Livestock Guardian Dogs and Barking: Some Breeds Bark Less Than Others

April 24, 2019 Bri Wyzard

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When I first started looking into getting livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) to protect my ranch animals, I was concerned that they may keep me up at night with all their barking. I’m a light sleeper and an insomniac, so this could have potentially been a real problem. Additionally, in the past, my neighbor’s LGD, a Great Pyrenees, had woken me in the night several times with his barking right outside my bedroom patio door, and I didn’t want this to be a nightly occurrence with my own dogs.

As I researched which guardian dog breed would be best for my ranch, I wondered if there was any way to raise guardian dogs who were quieter but still effective.

So are there any livestock guardian dog breeds that don’t bark very much or can be trained to bark less? Some breeds of livestock guardian dogs, such as Pyrenean Mastiffs and Polish Tatras, tend to bark less than others. All breeds can potentially be trained not to bark, but this may make them less effective at their jobs.

If you are considering getting livestock guardian dogs and have concerns about barking, you need to understand why LGDs bark. Then you need to evaluate how much you need them to bark for your particular situation, and how much time and effort you want to put into training them. Then you can start to consider if LGDs are right for you, and what breed may work best for your needs.

Most importantly, you need to remember that every dog is an individual, and just because you get a dog from a particular breed that is known for barking more or less than others, doesn’t mean that your dog will fit that mold.

Why Do Livestock Guardian Dogs Bark?

Most livestock guardian dogs don’t bark for the sake of barking. However, puppies are more prone to barking a lot as they are so energetic and playful. They also haven’t learned yet which noises they hear are threats and which can be ignored. They do tend to grow out of this habit as they mature.

If LGDs are barking, then, they are usually doing it for a reason. Barking is how livestock guardian dogs communicate with you, other livestock guardian dogs, charges, and active or potential threats to the flock/herd.

LGDs will bark when they see, hear, smell, or otherwise sense that predators are in the area, whether those predators are close by or not. Their barking may vary in pitch, volume, and frequency. They may be trying to communicate that they are part of a large pack (even if there’s really only one or two of them), and that predators should keep away.

In the book, The Way of the Pack: Understanding and Living with Livestock Guardian Dogs, author and longtime livestock guardian dog owner, Brenda Negri, explains how some of her dogs (or dogs she has sold) will bark at stone walls or in other areas that cause echoes. This is another method dogs use to try to trick predators into thinking the pack contains many more dogs than it actually does. This is something your dogs may do if they hear coyotes or wolves howling, in particular.

The dogs also will communicate with each other through barking, particularly if they are spread out on your ranch.

Another extremely important purpose for barking is communication with your livestock themselves. Your LGDs often develop extremely close bonds with their charges. Dogs and their charges learn to communicate well through vocalizations and body language. In the YouTube video below, you can watch how a herd of goats responds to the barking of their livestock guardian dog, Bob.

Can Livestock Guardian Dogs Still Be Good Guardians if They Don’t Bark?

Whether livestock guardian dogs can be effective if they don’t bark depends on several factors, including:

The purpose they are serving for you
How large your ranch is
How spread out your livestock are
How high your predator load is
Other means of protection available for your livestock

If, for example, you’re looking for a livestock guardian dog to protect livestock primarily during the daytime (like chicken owners who lock up their flocks at night), your dogs can be trained to bark only when it is absolutely necessary. Their mere presence in the chicken yard, as well as their marking behavior, will be a powerful deterrent for most predators. See more on training below.

The smaller the area and the better fenced in it is, the less you will need your dogs to bark a lot.

On the other extreme, large ranches with livestock spread out and a high predator load will likely require multiple livestock guardian dogs doing a lot of barking. If you do need constant surveillance of your property to keep your animals safe, your dogs won’t likely be able to do their job properly without barking. Nighttime is when they are on “high alert” and when most predators will be around.

By restricting your dogs’ barking, you will be (a) putting your livestock at risk and (b) putting your livestock guardian dogs in danger – the dogs will not be able to do anything about the predators until they are very near to or already on your property.

Consider other measures besides a livestock guardian dog if these are your primary needs and you do not want nighttime barking.

Which Livestock Guardian Dog Breeds Bark Less Than Others?

Some livestock guardian dog breeds do tend to bark less than others, but again, please remember that every dog is an individual, and there are never any guarantees that your dogs will bark more or less based on their breed.

If you’re looking for a much quieter livestock guardian dog, one of these two breeds might work for you:

If you’re concerned about excessive barking, and want a breed of LGD that’s more easily trained to only bark when absolutely necessary, consider one of these (click on the breed for more breed info):

Karakachan
Anatolian Shepherd - however, read this article for an example of the opposite, just another reminder that you never know what your new dog will be like
Maremma Sheepdog
Spanish Mastiff

These breeds tend to bark less than most other livestock guardian dog breeds on average. They don’t naturally “warning bark” as much – they typically bark when there is a predator very close by.

Which Livestock Guardian Dog Breeds Bark More Than Others?

