Why doesn’t my Rottweiler bark?

If your Rottweiler does not bark, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of possible reasons why it might not be barking and what you can do to get it to bark when you want it to.

So, why isn’t your Rottweiler barking? There are a number of reasons why your Rottweiler might not be barking. The main ones are a timid personality, needing time to become comfortable in its new surroundings, an illness, age (bad hearing), bad past experiences and previous training to stop it from barking. 

There are actually many possible reasons why it does not bark and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are a number of things you can consider when trying to figure out the exact reason. There are also a number of things you can do about it.

Reasons Why Your Rottweiler Might Not Be Barking

Each of the different reasons why your Rottweiler does not bark will likely come with some clues. Below are a number of possible reasons why it does not bark and what would make them more likely.

Personality

It could be the case that your Rottweiler does not bark due to its personality. This would be more likely if it has always been quiet and it has not stopped barking suddenly.

If this is the case then it could be that it just prefers not to bark often. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it means that your Rottweiler won’t be bothering you and your neighbors constantly.

It also means that when it does bark, it will be because something really is wrong so you’ll be less likely to ignore your Rottweiler when it needs help or there is a problem.

If your Rottweiler is otherwise acting normally and doesn’t show signs of any other weird behavior then this is more likely to be the reason.

With that being said, there are situations where having the Rottweiler bark can be helpful such as when you want it to let you know that it wants something. You can get your Rottweiler to do this with training that I will discuss in the next section.

Still becoming comfortable

If you have recently gotten your Rottweiler, it could be the case that it is not yet comfortable in its new environment. In this case, it might start to be louder as it becomes more comfortable.

Past Experiences

It could be the case that your Rottweiler has learned not to bark because it had bad experiences with barking in the past. This is especially likely to be the case if it is a shelter dog where it might have had previous owners that treated it badly.

Age

One reason why your Rottweiler might not bark as much as it used to could be that it is getting older.

When dogs get older their hearing declines so they won’t react to sounds as much as they would when they were younger. This can result in them barking less.

Vocal stress

It could also be the case that your Rottweiler has stopped barking due to vocal stress. This would be more likely if it sounds different when it barks and if it has been coughing a lot.

Previous training

The reason why it does not bark much could be that previous owners trained it not to bark so much. If your Rottweiler has had previous owners then this could be the case you could try contacting them or you can try to train your Rottweiler to bark when you want it to.

It could also be that you inadvertently trained it not to bark in the past yourself. If you punished your Rottweiler in the past when it used to bark then it could have learned not to bark. If you think that it might have happened then you should take measures to correct it that will be discussed below.

Medical causes

The reason why it has not been barking could be due to illness or injury. This would be more likely if it has stopped barking suddenly and if it has been showing other signs of being ill or injured.

If it does seem like it might have medical issues, the best option would be to take it to a vet.

What To Do About Your Rottweiler Not Barking

Below are some options you have when getting your Rottweiler to bark more.

Give it time

If your Rottweiler has not had much time to adjust to its new surroundings then it’s probably not feeling comfortable enough to start barking.

If this is the case then you can wait a few more weeks to see if it starts barking as time goes by and it starts to get more comfortable.

Make it comfortable

If you think that your Rottweiler is not feeling comfortable in its current environment then you can help to make it feel more comfortable. You can do this by giving it treats to play with, taking it out for walks and giving it lots of attention.

Make sure it isn’t a medical problem

If it has stopped barking suddenly or it has been showing other signs of illness or injury, the best option would be to take it to a vet. By doing so, you should be able to get expert advice tailored towards your particular Rottweiler and to rule out illness or injury as a cause.

Train it to bark

Another option would be to use positive reinforcement training to get it to bark. This is where you encourage the behaviors you want to see by rewarding your Rottweiler when it shows signs of displaying them.

To do this have some treats that the Rottweiler loves in your hands, give one of them to the dog so that it knows that you have them then keep the other just out of its reach until it barks and then give it to it.

You can watch the video below for more tips on how to train it to bark.

Things to consider

Don’t use physical measures to make the Rottweiler bark

Using physical measures to get your Rottweiler to bark more like electrical collars are not a good way to go about doing it. Physical methods could make your dog scared and not trust you and will not help you in forming a bond with your dog.

Instead, it would help to train it with the use of positive reinforcement training and to avoid reinforcing bad behaviors.

It may just be a timid Rottweiler which isn’t so bad

It could be the case that your Rottweiler is naturally quiet, this would not be such a bad thing. It means that your Rottweiler will be much easier to control and when it is loud you will know that something really is wrong.

Give it other ways to communicate

It would also be an option to give it other ways that it can communicate with you. For example, you could put a bell on the door so that it can let you know when it wants to go outside.

When it stopped barking

If it did bark more in the past, it would help to consider what else happened when it stopped barking since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to stop.

If it stopped doing it suddenly, it would be more likely to be due to things such as becoming ill or injured, moving homes or becoming depressed.