Barking in response to "Come"

Hello! Judge has this odd (yet mildly endearing) habit which I had never encountered with a puppy before and I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what it might be about...

He has taken quite well to the "come" command and responds immediately inside or outside of the house. But when we are outside and he's off-leash he will immediately respond by barking and then bark all the way back to me. I've noticed if he's within a few feet when I call or if he's in the house somewhere -- he doesn't do this... But any more than that and it's "Arf arf arf" all the way to my feet. It sort of comes in handy when he's gotten out of sight as I immediately know where he is and where he's coming from...

Like I said - he's always eager to come back but he's definitely not stealthy about it. Is this just part of puppyhood? I mean is this his way of saying "Oh my goodness, Mom - I wandered off!! I'm over here.. here I come here I come?" Do you think he'll stop this when he gets a little older and bolder? If no - is this something we should maybe try to stop? I appreciate your input!!

I don't think I'd worry about it too much. It sounds kind of funny, actually, and I'm trying to think if I've heard of it before. I know some stuff we taught Daisy, she would bark when she was doing something. Now she does it, but I think she's saying, "Give me the darn cookie!"

Thanks, Schwinn. :) It's just such a strange quirk that I wanted to be sure I'm not missing something important while I'm giggling.

My sister has a Dane that she named Sargeant because as a puppy, when he was learning commands he would bark back at her every time she gave him a command. He used to get right into her face when she scolded him and she got quite annoyed.
Your dog sounds more to me like happy barking, kind of like a kid on the playground saying I`m coming mom, I was just over here playing with these other kids, its okay.
It sounds really cute.

C`Zarr does it when we are playing, or when he is just happy, he doesn`t bark often so it is pretty comical when he does start "talking".
I don`t know if I would worry about it too much if this is the only time your dog does it and since he is still obeying the command to come. :)

If he was barking instead of coming, then you'd have some adolescent disobedience on your hands, but if he comes, I think it's just a quirk. Maybe he just can't control his emotions about it, whatever they are..

Psst Pags it's a collie thing LOL ;)

get used to it

Jake did that as a pup!! He has border collie in him so we weren't sure if he was being a l'il herder or if he was saying "don't leave without me!!" (he would do it often when we left parks,etc)

It kind of stopped all by itself.

Glad to hear you are having fun with Judge...any more pics??

ooops! see? Luba ws posting "collie thing"at the same time!! I thought so :thumbs up

Oooooooh! A collie thing! That explains a whole lot. You guys really have got to keep me on my toes with this stuff! This would also explain why he attempts to herd the kids back into the kitchen if they dare try to leave it, right?? :D I don't know but the barking allll the way back can be really amusing.

In other news -- I suppose I'll update here instead of digging up the old thread.. We went to our follow up vet's visit today and Judge got the all-clear. Yay! No sign of upper respiratory infection.. no sign of protozoans or other parasites! He now weighs eight pounds - so he has doubled his weight too. :) Weeee!

In the meantime - I was trying to take a picture to show you guys his new St. Francis ID tag. (We thought it only right as we had asked St. Francis for a favor or two when we found out he was sick....) But everytime I used the auto-zoom , Judge barked! Imagine that. So here he is mid-bark and looking as intimidating as he possibly can. :D

Ohhh... I totally missed that you had a new puppy! Congratulations.. it must have happened while I was on vacation!

Our Aussie cross, herds the whole family, ankle nips when going up stairs and blocks the stairs if she thinks the kids shouldn't be down there. She'll also organize any visiting dogs. They are very intelligent.

Thanks BMD! :D We're completely thrilled.

I'm really loving this herding dog thing! And that's it exactly Judge runs out to greet my mother when she visits.. circles her about three times and then starts nipping near her ankles until she has reached her proper spot at the dining room table for coffee. She says it makes her feel pretty welcome when she gets herded into the house. :D

I agree that the barking sounds adorable - as is the picture!! Hazel barks sometimes when we are playing, and I've been working with her on the "speak" command but it doesn't work all the time. She is a fairly vocal dog, so we are having fun trying to teach her when it's okay to bark and when it's not. I think she's learning the "no bark" quicker than the "speak"!

