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Comment by dengnan | Hacker News Reader

You are right to some extent. But may I ask what is your dogs' breed? Different breeds have different behavior patterns and some specific to barking, some breeds are just more noisy than others no matter how you trained them. For example, terriers were used to rats, rabbits, and foxes [0]. This means they had to work along underground so that barking was actually a good trait otherwise their owners might not be able to find them when they had some dangerous situation underneath. Barking was an old GPS for their owners. Terriers were specifically selected by breeders to bark loud and frequent[1]. Of course that does not necessary mean a barking terrier is acceptable. They have to be trained but may bark more than other breeds.

0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrier

1. Dawn Antoniak-Mitchell, Terrier-Centric Dog Training: From Tenacious to Tremendous. http://www.amazon.com/Terrier-Centric-Dog-Training-Tenacious...

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I don't know what breed they are because I found them on the street but they look a lot like German shepherds. But yeah ok, "maybe it's the breed". Still, I think that a courteous owner goes a long way.

I don't know if shepherds are specifically prone to barking but I can tell you that my dogs were particularly prone to barking when I found them. They pretty much barked at anything, other people, other dogs, just because they were bored, etc... Ever since I got them I continuously chided them when they barked at inappropriate situations; around 2-3 months following this relatively simple treatment (sometimes as trivial as just yelling NO!) and their noise and anxious behavior has been reduced considerably.

I'm not saying they don't bark anymore, because they do, but when I'm in a situation where they start barking at someone at the street (for instance) my reaction is to immediately try to do something to make them stop and sometimes I even excuse myself with the people involved; I've seen many owners dealing with the same situation in a completely different way, even taking a defiant attitude, like in "you can't do anything, its not illegal for my dog to bark", this attitude is what pisses other people off.

It's not the dog barking, it's the owner not giving a shit; it's like seeing someone throwing trash on the street, the world's not going to end because of a can lying there in the sidewalk but a world where many people act in such manner is a world that's up to no good.

Others may view the barking in a different way than you do and that could explain their different reactions. If a dog is barking out of fear scolding it may be a bad option because 1) you proved them right. They thought it was a bad situation, now you're in a bad mood and they're in trouble. Definitely a bad situation. 2) Barking and growling is a great way for dogs to communicate their discomfort before it escalates. A dog that has learned not to growl or bark will resort to other signals that are less likely to be understood by humans, and then bite.

The other owners may not give a shit, some don't, but they may be intentionally acting like it's no big deal as part of a larger strategy of changing how their dog views certain situations.

BTW, if you're interested there are DNA tests where for under $100 you can find out the breed or mix of breeds you've got.

> I don't know if shepherds are specifically prone to barking

Yes. Shepherds are especially prone to barking. They were trained to be, well, shepherds. This breed is used to guard sheep, not scare them. So they have to be quite and obedient to their owners.

Retrievers are also quite because they were used to retrieve game for a hunter. Those games may be just hurt and barking may scare them away. So the breeders were specifically select quite and obedient dogs to be retrievers.

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