# Is your V a whiner or a barker?



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Ruby huffs and puffs when she wants something and doesn't get her way. She is not much of a barker. Her BFF Chase tends to bark when he wants something.

The funny thing I noticed is when we met Ruby's father - he was a whiner. I laughed when I heard him and said so that is where Ruby gets her whining from 

Just curious if Vs tend to be whiners or barkers or even both?


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Willie is neither. He does not whine and he rarely barks. Actually, he is the quietest dog I have ever had. But when he is VERY happy and excited, he plops his butt down, throws his head back, and says "ROO, ROO, ROO!!" When he does this, it is so adorable I could die!! ;D ;D ;D


----------



## redhead75 (May 8, 2013)

Betty whines and grumbles and I think it's the cutest thing. She's a biter too but she's only 10 weeks old so it's expected. She only barks when she's playing with my 13 year old dog Boomer.


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Miles is a huge whiner. I called our breeder about it when he started and she said that his parents do it too. Last night I was woken up to whining. He was standing in the tub and waiting for me to come give him water. Heaven forbid he have to walk downstairs to his bowl in the middle of the night. 

The only time he barks is when he is waiting for me to throw his ball or if he hears something outside.


----------



## FrancoD13 (Aug 9, 2012)

Bryce is a big whiner. Driving in the car is the worst, he is looking out the back of the SUV and whines every time he sees a dog on the sidewalk.


----------



## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

Ester is extremely vocal at home, she does whine and make weird, sometimes cute noises, but boy does she bark - for everything and at everything! Surprisingly she does not make a sound outside. She's super super quiet!


----------



## HudsonVizsla (Jul 9, 2012)

Both...mostly barks once if he looses a toy under couch etc. Will whine if he wants to play with you. Barking at noises outside/throwing ball etc.

Basically, a big vocal dog.


----------



## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Lots of whining. And Wookie noises. My brother calls him Chewbacca. Lots of grumbling and huffing too!

Usually only barks if he thinks he's not getting treats fast enough while training, or when playing a particular kind of keep-away-chase with other dogs. In both cases it's a single bark. He does occasionally bark at noises on the street, but it's rare, and only after the other dogs in the house start it.


----------



## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Oh the whine from Bailey and the bark from Chloe when we get about 2 miles, in the Jeep, from where we are going to go off-leash hiking. 

They know most of the dozen or so locations we use and without fail they both KNOW we are close. it starts out quiet whine and little bark and builds as we get closer.

Once out of the Jeep and on the trail, not a peep from Bailey. Chloe will bark sometimes as she tries to catch up to Bailey in an all out sprint after ground squirrels.

Happy trails,
RBD


----------



## BillnJanice (Apr 1, 2013)

Hahaha, my Zena is the biggest whiner. I feel it's just a matter of time before she starts talking.


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

Cash does both - he starts out whining and it will eventually turn into a bark. The funniest is sometimes at night when I go to bed, he will stay on the couch, I'll turn off the lights and get in bed and then in the darkness I hear this quiet whine that starts getting louder and louder. We have this little routine - he whines and then I ask him what's wrong and he will whine louder, after we do this a few times he'll finally get off the couch and come in my room. What he really wants is for me to come in a pick him up off the couch and carry him into my bedroom (which is something that I did once, one time when he was about 4 months old) - now he's 63 lbs, no more carrying him around.


----------



## FLgatorgirl (Mar 11, 2013)

Ellie has been very vocal from day one. She had an adult dog bark at 8 weeks which surprised the heck out of us. She whines mostly out of excitement or anticipation and it usually turns into a weird yawn/whine/head shaking. She goes through phases with barking for attention or if she wants something. 

She also makes little piggy grunts, sighs, huffing/puffing and also a strange whistling noise only when she is excited to see someone. We have yet to hear the famous V "roo-roo-roo".


----------



## VictoriaW (Mar 16, 2011)

Gracie's vocabulary includes whines, a few different barks, and the beloved roo-roo-roo. Which she chooses depends on the situation. I am always amazed by how expressive & differentiated her barks are...the low urgent alarm bark, the polite excuse me woof at the door, the more panicked I-woofed-nicely-now-let-me-in bark, the anguished high-pitched I-am-at-the-wrong-side-of-the-fence-from you yelp, etc.

But despite all of these different barks, she is usually pretty quiet. She runs along the fence wagging her tail silently to say hi to the mailman, the FedEx guy, the oil man, or dogs & owners passing by. 

Her FAVORITE way of getting our attention is THE PAW.


----------



## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

I believe PIKE is a WHINERRIEM !!! LOL


----------



## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

Oh this is a fun thread... I'm liking it!
Foxy would sit right in front of us and start in with the whining, that would turn in to persistant demanding. At a very young age, I learned to put my palms face out at her and ask her to "show me" and after just a short while of me prompting her, and that command... she would turn tail and dash to ...the door to go out...down stairs to the door (which lead to the play yard) to go play... she would point at the leash if it was in plain sight... down to the utility room where she is fed and point at the snacks or the can of food... or go to the treat cupboard in the kitchen... 
I was amazed, she knew exactly what she wanted and when I asked her to "show me" w/the hand signal...she would.
It greatly reduced the amount of demanding noise, a little whining is cute, and funny but she was sooo happy when she could get her point across... I swore if they could only talk...they are trying sooo hard.
She had a beautiful deep husky bark, more of a" Ruff" until she let loose and then wow! When we got Pearl ( a Bloodhound) she learned to howl...oh my gosh Hilarious!!! The two of them would go nuts when my Son would visit 
( Pearl is his Dog0 She could smell it was him and she sounds like BaaaaWOOOO or ArrrrOOOOO and I cant even describe what Foxy sounded like but she was trying to sound like Pearl, and doing a good job.