OH he is soooo cute!! YEAH with the all clear wtg mama!!

You have such nice sharp nails there Judge you terror!! Hey mom, if you didn't know a nice little puppy dog trick.....pssst come closer.....so he doesn't hear (judge that is) You can clip his little nails now...just to take the top sharpness off of them and use a pair of YOUR own nail clippers not doggie clippers.

This will get him used to it and praise him after and reward him all happy puppy stuff and hey a treat doesnt' hurt either!

I LOVE that shot of him! You don't mind me adding another of Sadie I just want to compare the two of them ....it's so cute!

I love Collies and of course Shelties (have one).

Luba, how old is Sadie now? I remember when you were getting here and I volunteered to do a leg of transport (you didn't need me :-( / :-) )

I remember Cflat but we sure did appreciate it :D

She's 19 months now and did you see the thread where she met up with her sister Cookie just last month?

Both of your babies are just adorable. I love collies, so loyal and sweet.

I agree that the barking sounds adorable - as is the picture!! Hazel barks sometimes when we are playing, and I've been working with her on the "speak" command but it doesn't work all the time.

Yes, kandy! Judge is the first puppy I've ever had who has actually started to learn "speak"! None of my other puppies were ever vocal enough to ever have an idea of what I wanted them to do with it. :D We're working on "no bark" too but he has the tendency to "mutter" when we give the command. I swear I wish I could record this stuff.

You have such nice sharp nails there Judge you terror!!

Okay they look a lot worse than they are - it's a close up, I swear! Giggle. I have already taken to those terrible little paws with the people toenail clippers... Just to get the cat-like needle-sharp ends off. I admit - it's time for a re-trimming. Is it just me or do the black claws grow faster than the others? (Note - he has a black toe on each paw) Cause they sure seem to!

Oh and Luba - you know I can't get enough of Sadie pictures. :D

Hate to burst your bubble but becareful with the herding stuff your dog does. Make sure you teach your dog the command LEAVE IT as they can get obcessed with herding people, cats and so on. I make Tucker leave it when he tries to nip my sons feet, he tries to herd him up the stairs and that can be dangerous, funny he only does it to my son that and a few other things like playfighting. He also herds my cats but is also told to leave it as they get really annoyed with him after awhile. It looks cute as a puppy but when they are full grown its not so funny any more. I tought Tucker to speak\quiet and it helps with the verbal part, but he still mumbles when told to do something that he doesn't want to do. LOL

Hate to burst your bubble but becareful with the herding stuff your dog does. Make sure you teach your dog the command LEAVE IT as they can get obcessed with herding people, cats and so on. I make Tucker leave it when he tries to nip my sons feet, he tries to herd him up the stairs and that can be dangerous, funny he only does it to my son that and a few other things like playfighting. He also herds my cats but is also told to leave it as they get really annoyed with him after awhile. It looks cute as a puppy but when they are full grown its not so funny any more. I tought Tucker to speak\quiet and it helps with the verbal part, but he still mumbles when told to do something that he doesn't want to do. LOL

Ah doggy - the voice of reason!! That's exactly what I need to hear. Thank you! :o "Leave it" is not unknown to him as we use it quite often when he's herding the baby or otherwise harrassing her.. And since we're something of a soup kitchen for stray cats this time of year -- the same with them. But yes you're right -- we shouldn't be setting up a situation where he thinks it's okay to herd my mother (tempting though it may be :evil: ) or my boys (even more tempting!!! ).... So we'll put our foot (paws?) down there too.

I suppose what I mean by saying I'm loving the herding dog thing is having these new (to me) behaviors to work with in training. Having been around and worked with only one breed my entire life (GSDs) -- it's just really exciting to have the chance to figure out and work with new natural behaviors! Just gotta keep my wits about me. LOL

LOL And Tucker mumbles too, eh? LOL

Yes, kandy! Judge is the first puppy I've ever had who has actually started to learn "speak"! None of my other puppies were ever vocal enough to ever have an idea of what I wanted them to do with it. :D We're working on "no bark" too but he has the tendency to "mutter" when we give the command. I swear I wish I could record this stuff.



