Do Poodles Bark a Lot? What Are the Causes and How to Stop?

Last Updated on November, 2024

Yes, Poodles bark a lot. It is a typical behavior seen even in Miniature and Toy Poodles. 

You can prevent Poodles from barking by teaching “Speak” and “Quiet” commands, doing regular exercises, enhancing mental stimulation through playing with toys, and implementing many more strategies (discussed below). 

In this guide, you will learn about the Poodle barking habit as a dog breed, the reasons causing it to bark, methods to prevent barking, pitfalls you must know, and much more! 

Quick Summary

Poodles are known to bark a lot, with an average of 11 barks per hour.

Poodles excessively barks because it can be caused by separation anxiety, a need for attention, excitement, or trying to communicate a message.

There are various methods and strategies to train a Poodle not to bark unnecessarily, but it is important to understand the reason behind the barking and to avoid punitive measures when addressing the behavior.

Do Poodles Bark a Lot?

Poodle dog breed trying to bark

According to the American Kennel Club, Poodles bark a lot. 

Poodles are ranked in the 9th place among the dog breeds that bark. They have an average bark of 11 barks per hour. 

Generally, these dog breeds are highly intelligent. Therefore, if dogs bark more than the average level, it indicates they are trying to communicate something to you.

Apart from that, Toy Poodles, Miniature Poodles, and Standard Poodles bark at the same amount.

However, if your Poodle bark excessively, it can be trained easily through the training process to bark only at essential times.

Why Do Poodles Bark a Lot?

The following are the reasons behind Poodles barking a lot: 

  • Separation Anxiety: Poodle dogs bark a lot because they have a higher-than-average level of separation anxiety (especially during the early age).
  • Need Attention: If Poodles require attention from the Poodle owners or other people around them, they may bark more than usual.
  • Excitement: If Poodles play with other dogs or love to play with someone, they may turn excited. So, to show their happiness, Poodles bark a lot.
  • Hungry, Thirsty, Or Boredom: If Poodles are hungry, thirsty, or bored, they may bark to express themselves.
  • Anxiety Issues: If it fears loud noise level, strangers walking or visiting, or being unable to handle a situation, it barks.
  • Tries To Communicate: Since dogs cannot speak, the only mode of communication is by barking. Therefore, to convey a message to the dog owners, it may bark a lot.
  • Protective Nature: If you have trained it to be your guard dog, secure the territory, and if it sees someone odd, it may bark to alert the owner.
  • Straight or screw-like short tail. 

How Do You Identify Excessive Barking?

A dog breed standing on the beach sand and barking

Here are the best ways to identify the excessive barking in a Poodle:

  • Be observant: Observe your dog’s behavior changes to determine why it barks. For example, you can remember points such as whether you are in a new environment, have a new neighbor, what triggers your dog to bark, whether it happens at any specific time of the day, and the barking triggers that keep itself barking. 
  • Being aggressive: Based on the body language of your Poodle, you can identify whether it is fierce. For example, it may have barred teeth, begin to lunge at something, or have haunches sticking up. 
  • Have health issues: If you suspect your dog has health issues, visit the vet. For example, your dog may have an ear infection, stomach bug, mental illness, or other diseases.

How Do You Train Your Dog Not to Bark?

Even though there are many ways to teach your dog not to bark, remember that there’s only a thin line preventing it from barking excessively and training not to bark at all. 

The following is a quick guide on training methods for your Poodle not to bark unnecessarily (you can also instruct standard Poodles):

  • Do Proper Exercise: Poodles require a lot of exercise based on size. You can also take your Poodle to walk and play with its dog friends. 
  • Allow To Play With Toys: You can give your pup specialized Poodle toys to enhance the mental stimulation. It helps to keep it energized and healthy. 
  • Allow To Socialize: Make your Poodle socialize with other dogs and people. Therefore, it will be comfortable even if people walk across or pass by. 
  • Help To Overcome Your Poodle’s Anxiety Issues: To overcome separation anxiety, you can play some soothing music when you leave home. 
  • Identify Your Poodle’s Trigger Points: Poodles are unique dog breeds that don’t bark without a reason. Poodles tend to bark when they find something disturbing, such as thunderstorms and loud noises (identify the trigger points). 
  • Teach “Speak” And ‘quiet’ Commands: When your dog barks, say “Speak!” and give it a treat (even though it may sound counterintuitive). Practice this to make your Poodle bark. 

