, set in his ways, a little grouchy, grumpy at times, touchy, stubborn and acts like an old man. Prissy is bouncy, hyper, playful, friendly to everybody she meets, hard headed, determined to get her way, very protective and a spoiled brat. Jasmine, which is my sister's dog is so quiet, calm and mellow. She only barks if someone rings the doorbell and even then it is just a very muted bark. Must be nice! Mine bark and growl at every little thing they hear. They are definitely good guard dogs I guess. ;-)

When my schnauzer was a puppy you couldn't stop him barking, he barked at everything, when it was time to eat, when we played, when he went for walks, EVERYTHING! However my pitt bull rarely barks, I think I've heard her bark maybe 3 times and she's nine months old now, and it was always over food. So I guess it just depends on the dog, my schnauzer is still very chatty and has certain barks for just about everything, while the pitt bull is always very quite. Even when we take her to dog parks she doesn't join in the commotion. So if your concerned its an issue just watch how the puppy behaves, if it seems especially lethargic and unresponsive to toys or food then you should contact a vet, like the other posters have recommended.

There are definitely differences in a dogs personality and amount of barking. Also, you said this puppy is only a month old, and that is very young to be taken away from its parents, so that might be a good reason that she is so quiet. Most puppies are or weaned and rehomed until they are more like two months old, and being such a young puppy, she is probably not going to bark around older dogs. Once she gets to be several months old, and is playing more, she may start barking as she plays.
If the older dogs are not barkers, she may not be a barker either, since dogs learn the best from other dogs, especially older dogs that they are submissive to.

As others have mentioned on here, there are certain breeds who rarely bark or don't bark at all. I was just watching a segment on the Basenji breed, and apparently they are super quiet as well. They were even recommended for apartment dwellers.

I had a beagle as well who would seldom bark. The only time she would bark it was more of a howl, and she would only do it if she was really distressed or excited. Food, for example, would get her super excited and she would let out a series of those trademark beagle howls. Other instances would be if we put her outside to go pee, and perhaps lighting came down. She would freak out and beg to come back in asap. Otherwise she would just chill all day and not make a sound.

Dogs are like people. There are the loud ones, the quiet ones, the social ones and the shy ones. Your grandma's dog might just be a shy, quiet dog. It might also just not be accustomed to barking, seeing as it's still rather young. Maybe as it grows older, it'll encounter more dogs and start the socializing process - afterall, a dog needs to learn how to interact with other dogs.

You'll sometimes see dogs that don't know how to interact with other dogs at the park - they'll be the ones that will sort of run up to a group of dogs, start sniffing around and then when the other dogs sniff back, they'll kinda run away back to their owner.

It's interesting to watch the way dog psychology works, and how they interact. It's even more interesting to do so when you know some of the backgrounds of the various dogs by speaking with their respective owners. I encourage you give it a try the next time you're at the dog park and see what you can learn about your (or in this case your grandma's) dog's personality around others.