{"id":10373,"date":"2021-06-22T17:30:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T10:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allaboutsheepdogs.com\/?p=4040"},"modified":"2021-06-22T17:30:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T10:30:05","slug":"do-australian-cattle-dogs-bark-a-lot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/do-australian-cattle-dogs-bark-a-lot\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Australian Cattle Dogs (Blue Heelers) Bark a Lot?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re considering getting an Australian Cattle Dog, aka Blue Heeler, as your pet, you’ve probably done some research and asked around to see what kind of dogs they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ve learned that they can make awesome family pets and loyal friends, that they’re smart, energetic, and require a lot of exercises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a lot of people when looking for a dog don’t consider one very important factor that can greatly influence how much you enjoy owning a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excessive barking is a serious behavioral problem that can lead to a lot of trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can irritate the people around you, annoy the neighbors, and, in some cases, even lead to a lawsuit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you’ll learn an answer to the question do Australian Cattle Dogs Bark (Blue Heelers) bark a lot. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll also explain why they bark, and what to do when barking becomes a problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

[wpsm_toplist]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do Australian Cattle Dogs (Blue Heelers) Bark a Lot?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Australian Cattle Dog \u201cSilverbarn\u2019s Naava\u201d by Eva Holderegger Walser <\/em>(CC BY-SA 2.5)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No, you’ll rarely hear your Australian Cattle Dog let out his voice. They usually don’t bark just for the sake of barking.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Historically, Australian Cattle dogs were bred to be cattle herders. This included learning to be as silent as possible while performing their job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those times, a big part of their duty involved taking care of half-wild livestock. Most of the cattle way back then were not yet fully domesticated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that environment, not only barking wouldn’t do any good, but loud voicing could easily scare off the animals that heelers were supposed to be herding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scared livestock would scatter all over the area and a lot of them wouldn’t be found again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This made barking an undesirable trait and owners back then did their best to teach ACDs to restrain from being vociferous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Do Australian Cattle Dogs (Blue Heelers) Bark?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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If Australian Cattle dogs bark, it’s mostly to alert their owner of perceived danger.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And they take their watchdog duties very seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Cattle Dog is fiercely loyal and extremely protective of its owner and family. Because of this, they can often overreact and see the danger where realistically none exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus they’re always active, scanning the territory looking for something that could jeopardize its herd, or, in this case, family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If not properly trained and socialized, they can start barking on any person or other animal that they do not consider a part of the family. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should start working on socializing and teaching them that unnecessary barking isn’t allowed while they’re still puppies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they learn to accept people outside the family, the barking should decrease by a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Reasons Why Australian Cattle Dogs Bark<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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As I already explained, the main cause for Blue Heelers’ barking is to warn the owner of a potential threat. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, each dog has its own personality. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dependent on the upbringing and character, your Australian Cattle Dog may be triggered to bark for a variety of different reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separation Anxiety<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although they have an independent streak to them, ACDs don’t like to be left alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’re very social and love to spend time with their humans. Some dogs can get severely stressed when their owners are not around for an extended period of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of them express their anxiety through excessive and loud barking. If you’re getting an Australian Cattle Dog, plan to spend as much time with it as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, try to get them used to be separated<\/a> by teaching them to cope with being alone from a very young age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being Bored<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Working dogs by origin, Australian Cattle Dogs are very intelligent, active, and love to get busy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, they enjoy being given a task, exercising, or playing more than anything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they’re idle and have nothing to do, ACDs get bored very quickly. And when they’re bored, they feel frustrated and may express that frustration by barking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to keep your dog occupied and exercise it a lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, for whatever reason, you’re not able to spend time with them, make sure they have plenty of toys to keep them busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeking Attention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes when you’re at home, but not currently engaged with your pooch, they will start barking in an attempt to grab your attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’re trying to let you know that they are in the room and should be the center of attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you react to this every time, they’ll get easily spoiled and you’ll have a problem on your hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best thing to do is keep ignoring them, not make eye contact, and continue going on about your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Stop Blue Heelers From Barking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The key thing in stopping the dog from barking is identifying what’s causing it.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It may be one of the above-mentioned reasons or even something completely different that got the dog upset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you properly identify the issue, you can take the appropriate course of action. Depending on what got the dog barking, you may remove that reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try eliminating the cause of their distress. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your Blue Heeler is barking because he’s bored, try to entertain them or engage in exercise activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With some other causes, it’s best just to ignore them, so the dog can learn that nothing can be accomplished by barking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you can apply the diverting tactics and redirect the dog’s attention elsewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if the dog barks every time someone is at the door, divert their attention with a toy or get them to perform a trick while the doorbell is ringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you end up with an Australian Cattle Dog that is a typical representative of its breed, you likely won’t have to deal with too much barking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, make sure that you teach them proper behaviors while they’re still puppies. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a dog learns that barking is wrong while at a very young age, it may save you a lot of trouble down the road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Cattle Dogs react much better to positive reinforcement than to negative training methods including yelling and screaming. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you yell at your dog for barking, it may easily make the matters worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best thing you can do is create a safe, loving, and active environment for your Blue Heeler where it has to deal with a minimum amount of stress and anxiety. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will not only make the dog happier and calmer but also provide some peace and quiet for you and your family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re considering getting an Australian Cattle Dog, aka Blue Heeler, as your pet, you’ve probably done some research and asked around to see what kind of dogs they are. … Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[656],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australian-cattle-dog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}