Many breeds who tend to bark a lot are often highly sensitive to their surroundings and will bark at absolutely anything that could be a potential threat. They are very proactive in their protection, which often means loud, very frequent barking. These are a few dog breeds you may want to avoid if you’re concerned about noise:

Komondor
Akbash
Kuvasz
Great Pyrenees

I found a great blog post from the website, “It’s Dog or Nothing,” written by Kelsie McKenzie, an owner of pet (not livestock guardian) Great Pyrenees dogs. The post is called “101+ Reasons for Great Pyrenees Barking” and, she continues in the introduction, “why they are probably barking right now.” Some of my favorite reasons include:

#8 - A grasshopper landed on the patio where Pyrenees is napping.
#12 - A leaf fell off the tree.
#21 - I wore a hoodie with the hood up.
#31 - A dog 18 billion miles away barked.
#60 - There is a dog (or #61 cat or #62 person) in a different room of the house that Pyrenees cannot keep an eye on.
#102 - Barking is fun.
#104 - It’s raining.

You can read her full blog post here. But you get the point. These dogs like to bark!

How to Train Your Livestock Guardian Dogs to Bark Less

The first thing you need to do to train your dogs is figure out why they are barking. Dogs bark for various reasons and tend to use different tones for different reasons. Try figuring out what each of your dogs’ barks means so you can respond to them appropriately.

If your dogs seem to be “barking at nothing,” they probably are barking at something - you just may not be able to see or hear it. Thank your dogs for alerting you, and then take them to go investigate and find what they are barking at. If it is something they do not need to be concerned about, you can respond with “Thank you” or “That’s enough” or “It’s okay,” whatever lingo you prefer to use.

If your dogs continue to bark, you can distract them with praise and pets, play, or a short walk until they calm down.

Do this consistently until the dog understands the commands. Checking on everything they bark at might be tedious at first, but the dogs will learn that you also care about the property and that not everything requires an alert.

You will also need to reinforce the positive (or wanted) barking. You can do this by saying “Yes!" or “Good!,” or other preferred lingo your dogs understand. You can also give them some sort of reward (treat, belly rub, praise, etc.) when your dogs are barking appropriately.

This all takes time and effort and is dependent upon your particular situation, but it is a good place to start. I have found that many LGD owners like to write their dogs off as “too stubborn to train,” but this is a myth.

If you have a dog you view as particularly stubborn, that dog simply needs more time and effort with training. You can’t be impatient with these animals. You need to show them empathy and build a close bond with them for successful training. Some dogs take longer than others to train, but all dogs are trainable.

If you want more detailed instructions on preventing unwanted barking, check out my article here. The article addresses how to stop pet Great Pyrenees barking, but the same methods can be applied to LGDs.

If you are feeling overwhelmed about training your dogs in general, I highly recommend Brain Training for Dogs (affiliate link), an online training program from renowned CPDT-KA certified dog trainer, Adrienne Farricelli.

For a full review of Adrienne’s online program, see my article here.

What Can You Do if Your Neighbors are Complaining About Barking?

The most common reason people don’t want their livestock guardian dogs to bark is because of neighbors. If you live on a really large property, you may not have to worry about this. If you don’t, neighbors can be a real problem.

Often times, neighbors react to barking dogs by yelling at them. This seldom works and can even be counterproductive. Your dogs may begin to see the neighbors as more and more of a threat, which means more and more barking.

The very best thing to do is to talk to your neighbors and encourage them to communicate with you. Tell them to call you if your dogs are barking and it’s really bothering them. If your neighbors understand the livestock guardian dogs’ purpose, they may appreciate them more, especially if they have chickens or other livestock that are unprotected.

I mentioned earlier that our neighbor’s LGD, Shaggy, would often wake me at night with his barking right outside my bedroom. Despite this, I certainly appreciated his presence. I loved that his presence provided a non-lethal means of keeping predators away from our livestock. And I also loved him - such a friendly snuggle bug!

However, some neighbors may never view your LGDs this way. Sweet Shaggy was shot by another neighbor. He survived, but was in a lot of pain for a long time.

If you are worried about neighbors, you may need to install a strong and tall fence to protect your dogs. You also may want to consider bringing your dogs in at night (if possible) if their barking is causing too many problems.

Can You Train Your Dog to Stop Barking at Night?

Training your livestock guardian dogs to not bark at night is essentially training them to go against their instincts. You can use the training techniques detailed above, but this will mean many late nights for you and that may not be practical.

If nighttime barking is your primary concern and you cannot put in the time and effort to train them, you may need to bring your dogs in at night and find another means to protect your livestock at night.

What Can You Do to Sleep at Night if Your Dog is Barking?

Depending on the volume, frequency, and pitch of your dogs’ barking and your sensitivity, there are a few different measures you can take to ensure you sleep at night:

Ear plugs
White noise, like a fan
Fencing to keep the dog away from the house/sleeping area

But beware! If you can’t hear your dogs barking, you won’t be able to hear if a predator does attack your dogs or livestock.

For Love of Livestock