Do dachshunds bark a lot?
Yes. Dachshunds are vocal dogs, and owners who expect a quiet lapdog are usually the ones who are unhappiest about it.
The honest version: there is no study that measures barking per breed well enough to put a number on it. What is well documented is the job the breed was built for — going into a burrow, out of sight of the handler, and making itself heard. A dog selected for generations to be loud under the ground does not become silent in a flat.
Which means the realistic goal is not a dog that never barks. It is a dog that barks, and then stops.
What is behind most of the barking
- Alert barking. The doorbell, the lift, footsteps on the landing. Something changed and your dog is telling you.
- Frustration. A dog that sees something it cannot reach — a cat, another dog across the street — barks about the gap between wanting and getting.
- Being left. Barking that starts within minutes of you leaving and does not stop is a different problem with a different solution.
- It worked last time. The barking stopped something unpleasant or produced attention, even annoyed attention. That is a reward.
What actually helps
- Change what your dog can see and hear. A dog that barks at everything passing the window barks less when it cannot sit at the window. This is not cheating; it is the fastest thing you can do.
- Teach a replacement. At the doorbell, go to your bed. Practise it with a recording at low volume long before you practise it with a real visitor.
- Reward the silence, not the stop. Catch your dog being quiet when something happens, rather than waiting for a bark to end.
- Drop the arousal. Sniffing work, a predictable rhythm, enough sleep. A wound-up dog barks more at the same trigger.
What does not help
Shouting is barking back, and your dog does not know the difference. Punishment after the fact teaches nothing except that you are unpredictable.
Anti-bark collars — spray, vibration or shock — suppress the sound without touching the reason. They are banned in several countries, and the welfare organisations are against them. A dog that is frightened into silence is still a frightened dog.
When barking is a symptom
A dog that suddenly starts barking and did not before is worth a vet visit before a training plan. Pain, failing hearing and, in older dogs, cognitive decline all show up as changed vocalisation.
The same goes for barking that only ever happens when you are out: that is a separation problem, not a barking problem.
Keep reading
Sources
- RSPCA — understanding and dealing with barking
- ASPCA — barking
- Duffy, Hsu & Serpell — breed differences in canine aggression (C-BARQ)
This page also answers
- Why does my dachshund bark at everything?
- What are common problems with dachshunds?
- Are dachshunds high maintenance?
- At what age do dachshunds calm down?