The Labradoodle embodies all the friendliness, enthusiasm, and curiosity you can get from combining the Poodle and Labrador Retriever. They love meeting new people and are likelier to welcome a stranger into the house than chase them away. But what are the barking habits of a Labradoodle, do they bark a lot?
Do Labradoodles Bark A Lot?
The Labradoodle breed barks moderately, and usually for good reason. Some things that can cause a Labradoodle to bark are:
- Separation anxiety
- Excitement
- Boredom
- Meeting new people
- Guests visiting
- Thunderstorms
- Feeling protective
If you’re considering a Labradoodle as your next pet, you can be prepared for a dog who is brilliant in almost any household and usually only barks when there’s a reason to. Their high intelligence allows them to be trained easily, including training them not to bark.
Let’s find out more about why Labradoodles bark and how to prevent them from barking in these situations.
Why Labradoodles Bark
Your Labradoodle is level-headed, considerate, and doesn’t bark as frequently as other breeds. But there are specific things that will cause your Labradoodle to bark.
Feeling Protective or Scared
Being a mixture between the people-pleasing Labrador Retriever and the uber-affectionate Poodle, Labradoodles are not really known for being protective or aggressive. But if any dog is put into a situation where it or its owner is being threatened, there’s only so much it can take before they start to retaliate.
If a Labradoodle feels threatened, they are most likely to react by barking. But as mentioned previously, this dog’s affectionate and curious traits make it more likely to welcome strangers than act aggressively.
Unfamiliar Places and Faces
Labradoodles are friendly and love everyone and anything. They are the socialites of the Doodle world. When they’re around people and places they don’t know, they’ll bark more than usual because there are so many new things to do and people to meet.
If you invite someone new over to your home for dinner, you’ll know they’ve arrived long before they knock on the door. They might be excitable and bark a lot at first, but they will calm down once they get used to their new friend.
Ensure you introduce your guests to your pet properly and let them get to know your guests to minimize barking.
Feeling Excited
When your Labradoodle feels excited, they’ll let you know about it. This could be for many reasons like they haven’t seen you in a while, they get to go for a walk after a long wait, or even when they meet new friends.
I have one neighbor my dog adores. At first, every time she came around, you could hear my dog barking from a mile away out of pure excitement. But since then, she’s calmed down by training her not to bark at guests.
Thunderstorms And Loud Noises
Your Labradoodle is very sensitive to loud noises and flashing lights. So, thunderstorms are a major trigger for their barking. Although raising awareness about how fireworks affect animals, there are still so many used throughout the year that traumatizes dogs, causing them to hide away, run away, or bark a lot.
Separation Anxiety
One thing that comes with a dog that’s as affectionate as the Labradoodle is they can’t stand to be away from their loved ones for too long. Labradoodles are prone to separation anxiety. When they’re away from you for longer than they can handle, they express their loneliness through moaning and barking.
Feeling Bored
When your Labradoodle has nothing better to do, they’ll resort to barking. Because of such an incredible mix of two highly intelligent breeds, they need sufficient mental stimulation or get bored and bark.
How To Stop Labradoodles From Barking
Dogs are born to bark, and it’s okay. But as soon as it becomes constant or uncontrollable, you must do everything possible to get them to behave. Your Labradoodle is very conscious of wanting to please you, and they’re aware of different atmospheres. Most can easily tell when it’s not a good time to bark based on how you feel.
Here are things you can do to prevent your Labradoodle from barking too much.
Train Your Labradoodle
The best way to prevent your Labradoodle from barking too much is by having them trained as soon as they are old enough. You can start training your Labradoodle from eight weeks old.
Here’s an easy method to train your Labradoodle to stop barking. The earlier you start this, the better, but this training method can be used at any age with these three easy steps.
Step One: Ignore The Barking
If there’s anything that will encourage your Labradoodle to continue to bark as much as possible, it’s reacting to their barking. Because they thrive off of having your attention, they’ll usually bark to get it.
So instead of getting angry and shouting at them to stop, ignore them. Doing this will teach them that barking is not the way to get what they want.
Step Two: Reward The Good Habit
Once your Labradoodle has stopped barking, give them a treat or a cuddle to encourage your desired behavior. By rewarding them for stopping the barking, they’ll learn what’s good and bad.
Positive reinforcement will get you a lot further than shouting.
Step Three: Repeat
To see results with your training, you need to be consistent. Your Labradoodle will learn a habit over time. The barking episodes will slowly decrease once they pick up on the pattern: barking gets you nothing, and behaving gets you treats.
Provide Enough Exercise
Be sure to give your Labradoodle enough exercise. Lack of exercise is one of the biggest reasons a dog will bark. And it’s one of the easiest to fix, simply give them more exercise. An exercised Labradoodle will be happier, and healthier and won’t have as much incentive to bark as a Labradoodle who is not exercised adequately.
You should count on providing your adult Labradoodle with around 120 minutes of exercise throughout the day. While puppies and senior dogs will need less but still enough to tire them out.
Besides walking or running with your Labradoodle, you can set up an agility course with this kit in your backyard or play a game of tug-of-war with this fun Flirt Pole Toy to help meet your Labradoodle’s exercise quota for the day.
You can read more in our article Labradoodle Exercise Requirements for Health and Happiness.
Early Socialization
One thing you need to know about Labradoodles is they love to socialize. Usually, you’d need to socialize your puppy as early as possible with breeds that tend to be more shy or protective. But your Labradoodle also needs early socialization to help them set boundaries with people and other dogs.
When they get too excited when meeting people and other fur babies, it’s good for them to know how to socialize. If not, they could jump all over them and bark.
So as soon as possible, introduce your little Labradoodle puppy to as many friends and family members (including the furry ones) as possible to ensure they know how to act around new people from a young age.
Expose Them To Different Noises
Your dog is sensitive to loud and scary noises. Imagine how your Labradoodle feels if you’re affected by the sound of a storm.
A good way to prevent them from barking during thunderstorms and other loud noises is to play similar sounds around them gradually. Start softly, so they’re aware of the sound, then turn it up slowly, so they get used to the noises without being petrified.
That way, when a storm rolls in or fireworks are used, they won’t be as overwhelmed.
I’ve used this method with the sound of the doorbell. And while it’s still a work in progress, the repeated exposure has reduced barking. I used Sound Proof Puppy Training app for around $5.
Provide Enough Toys
Labradoodles are incredibly intelligent, so you need to keep them entertained and mentally stimulated as much as possible. An excellent method is to have various toys and activities around your home. Here are some toys and activities that have worked well to keep my dogs entertained for hours:
- Automatic Ball Launcher – perfect for when you’re not around or have too much to do, your Labradoodle can continue with a timeless game of fetch.
- Puzzle Feeder – never has a challenge tasted so good. This will keep your Labradoodle mentally stimulated and satisfied when they finally get the treat.
- Kong Chew Toy – this is a classic way to keep your dog’s chompers out of trouble. Also, if their mouth is chewing, there’s less time to bark.
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