After it gets used to the “Speak” command, say “Quiet,” when it turns quiet, give it a treat. Practice this frequently to make it understand the difference; positive reinforcement works here! 

  • Ignore Barking: Ignore the barking dog! Thus, it learns being quiet results in getting your attention and avoids being a barking dog unnecessarily. 

Does Barking Indicate Health Problems?

veterinarian is examining a dog

Yes, if your dog barks more than usual, it may indicate health problems. 

However, you can examine your dog’s behavior and health condition to ensure it has health issues. 

The probable health issues your dog may be facing are as follows:

  • Stomach bug
  • Ear infection
  • Mental illness
  • Stress issues
  • Internal injuries

How to Stop Excessive Barking in Poodles?

You need to identify why and when your Poodle stops barking. 

Here’s the famous ABC chart to conclude your quest: 

  • A: What’s the antecedent for the Poodle to start barking? What happened before your Poodle started barking? 
  • B: How does it bark? Does it bark moderately or excessively? What does it look like?
  • C: What is the consequence of the action?

For example, if your dog starts barking each time the postman comes at 8 AM, you can make your pup eat breakfast in any other place (so that it doesn’t see the postman). 

As another example, if your dog immediately stops barking when you give attention, it is either trying to communicate something with you or needs your attention. 

Therefore, you can find a replacement behavior to make your Poodle stop barking instead of trying to reduce barking.

Pitfalls You Must Avoid to Prevent Excessive Barking

After a deep analysis of dogs’ barking behavior, many Poodle owners fall into the following pitfalls to prevent barking in dogs. 

Ensure you avoid falling into those pitfalls when treating your dog. 

Punishing Your Dog

Your Poodle prefers “gentle parenting,” so don’t punish your dog. 

Punishments may give your Poodle the impression of being harmed for its mistakes.

Punishments make your dog feel bad or turn it harsh.

Instead, figure out the reason and take measures to prevent that incident from happening again. 

Your Poodle prefers "gentle parenting," so don't punish your dog. 

Punishments may give your Poodle the impression of being harmed for its mistakes.

Punishments make your dog feel bad or turn it harsh. 

a dog is affraid of his owner

Making Your Dog Think You’re Going to Hit Them

It doesn’t matter whether you are pretending to hit or hit your dog— but never do it. This can make your dog feel harmed. 

Therefore, your Poodle may end up with a fight-or-flight response or barking more. (1)

Yelling and Verbal Aggression

Does your dog understand when you are yelling? No, they don’t!

When you shout or be verbally aggressive at your Poodle when it’s barking, it depicts that the behavior is acceptable. Therefore, AVOID yelling! 

Being aggressive with your Poodle increases the dog’s adrenal response and triggers it to bark even more. 

Barking Training

Barking training has two aspects: Training to prevent barking at friendly guests and training your dog never to bark. 

But barking is an essential aspect for your dog. It helps your dog to communicate and convey information. 

Therefore, there is a thin line between the objectives of barking training. Thus, make sure to set the objectives.

Other guides and tools you might need when training your dog:

Final Thoughts

Following the above strategies can prevent Poodles from barking even for loud noises. But make sure you avoid falling into the pitfalls related to controlling unnecessary barking. 

Even though your Poodle may bark for several reasons, you need to determine the correct cause as a pet owner.

We hope this guide was helpful to prevent your dog from barking unnecessarily.

FAQs

The Poodles that bark the least are Dalmadoodle, Bordoodle, Sheepadoodle, Bernedoodle, Irishdoodle, Aussiedoodle, Whoodle, and Shipoo.

The breed of dog that barks the most is Samoyed dogs. Based on the facts collected from People Magazine reports, it barks up to 52.8 times every day. 

Yes, you can train a Poodle not to bark through regular exercise, socializing, identifying your Poodle’s barking-related trigger points, and teaching “speak” and ‘quiet’ commands.

If your Poodle has stopped barking suddenly or never barks, it is because barking may have strained its voice, it has faced surgery, or it feels severely sick.

Poodles are generally not known for being particularly noisy, but like any dog breed, their behavior can vary. They can be trained to be quiet, but some may bark more than others depending on their individual personality, training, and environment.

Was this article helpful?

Author
Laura Vinzy
Laura Vinzy is one of our contributors. She is also a certified professional dog trainer & currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and her two rescue dogs.

Leave a Comment