You should use that. Daisy would do this wierd thing when we asked her to speak where she would kind of open her mouth and push air out, like she was whispering. We started saying whisper, and as soon as she would do it, we would give her a cookie. When she starts getting frustrated, she does this "grumbly" thing. So now, we keep saying grumble, and give her a cookie when she does it. She's already learning this trick. I also think that it helps make the other ones easier, because she starts associating the behaviour with a word, and stops doing it at other times.

They are amusing dogs thats for sure, Tucker herds everything from fish in our pond, to frogs, the cats and the kids. I also find it interesting to watch their minds at work, you can actually see Tucker trying to figure things out. Its scary you never know what he will do next. Here is a pic of Tucker looking for fish.

Great fishing hole there Tucker..he's giving that look like 'hey this is my spot get your own'


I find with the herding issues, the border collies are usually the ones that become far more obsessed (generally) then rough collies. Borders some of them you can't even look in the eyes.

The leave it or off command works well. I wasn't trying to encourage you pags LMAO I just think its funny Sadie did the same thing. She still runs herding circles like a nutjob but not in attack mode as much..which yes can be dangerous when they're up to 60 lbs or more.

I used OFF because it was something easy for me to remember and only one word. SADIE OFF for everything and anything.

When she did the attack mode thing I had a squirt bottle and just a little squirt along with the SADIE OFF thing. Not when she was playing or sniffing around things or people or just being curious when she was doing something that I thought uh oh hmm when she's big this could be a problem.

I would keep the bottle in plain view if she was doing her attack mode running and jumping running and jumping. IT ALWAYS kept her off of me!

Judge is tiny and good job to get him to learn things now, like the general sit, down, stay stuff but most importantly the off/leave it will give you piece of mind.

Will he try to test you ALL THE TIME!! And as cute as they are and as funny as it gets....really really funny we must use that 'tone' that I'm sure the kids know very well. HAHA

I really miss the puppy stuff, they grow up too fast I miss Sadie's puppy ways already. She was so tiny then POOF this big dog is here....but I still call her my little puppy :D as I did my Rusty when he was 16yrs old !!

They're always puppies to me!! :p

Love the pictures of Sadie and Judge :love:

As for Aussie's herding, you can't stop that they are bred to herd. Sweet dogs I am thinking of getting another aussie, blue merle male would be my choice. :)

Luba are you talking about what BC people call "the eye". The BC use a stare for herding part of their breeding. It is used to hypnotize the sheep and to make them move where the dog wants them to go.I have read that you should never stare at a BC as it is trying to confront you and make you back down from them, it is also hard to outstare them so once you look away they have won. Also it is said that if you manage to break the stare of a dog it will have lost its confidence and faith in its own capabilities. Its funny how the herding breeds all have their own way of herding and the different instincts that have been bred into them.

Thank you :D

And yes I know that 'eye' that you're talking about doggy lover! It's very interesting about breaking the stare with them although it makes a whole lot of sense :D

Tucker is SO pretty, doggy! I love to see pictures of him. :love: The fishing picture reminds me of one of the GSDs we had when I was a teenager.. We lived on a lake then and one of his favorite past-times was fishing. He literally fished like a grizzly bear and really got quite good at it over the years. Now that I think about it - he also had the habit of herding passing canoes.. :p

Obviously our german shepherds had a lot of herding instinct as well -- just not quite as prominent and I'm guessing their methods were a little different.. like you said, doggy -- different instincts bred into them.

When she starts getting frustrated, she does this "grumbly" thing. So now, we keep saying grumble, and give her a cookie when she does it. She's already learning this trick. I also think that it helps make the other ones easier, because she starts associating the behaviour with a word, and stops doing it at other times.

I love it, Schwinn! I think we'll do the same. My husband is teaching him "sing" because he has times in the morning when he likes to howl -- I think he's calling the boys downstairs for breakfast, actually. :p