What Age Do Dogs Start Barking?

Barking is, without a doubt, our dogs' most distinctive sound. They bark to get our attention, to warn us of potential danger, and even to invite us to play.

So it's an excellent communication tool. But dogs aren't born knowing how to bark — it's a skill that develops as part of a puppy's growth.

The Importance of Barking

Barking is an important form of communication for dogs. That's why the first thing to keep in mind is that a dog won't bark just to bother us. In its own way, it's trying to tell us something, and our job is to figure out what that is. This isn't always easy, since barks can carry multiple meanings depending on context.

Although some people still think barking is always a sign of a threat or aggression, this is a big mistake. A dog can bark with different intensity, tone, and volume to express joy, nervousness, alertness, fright, wanting to play, and so on. It also uses barking to communicate both with us and with other dogs.

So it makes no sense to scold a dog for barking. Even in cases where barking might seem excessive, it's signaling a problem we'll also need to address. Since barking is such an important activity, it makes sense that it emerges during puppyhood.

The Age for Barking

Puppies are born very vulnerable and completely dependent on their mother. She cares for them, feeds them, and keeps them warm, since in their first weeks they can't regulate their own body temperature. During the first 15-20 days of life, puppies will do little more than eat and sleep, since they're basically babies.

Once they start moving around, around that age, they also start interacting with their surroundings and making certain sounds already reminiscent of barking, though much softer and higher-pitched. But it won't be until a few weeks later, around a month and a half old, that we can talk about actual first barks.

That said, some puppies will be earlier bloomers, while others will take longer to get there. Both situations fall within normal. Development isn't an exact science. Like adult dogs, they can bark for various reasons we can interpret based on context.

My Puppy Won't Stop Barking

People who adopt a puppy quickly find out just how soon it starts barking. It's not unusual, especially during the first days of adjusting to its new home, for the puppy to bark and whine. Sometimes we're the ones unintentionally reinforcing this barking by petting it, reinforcing the behavior.

We shouldn't scold it either, since that could backfire. The idea is to reward it — with edible treats, petting, or enthusiastic words of praise — when it's calm or listens to us, and ignore the behavior we don't want repeated. This way, it learns which behaviors bring it benefits.

But careful — not reinforcing barking behavior doesn't mean we should ignore the puppy while it barks. It's important to always look for the cause and try to solve it, since it could be seeking our attention for many different reasons, like hunger or some other basic need.

Why Doesn't My Adopted Adult Dog Bark?

Although newly adopted puppies tend to be vocally expressive, when we adopt an adult dog, it's common to find the opposite case. By age, it can bark, but it needs an adjustment period to feel encouraged to do so, especially if it's had bad experiences or suffered mistreatment during its previous life.

We just need to respect this, meet its needs, and wait for it to build trust. This can take months, or in more serious cases, even years. That said, if besides not barking it also shows excessive fear, phobias, anxiety, and so on, we should see an ethologist or canine behavior expert.

Dogs That Don't Bark

First, before a month and a half old, a dog doesn't necessarily need to bark. From that age on, having the ability to bark doesn't mean the dog will bark, or do so whenever we'd like. Barking more or less depends not only on circumstances, but also on each individual's temperament, or even its breed.

For example, a dog living with other dogs is more likely to bark, if only due to interaction between them. On the other hand, one living alone and calmly in an apartment, with its needs met, will have fewer reasons to bark. Also, some breeds are more prone to barking, while others are almost completely quiet.

In any case, this doesn't represent any health issue. A different situation is when our dog doesn't bark like it normally does. A strange tone in its bark can indeed indicate a health issue, like laryngitis. This would be a case where you should see a vet to diagnose and treat it.