Anyone else got a non barking cocker ??

[Helen]

you were the one that said he'd 'found his voice'     Sounds like it's nurture more than nature in this case with the other dogs 'encouraging' him and I wish you luck with it   

I genuinely don't know if I could cope with a barky dog - I grew up with working labs and pointers who only barked if someone came to the house and thought all dogs were like that (until I met terriers....and some show cockers    ).  Quietness was one of the traits that attracted me to working cockers 

[Emilyoliver]

He barks sometimes when he's playing (not together with Ollie barking because he's excited). But, yes, nurture will probably influence his behaviour. And so be it. He wasn't bought solely as a piece of equipment/ working dog.

I also think it's quite easy to keep a lone/ kennelled dog quiet and believe that's part of the reason why most working dogs are kennelled. That way they never learn anything undesirable (as far as working is concerned).  Horses for courses. Gobby or not, this puppy will be loved.

[Jane57]

He barks sometimes when he's playing (not together with Ollie barking because he's excited). But, yes, nurture will probably influence his behaviour. And so be it. He wasn't bought solely as a piece of equipment/ working dog.

I also think it's quite easy to keep a lone/ kennelled dog quiet and believe that's part of the reason why most working dogs are kennelled. That way they never learn anything undesirable (as far as working is concerned).  Horses for courses. Gobby or not, this puppy will be loved.

Totally agree, it would take a lot more than a gobby/barking dog to put me off ANY dog. Its like saying I couldnt cope with one of my children because they were loud/extrovert..... Send them back thats what I say 

[Joules]

I genuinely don't know if I could cope with a barky dog - I grew up with working labs and pointers who only barked if someone came to the house and thought all dogs were like that (until I met terriers....and some show cockers    ).  Quietness was one of the traits that attracted me to working cockers 

Well, I would not have chosen to have a gobby dog but that is what she is and, although it is a pain at times (alright, quite often  ), it is part of her personality and so I accept that it is the way she is.    I have no choice but to "cope" with it and, tbh, there are plenty of worse traits she could have.  She may have been a bit better if I had really worked hard on training her to be quiet, but somehow I still think she would be a noisy dog.   

One thing that having animals has certainly taught me is that I cannot control everything

[Emilyoliver]

I genuinely don't know if I could cope with a barky dog - I grew up with working labs and pointers who only barked if someone came to the house and thought all dogs were like that (until I met terriers....and some show cockers    ).  Quietness was one of the traits that attracted me to working cockers 

Well, I would not have chosen to have a gobby dog but that is what she is and, although it is a pain at times (alright, quite often  ), it is part of her personality and so I accept that it is the way she is.    I have no choice but to "cope" with it and, tbh, there are plenty of worse traits she could have.  She may have been a bit better if I had really worked hard on training her to be quiet, but somehow I still think she would be a noisy dog.   

One thing that having animals has certainly taught me is that I cannot control everything

Agree totally with this. Ollie is a very noisy dog - he is just like that. He didn't learn it from me or Emily and I certainly didn't specifically choose a noisy pup. Pip will be whatever he turns out to be. I don't have dogs to be silent automatons - they are funny, entertaining, lively, merry cockers who bark sometimes.

[praia]

I would think that barking would be one of the more easily controlled behaviors and one of the most manageable things to work with in a dog.  My show girl may be a bit more vocal than I would have liked, but managing that behavior is easy and uncomplicated compared to all the other behavior issues my failed fostering attempt and adopted terrier came with.  I'd rather take the most obnoxiously loud dog than another fear aggressive and food aggressive dog.

Some people have expectations of how they think some dogs should be like, but in the end a dog will be just as he was meant to be and in the end you accept and love him for exactly just that. 

[JulieM]

We tried (very unsuccessfully) to teach Florie not to bark so much. I read in a book that it can be frustrating for them if you don't acknowledge their bark as it's their way of communicating and can cause them to bark more- until you 'listen'. This theory all was going fine until our daughter got involved...Florence barks like a mad fool because there's a dog on TV and our daughter says "thank you for telling us Florence." This had us in fits of giggles so now all the family does it. She goes mad and we say 'thank you for telling us'. It's made no difference to the barking (obviously) but does release the inbuilt frustration of the constant barking at the TV 

[Walshies]

We have a non barker here - Fudge has only barked a few times in his 8 months of life.  Hoping it stays like that - not holding my breath!!

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Until 11.5 months we'd only had half a dozen barks (silent ones under his breath). Now he's 20 months and will  bark in the house and in the garden  but he's NOT barked  outside yet.

[Evadee]

Tia barely barked until we got Jake.  Jake "yips" and "screams" with excitement more than barks although he does bark when they are both in the garden together and wants to play.

Tia has quite a low "wuf" when she does very occasionally bark.

I would love it if Jake was similar to Tia in that way, the excitement "screaming" when he gets hysterical is horrendous, but we are working on it at the moment 

[MacTavish Boys]

George can chat for England and at 8 years old, i don;t think he is going to change now Hamish too has his moments, but will stop when told enough
Stephanie, George and Hamish xxx

[supergirl]

Roly doesn't bark very often but is quite vocal and has a decent set of howls & groans all done for attention.  Ellie doesn't bark at all at home but at flyball competitions it's difficult to shut her up and I guess it doesn't help that there are a lot of other dogs barking.  Lexi is a real barker and will bark at the sound of a leaf falling from a tree  and I have to work quite hard at keeping her calm, surprisingly she doesn't bark at flyball    Misha has the most annoying trait, doesn't bark continuously but will give the odd short bark when you're least expecting it which generally has you jumping out of your chair.

[*DollyDaydream*]

Dolly rarely barks unless something spooks her. She must have gone months before I heard a bark. She does like to sing though!