r/greatpyrenees • u/SettledInCatan • 13h ago
Advice/Help Is This Abnormal Barking?
We are fostering a Pyr. We knew going into it that they had a reputation for barking, but this is a lot. With our foster's level of barking, I'm just not understanding how anyone could realistically keep one as an indoor pet.
When we first got him, it was fine. There was some barking here or there but as he grew more comfortable, it got more frequent. We've blocked all of our bedroom windows and sleep with two fans on for white noise. There are nights where he will pace the room and bark for 15-20 minutes. Other nights, it's for several hours. His bark literally vibrates the walls.
I've tried things to tire him out mentally like puzzle toys, and we are trying to keep a strict routine. He sleeps in the room with us, lights off, door shut. I've tried validating his job, but I don't think he's barking at anything. Maybe it's just warning barks, but it's driving me crazy to the point that I'm thinking about calling the rescue, which I don't want to do. He's such a sweet boy, but it's just too much.
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u/sckurvee 13h ago
Do you know if he was a pet before, as opposed to a working guarding dog or even just an outdoor dog with acreage? Could just not be used to being an indoor pet... Or maybe just the change in scenery. You've already done most of my advice (sounds like you read one of my replies to some other "why is my dog barking" post lol).
All I can say is that maybe it's the new surroundings, or maybe it's just not used to / not meant to be an indoor dog. Maybe try some hemp chewables a bit before bed?
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u/DistantBeat 13h ago
They patrol at night. If you can let him wander your home to check everything out instead of keeping him locked in your room, that may help. Remember your mood affects him so try to stay calm and quiet. If he’s new in your home he’s got a lot of noises, sights, and sounds to get familiar with. Try to be patient as he gets use to the rhythm of your home. Over time he should not be barking so much at night. Just personal experience but mine seems to patrol quietly at night, settles around 3am to sleep, and saves his loud barking for daytime intrusions like squirrels and stuff.
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u/StopLookListenDecide 12h ago
Reassuring, good job, everything is okay. No bark
Keep working on it, along with the above, gives him the ability to patrol.
How long have you had him?2
u/SettledInCatan 12h ago
We have had him a little over two weeks.
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u/F4BDRIVER 3h ago edited 3h ago
Ah ha! Read up.on the "Three, Three Three Rule" for pet adoption! Besides being a Pyr, he's not comfortable in his environment yet!
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u/SettledInCatan 12h ago
We have tried this, and it would be fine if he roamed the house quietly, but he just goes from room to room barking. You can still plainly hear it upstairs and it still wakes us up.
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u/SettledInCatan 12h ago
He starts roaming the house barking at like 4 or 5PM. Even when we aren't trying to sleep, it's just such a loud bark that it's tough to just exist.
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u/DaysOfParadise 13h ago
I suggest moving him out of your bedroom. Pyrenees are nocturnal pacers. Their job is to protect their herd – you - from predators during the night.
Get him a crate to sleep in; remove the door so he can patrol the rest of the house.
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u/SettledInCatan 12h ago
The only acceptable place would be the basement. It's where I have my office. Its finished and has a dog bed and such for when the dogs are hanging out with me while I work.
I did put him down there one night after he was still barking past 11PM. Maybe it's just something I need to get over, but we love our dogs and just want them to feel like part of the family and to be with us. I am also afraid of what he might get into. I've never seen him chew up anything outside of clothes hangers, but I always worry that he might chew on wires or something. I've read you're not supposed to crate them.
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u/F4BDRIVER 4h ago
Ours loves his crate! He sleeps there, gets treats there, gets marrow bones and occasionally some morsels of our dinner too. Doesn't even mind having the door closed.There are times when he's sacked out in it that I open the door and call and he looks at me like "Can't you see that I'm asleep? Bug off!" He won't even come out for a treat! One suggestion: If you do try a crate, get a bite-proof heavy duty one. We had a German Shepherd who destroyed three regular mesh ones before we got that type. When he couldn't destroy it he actually learned it was a sanctuary and grew to love being in it.
