My son has a golden retriever who is 2 1/2. He is a happy dog, gets the zoomies and full of love. They trained him not to bark and I have never heard him do so. I walk and hike with him and if he finds himself in an uncomfortable situation with another dog he comes back and stands by me. It's how he was trained.

I walk in popular dog walking/hiking areas and I very very seldom hear dogs barking.

I think like kids, if their needs are being met why would they bark?

ETA - if he ever did bark they would know he's not crying wolf.

My Goldens, many over 40+ years, have never been big barkers. The current dog, on his first visit outside in the morning, will bark at dogs/owners walking down the sidewalk, just once or twice, which he can see from his fenced back yard. But rarely at other times of the day. Someone can be at the door, and he won't make a sound. II have never trained a dog to bark or not to bark.

I think it is largely breed related. Small dogs bark more than big dogs.

I have a small dog. She is very valuable to me as I have profound hearing loss, she barks only when someone is near my apartment door, and then only a few barks.

My neighbor has a dog that never barks. He's been like that since he was a puppy. He's will only let out a little bark once in a while when he is sleeping.

I think it must be nurture :-) Cocker spaniels are known to be a yappy, noisy breed but my boy rarely makes a sound. He can whine a bit if excited but only barks to alert me if a) he gets tangled up outside and needs help or b) intruders - deer, coyotes, etc. - are present. In fact, he saved my cat's life by barking when he was grabbed by a coyote! He never barks at other dogs, even when at the dog park but at 14, he doesn't enjoy the park anymore, preferring his bed or to wander the garden, often with step-puppy who visits for doggie daycare.

I attribute his lack of barking to being with me pretty much 24/7 since I brought him home. He was socialized very early (first 6 months he came to work with me every day) and never needed to bark to get attention. He stares instead :-))

We had a rescue who never barked. Her son, on the other hand, oh my! She was found out in the country with two pups, so I know she was propbaly catching critters to eat which may be why she was so quiet. She could catch anything. Anyway, 11 years after we adopted them, the son developed what we think was brain cancer. Steroids gve us an extra year with him, but after he died, she sat on our hill out back and let out the most mournful, heart-wrenching cries for a couple of days. I tear up just at the memory. I felt just the same as she did. She lived for two more years almost to the day (a bit past).

Sorry for going off on a tangent-just loved those two more than I love most humans, some family members included except for grandchildren.

Anyway, I think it can be either nature or nurture. I know some people train their dogs to be quiet. We don't as you will know if you are ever anywhere near our house. Annabelle was the only quiet dog we have ever had. I do agree that Goldens are more quiet than many breeds and a newf we had when I was a kid didn't bark much either, but all our barkers have been large dogs (over 90 lbs).

I agree, it can be either. Some breeds are known to be barkers, others the opposite. It varies by individual personalities too. I suspect some training can change an individual's tendencies, to a point.

This dog is a black lab mix. I do love her.

Our dog has barked twice since we got her 2 1/2 years ago. She was 8 or 9 when we got her and know nothing about her past life. She is a mix of Dachshund, Spaniel, Chihuahua. Breeds that bark a lot. She is friendly, affectionate, funny and loves people. The one time she barked, it was at the bread machne.

my danes usually only bark to alert me to something, usually a car driving up the lane. occasionally, they will get a bit carried away. as with all of my past dogs, i just say "ok, false alarm!!" and they stop and get back to their interrupted nap.

We had a mixed breed rescue who rarely barked. She was 12-18 months old when we got her, and lived to 16. She maybe barked a couple of times a year, and only to alert us. When she barked, we jumped, because it was important.

When she was about 12, we were at my dad's house and another dog walked by on the street. Lady barked at it, and her bark sounded like a rusty screen door hinge. She was having some medical issues at the time, and we mentioned it to the vet. I dont remember the outcome, but I never heard her bark again, so I don't know if it was resolved or not.

I think dogs are likely to have some key behaviors "by nature" (that is, inborn, or instinct) because for generations of dogs, humans have been selecting who gets to pass along their genes and who does not.

My grand-dog is a Treeing Walker Hound. Her heritage is to hunt raccoons as part of a pack. Barking would be her way of communicating to her pack and her human where she is, is she on the scent, has she treed her quarry. Great, if that's what her life involves -- but my granddog's life now is a large fenced backyard in a typical suburb. She enjoys barking at people walking by her fence and at squirrels who dare climb her trees.

All of the surrounding yards have dogs of their own, various breeds, all quite bark-y. (Thank goodness, all the nearby neighbors accept dog barking as normal, maybe even good to keep strangers from lingering.) Grand-dog was around 2 years old when DD adopted her. Her barking instinct was already in full bloom. Between inborn instinct and reinforcement of neighboring dogs, she's still a barker -- when she's in the yard. When she's walking out with DD, she's friendly and quiet. Maybe she knows her human is right there easy to communicate with so no need to vocalize.

How appropriate to my situation today. We have daughter's dog with us while they go to a wedding on the opposite coast. This is a dog she rescued from Kyrgyzstan, where dogs are not valued and not used as pets. Margot has never lost her "street" although DD got her at 8 weeks old. This dog barks, barks, barks, and it's driving me crazy. DD has tried many things to stop this problem to no avail other than using a muzzle, which she doesn't like to do and conveniently forgot to bring. We are not used to this incessant barking and it's driving me bonkers. Just two more days....

We are living with our 4th and 5th Australian Shepherds and they are very serious, powerful dogs and do some barking outside or if someone approaches our property but I only hear a solo "Woof" from them when they are in the house with me. We have neighbors with two Jack Russells who yap constantly when let out and our guys chase them along the fence and bark like banshsees at them. They get a lot of exercise in that way!