My dogs don't bark at strangers

Neither of my two dogs so much as make a sound when a stranger is near the house. They bark nonstop at squirrels, rabbits and other dogs but never at people. I'd like at least a warning bark. Has this happened to anyone else?

One dog is 1.4 years old and the other is between 2-3 years old. I've had one of them for just under a year and other a little over a year. They are Cattle dog mix (maybe) and the other either Collie or Sporting Dog mix.

This could mean they simply don't see "strangers" as a threat, they dont feel the need to bark a a warning.

My dogs don't make a sound at squirrels, Sophie silently stalks them and Callie doesn't even look at them. Sophie is too frightened of strangers to do more than whine sometimes. Men walking towards us and Callie bellows.

Jade rarely barks now, but if Nigredo hears a knock on the door... he runs riptide and lets off some seriously vicious barks. They are both warnings and alerts, but he's a gentle soul and I'm not sure he'd do anything at all if they got in. It's annoying actually.

Yes, especially the three barks in rapid succession. Warning the pack leader (you) that there's something approaching, it's down to the leader to decide what to do about it.

It's a bit like working in a small company, everyone reports problems to the boss, he (or she) is the one who has to sort it.

As they say "It's tough at the top"

His bark is actually just stupid. It doesn't sound like a normal bark at all. It's annoying as can be if he hears the door...



Looks more like this if he sees someone approaching the yard...



I'm not great with body language in dogs, but I know that he isn't going to do anything, but he does let off verbal warnings. ONLY AT HOME. He never barks at anybody EVER if we're not home. Silly Nigredo!!

My mothers dogs are all (all 5 of them) fiercely protective of her and bark like crazy at the fence at strangers but only when my mother is at home. I've been there when my mother is out and the dogs hardly turn their heads at the people that approach the house. Her 1 dog (a pure bred belgian malinois) even 'chases' me away when I'm leaving and my mother is in the garden but ignores me when I leave and my mother is not in sight. Silly dogs!

But to stay on topic the not barking at people but going nuts at squirrels, rabbits and other dogs could be a breed trait inherited from their herding ancestry... I could be wrong...

I'm curious about Sophie and her "nutjob" bark. Sometimes they'll hear other dogs in yards or people outside. Callie will get right down and march to the closest point of the noise to growl. Sophie usually starts barking but stays put in human safety. Her bark is like a shotgun. Rapid fire BARKBARKBARKBARK BARKBARKBARK...what is she saying? Perhaps she's making up for Callie being unable to do a serious sounding bark? So she let's him be the muscle and she's the voice? I dunno

[QUOTE=Losos;2864708]Yes, especially the three barks in rapid succession. Warning the pack leader (you) that there's something approaching, it's down to the leader to decide what to do about it.

It's a bit like working in a small company, everyone reports problems to the boss, he (or she) is the one who has to sort it.

As they say "It's tough at the top" [/QUOTE

My two work as a team. If Georgina my Shar-Pei is in the house or up the garden and Gwylim my Mini Schnauzer is near the front gate, he'll bark to alert her, and she'll immediately go to the front gate and depending whether its "friend or foe" she'll then take over the barking. If it sounds a serious bark I'll go out, thank them both and take over from there.

Georgina considers herself on duty until around 8pm at night when she'll go out, do a patrol of the boundary fences, then stand for a few minutes scanning the lane. If all is quiet she'll come in and go to bed. From then on it's Gwylim's job to any barking during the night which fortunately rarely happens.

At the moment Gwylim's a "work in progress" when it comes to friends arriving at the gate because he'll squeal in delight and get very wriggly as soon as he sees them approaching, but we're slowly getting there with some training!

In my case, only the big dog barks. Bunny will look, but she won't bark. She will sometimes stand near him and face the direction he's barking towards, but she won't bark. She used to before I got him etc. but it seems she's given the role to him now. Good! I don't need two barking, annoying dogs... one dog barking is enough.