# Barking at nothing or something?



## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Freddie sometimes has a short "woofing" session looking towards the kitchen for no apparent reason. This evening he has been barking at his crate and yet nothing was different to when he left it. I wonder what he sees or hears........?


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## Annabellam (Nov 3, 2015)

This really sounds a bit weird. Anyway, dogs sometimes do bark unnecessarily sometimes. Does it know the quiet command. When Sammy barks unnecessarily we ignore him or use the quiet command. If it was something he's afraid off he's barking at, maybe it would work if you desensitize your dog to the stimuli.


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Probably nothing and if like Sid, he will probably bark at the slightest sound or something he sees. Sid will even bark at his own reflection


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

hmmmmm be careful.... Freddie is a clever, clever lad. He has learnt to bark and now he is learning that if he barks and stares fixedly at one thing you will get up from your nice comfy chair to check out the thing he is staring at, then you will reassure him that all is well and then offer a treat or a toy to distract him.
Who is training who?
Wait til he learns that if he woofs at the back door you will leap up and open it for him!!!!


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## theaccessman (Mar 12, 2012)

Do not ignore or dismiss your dogs barking they hear and respond to noises we humans will never hear and are alerting you by their barking

Dogs hear at a wider range of frequencies than humans. The low end of the range is similar: 67 Hz, but dogs hear noises up to 45 kHz, while humans only hear sounds up to about 23 kHz. This means that they could be hearing and responding to sounds that we can't hear at all.


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Oh Marzi...... You have summed up Freddie perfectly. We certainly have a battle of wills at times. At the moment he is driving me demented with digging up the lawn and eating the earth and other unsavoury items!...... Yuk!
Freddie starts obedience class tonight (clicker). It should be interesting! It is the follow on class from his seven weeks doing puppy socialisation. On a positive note he is less bitey, jumping up less and walking much better on the lead. Thanks for your wise words.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Do let us know how you get on tonight.
Dot loves clicker training, but if she does feel frustrated she (surprise surprise ) barks... I have had to learn to sometimes just stop and go to an easy well rehearsed task, then once she is working again, then go back and start again on the new task....
Have to say at training class Dot is also known to bark when she is fed up of waiting for her turn! 
She is definitely a vocal communicator


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Freddie got on reasonably well at class and once he got over the excitement of being there he did better than I thought he would. He is also vocal (a sort of wailing) if not centre of attention. He is so desperate to get to the treats on offer from the trainers that he doesn't pay attention.
We did walking on lead and also down and stay which I have done with him at home.
Freddie took a shine to a 7 month old poodle but she spurned his attention and swiped him with an impressive left hook. Freddie to his credit did not reciprocate! X


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

That made me laugh Gill57 ....


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

well if you can test your poo's hearing, you will be amazed.Ginger just loves potato chips.but she can't have any cause they are not good for her.but she will follow me around i8n hopes i drop one for her. well the other day she was laying with her back to me and i was eating chips.now i took a chip about one inch square and dropped it on the rug (which is deep pile about an inch thick)now there is no way any one or thing or any thing else could hear that..guess what Ginger heard it and was there in a millisecond.so when your poo barks at nothing you can bet your sweet a** she hears some thing.now if i shush her she will bark lower with is a lot better ..try teaching you poo to bark quietly, it is easy to teach them OK .you all have fun now hear


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## Alittlepoo (Apr 29, 2015)

Sugerlump's idea of shushing your pup reminded me of a video on Facebook where a dog would bark and the owner would then tell the dog to whisper. The owner whispered the word. Believe it or not, the dog did! It was a really neat video so I've tried to teach Sophie to whisper. We keep on her and sometimes she does it, sometimes not. 

She is very vocal even in play, she whines, play growls and makes odd little noises. She also barks more than we like. Living on a golf course there are a lot of things to bark at...carts, mowers, tractors, sprinklers that shoot way up into the air and people! She will continue to bark even after the offending thing has gone. We use "enough!" when she just won't stop. Destraction is the best for me along with "enough" and treating her when she stops barking. A quick game of ball always helps. I hope with age a lot of her barking will mellow out however even a small barking dog in your home is good. Not exactly a guard dog but a nice alarm system!


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