Vocal puppy

[Kate Reshetnikov]

Hi, everyone,
my name is Kate, I am new to the comunity.
My 7 month old puppy is very vocal, and she barks to any even slightest noise. my vet sad that because Irish Setters are very sensitive and emotional dogs.
Are all Irish this way?
Best Regards, Kate

[Susan Stone]

Hi Kate,
it is difficult to give an answer to your problem not knowing the dog. But considering her young age, I would assume she is unsure of herself and you need to work on her confidence. She is too young to show real territorial behaviour so is probably reacting to surprise sounds in this way. Please don't tell her off or shout at her for barking - in my experience this only makes things worse. Best ist to keep absolutely quiet and calm yourself and ignore her behaviour. Try instead to praise her when she does manage to keep calm.
For my puppies during their socialisation up to the age of 10 weeks, when they leave for their new homes, I play a CD in the background called 'SOUNDS - for behaviour therapy' with an incredible amount of noises: household, traffic, people, bangs etc. I know you can order different noise CDs from the Pet Behaviour Centre UK (David Appleby). Have a look on their site, it may help.
I do not consider Irish Setters to be a barking/yapping breed generally. Your vet may have a different view.
good luck! Susan

PS I believe you have two dogs? Does the other one keep quiet when the youngster barks?

[Kate Reshetnikov]

Hi, Susan, thanks for reply, I am just wondering what her barking mean. You are right, she is very young, so she is unfamiliar with lots of sounds. Really good advise of SOUNDS CD, I am gonna use it.
Older dog is Basset Hound, so it's totally different barking story.
Thanks, Kate

[ursula wilby]

Hello Kate, I have owned irish setters since 1974 and bred them since the early 80`s. And no, they do not generally bark at lot. In fact they tend to bark far less than other breeds. I do agree with Susan, I think your dog needs a bit more confidence and its (just as Susan said) something to ignore in a young dog.
Im certain that when she grows older and gains some more confidence, the barking will go away or at least get far less. But even if setters generally bark far less than a lot of other breeds, dogs (as well as humans) are idividuals. Good kuck
Ursula

[Wendy Czarnecki]

Hi Kate,

I have had Irish Setters since 1971 and they generally are not meaningless barkers who make noise from boredom or just to hear the sound. I have had puppies who fell in love with the sound of their own bark and would find a particularly echo-y place on the property to engage in a bark fest - you can watch them stop and listen for a while, and then bark some more, then listen again, etc. Most of them grow out of this, although there can be a recurrence when the puppy bark changes to an adult bark (like a young boy's voice changing) and they may actually startle themselves when they first hear it - just like seeing that dog in the mirror for the first time.

An Irish Setter that is a nuisance barker generally needs more exercise and attention and is asking for it by barking. That is the best way to solve the barking problem, but there are plenty of devices of various sorts that will work, different ones for different dogs - electric current, high-frequency noise producers, collars that spray citronella into the dog's face when he barks (quite effective and non-painful).

My dogs just about always bark when someone comes onto our property, even one of the family, but I think that is an important function for dogs and I want them to bark for a good reason. But I also want them to stop barking either when they realize who is here or one of us comes out to greet the new arrival. I had one bitch who would bark as soon as she heard my car come down the lane, and she would continue to bark until I came through the walk-in gate. Then she would quiet down automatically. I also have others who like to greet me with a few "woo-woo's" and this I really like.

One comment that may also be helpful. I have read that any noise that a puppy hears up to the age of 13 weeks becomes integrated into his environment and he takes no notice of it as he grows up. But any new sound encountered after the age of 13 weeks will always be consciously heard by the dog. He may not have an obvious reaction to it, but he may always alert to it. We try to expose our pups to as much of the common household and neighborhood sounds as possible as soon as they start to hear, and we often leave a news radio program playing for them during the day, with lots of people and environmental sounds as well as music from advertising, etc. The CD's sound like wonderful resources for folks whose home environment is very quiet.

I've also known folks who teach their dogs to "whisper." You might try talking to your dog in a whisper - they have to work hard to hear it and cannot be barking at the same time. You need to determine if your pup is really scared by a strange noise and if so, take her with you to investigate - if she learns the noise source it may no longer trouble her.

Best of luck,

Wendy

[Kate Reshetnikov]

Hi, Wendy, thank you very much for useful and interesting info.
I assume Ruby is not familiar with lots of sounds (she is 7 month old), so he barks just in case.
Also I think she comunicates this way.
Best Regards, Kate

[Carmel Murphy]

I have some barkers also! Rua barks at me when I collect her after leaving her with friends for a few days and also if I am late bringing her for her walk! Megan once emptied a citronella collar while i tried to stop her barking with excitement on her walk and also I tried a remote control citronella collar to stop her barking in a field(didnt work either!!)Megan also barks while she does her agility course! Milo is the quiet one! But none of them are nuisance barkers! I just find they use their voice to say something important! They also bark if another dog steals their toy-It's like "give it back to me now" My german shepherd rarely uses his voice except as an alarm!! Most setters I know are vocal in a positive way! I think its just their Irish roots coming through! Gift of the gab and full of Blarney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!