I would be really interested to see if any of you can try the "Show Me" and let me know if it works.


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

I'll have to try the show me and see if they figure it out. Usually when they start whining at me, I'll ask them "what, do you need to go potty?" or "what, do you need water?", etc and they will run to whatever it is that they need, but I have to go through the list of questions to figure out what they need. They will also go and get specific things if I ask for it, but I've never tried asking them to show me what they want.


----------



## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

You may have to lead the way to start with, but once the get the Idea that you will follow them ...they will show you... remember to use your hands... it qualifies your desire to let them lead.
Thanks so much I cant wait to hear how long it takes, and I hope it is helpful to you too!


----------



## Főnix (Feb 3, 2013)

Show me sounds like a great idea. 

So far it seems like Watson whines to complain and barks to communicate. Whining (which happens a _lot_) is, "please please please please pleeeeeeeease? Why isn't the answer always yes? Why aren't you listening to me right now?" and barking (which happens rarely) means, "hey, there's something going on that you don't know about and you need to take care of it right now." It's nice that there's a difference.


----------



## GarysApollo (Nov 27, 2012)

Yes Whiners they are! Never hear a bark unless someone knocks on the door.


----------



## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Mac is a stealth ninja. Unless the door gets a knock and then he barks.


----------



## Ollywebb1 (Feb 6, 2013)

I wish Radley was a little less vocal..... The neighbour hates us! He barks if you won't play, if he's startled, if he sees something he doesn't know or understand. And he pretty much whines for anything else. But the funniest thing he does is when he dreams. He regularly runs in his sleep with all four legs going and does a muffled dream bark. It's hilarious


----------



## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

I met a couple that lived in a rural area of CA who had LOTS of dogs. They had taken in a young V male that some one had dumped off. The little guy just barked contiguously. He lived in the yard with all the other dogs, but my personal opinion was that he needed to be in with the PEOPLE ( velcro etc.) V dogs are people dogs, and need that human contact for their own peace. I'll never know.
My Wiemeraner used to bark like a nut when she could sense we were having company... every bump or car door sound would set her off. Drove my crazy.. I finally learned to tell her when the company was coming, give her a time.. in an hour, not till dark etc... call me crazy, but it worked! If she barked out of time, she would look at me, and I would say...not yet in 30minutes. etc ... she would go lay down. Foxy only barked when Greta barked, or at the neighbor when he came home from work ... neither of my dogs liked him ???


----------



## Happyhappyhappy (Jan 8, 2013)

Afton sounds just like Chewbacca from Star Wars when he wants something! Love it!


----------



## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Nelly is both - barking only really became more frequent when she hit teenager-dom. She whines if she wants something, but will usually tell us what it is by directing us there. 

She barks to let us know that someone's there or something's going on, i.e. key in the door, voices etc. and then it's a really deep 'Rooooooooooooooooooo'. She has another bark for 'What the ****?!' but doesn't do that one too often (thankfully as it could break the sound barrier). 

Happyhappyhappy, she also does a good Chewbacca/ET impression ;D


----------



## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

Ruby's a roo roo roo barker, i've been re-boarding and plastering upstairs landing, stairwell and hallway lately and it's very echoey, she loves to bark going down the stairs so gets to hear herself in surround sound lol!


----------



## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Sam doesn't bark, except when absolutely necessary if we happen to meet a fear aggressive dog, by chance...

Due to training, he will politely whine very softly if he needs something and we are not too far. If we out of reach, he will whine loud but only if he has needs to be met.


----------



## TAIsMom (Mar 7, 2013)

I really like this thread! Tai is very vocal. He has different whines or yips for what he wants. The soft let me outside whine, the anxious "there's a squirrel in the backyard" whine, the "you aren't paying attention to me" yip, and the "play with me now!" Bark. He reserves his barks for play with other dogs or people when he gets really excited. He doesn't bark at the door or anything like that. The cutest are the sleep sounds he makes. I love the muffled barks when he's dream running and he even dream howls, which I've never heard him do awake. It's the cutest thing!


----------



## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

Never bark unless the door is rang or such

none of my pointers were very vocal

but Willow the red devil not barking 

pit golden nuts grrrrrr's ;D


----------



## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Penny whined A LOT as a young pup. Joked about changing her name to Harper. Now she only barks during play and is quiet otherwise. Maybe some groans when plying alone. 

Dozer is VERY VOCAL. he barks, whines, groans, grumbles, woofs. You name it he does it. At everything. About everything. 

I also do show me and it is amazing that they know to lead you. However if they start and you don't do show me then Dozer will continue to bark and whine. So you do show me, he takes you to the treat cabinet (which is what you already know he wants) just for you to say no bec he gets them everytime he has yet smith thing he's trained you on. 

@milesmom, your tub water comment cracked me up. Penny runs and jumps in the tub everytime we are in the second bath bec they get treats in there when its actually their bath time.


----------



## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

H doesn't bark unless he's playing with another dog or he sees his reflection and wants to play with it. He whines/cries if one of us is outside and he can't get to us, if one of his friends in the neighborhood is outside playing/walks by, or if he sees another dog that he can't get to. When we let him out of the crate he'll give a "roo roo roo" or sounds like Chewbacca. However, he is the king of grumbling. If we move him when he's sleeping he'll grumble up a storm. Anything that puts him out is met with a grumble of disapproval. He's such a baby...and I wouldn't change it one bit!


----------



## Hbomb (Jan 24, 2012)

Hercules is such a whiner. I have never heard a dog squeak as much as him! Even when we come in the door, he whines with excitement to see us!  you almost feel he is talking to you!


----------

