# Barking: At what age does a GSD puppy expected to bark?



## Sharbel (Apr 30, 2010)

Our new puppy is now 5 1/2 months old and we may have heard him bark just about 10 times so far. Our previous lads barked at a quite earlier stage I remember and our problem with them was how to make them stop barking.

With this young friendly with everyone stranger or not person or other animal puppy our problem is exactly the opposite: how to make him more aggressive, more protective of his home and territory. When a stranger approaches he is just lickking his or her hands. Or he is just calmy staring at all passers by.

How to make him more aggressive or is he not yet at the right age?


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Oh, make no mistake: he is watching.

Thank your lucky stars that you got a stable dog this time, one that has good temperament.
A good GSD is supposed to only bark at a real threat, and not at every random thing he sees. The ones that bark their head off are fear aggressive, and that kind of guy can cause all sorts of problems.

Your dog will react if something is off. He might alert more when he gets older and more macho, but in the meantime, it is great that he is being social with people.


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## apenn0006 (Jun 22, 2012)

About 2 months ago I posed a similar question regarding my nonchalant super sweet to everyone boy. He is 6 months old now and the other day we were at my in laws house for dinner. He loves being over there and loves my in laws and is always so excited when one of them walks thru the door. Well, on this particular night, one of their friends dropped by unannounced and just came on in. He had never seen this lady before and immediately ran to the door barking and growling like a maniac. He didnt touch her but got close enough to make her nervous. He warmed up when he got to know her but I have NEVER seen him react like that before. Sunflowers is right, they are watching.


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## Sharbel (Apr 30, 2010)

He barked an an approaching cat the first time 3 weeks ago 
and I heard him shout only 1 bark and the cat diaspapered at the loud sound, the second time at another dog who suddenly appeared by the gates where he was sitting calmly watching the sreet a total of 5 barks and the dog run away, the third time was my wife who heard him bark at one of our tenants who approached over the fence to talk to her some 3 barks. That was really all. When I said about 10 times I actually meant 10 barks.

The good thing he barks really laoudly like a GSD no mistake about this but he seems to be counting his barks! 

My second dog especially was barking at anyone aproaching and was not stopping unless the person or animal was going away. He was not barking at friend though or to anyone after entering his territory.He was anm impulsibve...barker but I liked him so. He was really protective of us and of our home.

Is there a way to make our young lad bark more often at approaching strangers and little more aggressive or it is just a matter of character? Would he become more territorial as the months pass by and he grows older?


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Why would you want that? Why?


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## Sharbel (Apr 30, 2010)

A GSD is a guard dog. Is not a household decoration. So a very friendly GSD should not be regarded as a positive trait.Am I wrong? Anyway is there a way to teach him to bark by command? And to stop by command?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Sharbel said:


> A GSD is a guard dog. Is not a household decoration. So a very friendly GSD should not be regarded as a positive trait.Am I wrong? Anyway is there a way to teach him to bark by command? And to stop by command?


Yes you are wrong.You want a dog that knows the difference between good and bad. Most people even strangers are not bad. Your dog is doing a good job of recognizing the difference, which is wonderful trait. Most people will be afraid of him as he grows anyway. GSD's can look very intimidating. Mine is 14 months and I have heard her big girl bark once...yes once. The rest of the time is her play bark, with the kids, the other dogs, and the cats. She also barks very short barks occasionally. Make no mistake about the fact that when we are outside and she sees something or hears something, she stares and becomes fully engaged and never barks. She will stare a person down until they are out of sight. And let me tell you they know, because they can feel it and they tend to move faster to get away. I like that she doesn't bark, because if she does then I know for a fact that something isn't right and I should check it out.


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## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

My pup, when he was growing from 2-12 months, was not a "barker", yet he barked at lots of little things he'd hear outside. I would walk over to the window, look, then look at him and say "Ok, I checked it out, no worries, all done". He gradually, as he's matured, only barks rarely. In fact, the last two times he's barked, went something like this:

The saturday before Halloween, around midnight, I woke up to him doing his "Woowoo" bark--this is his "alert" bark. I figured a deer had come up on our porch to browse my pots, since he was sleeping by the front door. He was growling a bit, and his bark was very serious. I had our alarm on, and I frankly was too tired to get up and look. Next afternoon, we go to bring our pumpkins in off the porch to carve, and -----the two big ones (my dtr was sick the day we went picking so my other two kids picked her a HUGE HUGE one, and my DH got the next biggest one) were gone. Oops. This is what Rocket was barking at. :blush: So my dtr posts on FB about the fact she's sad someone stole her pumpkin. So we start carving and just as I finish, Rocket starts doing the same thing, so I say "Well, maybe I'll go check this time". I fling open the garage door, (as he's standing by it) only to catch my friend and his two daughters, standing right next to the walkway to our porch with two big pumpkins, they were bringing as a surprise for my dtr since they saw her FB post. My friend stands there with this huge pumpkin and says "Crap. I KNEW your dam* dog was going to hear us! I even parked up on the road!"

Moral of the story: raise him to be confident, not fearful, and let genetics and maturity do their thing.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Sharbel said:


> A GSD is a guard dog. Is not a household decoration. So a very friendly GSD should not be regarded as a positive trait.Am I wrong? Anyway is there a way to teach him to bark by command? And to stop by command?


Most guard dogs bark from fear. It is the confident dog that acts when needed. You are right that a GSD is not a household decoration, no dog is.
Count yourself lucky with a friendly, stable and well socialized pup. It means that he trusts your judgement, otherwise he wouldn't be so secure.
I am sure he'll change when in puberty. We need more GSDs like yours.
Good luck with your puppy tell him "Hi" from a friendly stranger


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