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u/stpauliegrl 2h ago
So my mix rarely barks (I know how lucky I am), but she has every other Pyr characteristic, and just recently I have had to accept that she is independent and NEEDS to be outside and patrol and she will likely never be that typical "family dog". She slept in a crate for her first 7 months with us (she's 12 mos now) and she loved it. I left the door open and she went inside the crate all the time. Then one day she just stopped, so she "slept" out in the main part of the house with the cats. But she's always been a nighttime roamer and I truly don't think she sleeps at night, so we made the decision to start letting her sleep outside because it's the only place where she isn't anxious. Toughest decision I've ever made with any of my dogs, but it's what she wants/needs and it's the only thing to quell her anxiety. We built her a heated dog house (not plugged in until winter) and she absolutely loves it. I realize that barking isn't an issue, so this may not help you, but I just wanted to let you know that the "being a part of the family" thing will probably need to be readjusted in your mind because once I accepted that she is still part of the family, she's just feeling less anxious and more content being outside, I've relaxed about it.
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u/CuddlyClubCEO 12h ago
we can’t keep ours in the bedroom at night. we have two and they seem to almost take turns watching the doors.
also i find yelling to stop doesn’t help but acknowledging they are barking sometimes gets them to stop. it seems silly but i’ll say ok thanks for letting me know, we are all aware now 😂
best of luck to you though! maybe he’s just adjusting still
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u/lovemypyr 11h ago
We rescued Oakley last Fall. Within a couple weeks, we realized his barking was above and beyond our 3 previous Pyrs. It has steadily increased in intensity, frequency and volume. We were asked by a neighbor to keep him away from his side of the house during work hours (WFH) as it disturbs him. Someone else has recently called the Sheriff’s Department on him, and he’s an indoor dog. We saw the Vet and she suggested meds and an animal behaviorist to work with. She believes this is an extreme anxiety reaction. I videoed one of his typical episodes, and she is very familiar with the breed. We’re foregoing the meds at this point and are phone interviewing the list of behaviorists we were given.
We love our guy after 8 months. He’s affectionate, friendly, loves adventures, car rides and pup cups.
Perhaps look into an animal behaviorist to help get a handle on it. Pyrs don’t bark less as they take ownership of their homes, property and peeps. Good luck.
Oh, and I 2nd the praise, no bark pattern. I say “Good boy!! No monsters or burglars left. You did a good job. You can leave it. No bark.” This is while giving him a pet or hug followed by a treat if he stops or quiets himself. If I catch him before he escalates, he’ll calm down fairly quickly. But if he is triggered (my phone pings, I crack an egg, or a leaf blows by), he ramps immediately and becomes hysterical, running from window to window to doors and back over and over. We’re working on it. Again , good luck.
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u/SpeechlessAndBoring 10h ago
Our latest Pyr rescue was like this until we finally just let him go outside at night. If he’s inside at night, he barks until we let him out. But if he’s outside, he just hangs out quietly in our yard until about 5 am, then he gives a single bark, I let him in and feed him, and then we both sleep. I felt really guilty about it for a while, then I asked our behavior consultant about it and she said if he’s happy, it’s all good. It’s what he wants and is built for. Being quiet inside at night isn’t. Our other Pyr happily sleeps inside by our bed or outside our door. Different needs…
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u/SparkyMaximus 11h ago
It's what they do. What they were bred to do. I think those that do have success with them as indoor pets often have mixes, and the other breed(s) in there is(are) attenuating this trait a good bit. Others, I think are downplaying how bad it can be, for whatever reason. There's a reason they can be found as rescues as often as they are.
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u/thunderbunny3025 5h ago
My half GP is our resident barker - we say she has a quota to hit daily. Our full GP is honestly a lot more stoic, and barks a tenth of the older girl. He only seems to bark if he sees an animal outside or hears an unusual noise... AKA if there's actually something to bark about.
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u/Storage-Helpful 10h ago
from the very, very fragmented history we have on mine, he was a working dog for a short amount of time before he got loose and his previous owners never bothered to look for him, he just roamed the area for close to 6 months, living off of what the neighbors would feed him. he always had to go outside and bark, usually about 10 pm to 11:30 ish. Never constant barking, just wanted to go out and tell the world he was there and this was his space. After that he would come in and be quiet as a lamb until about 3:30-4 am, when shift change happened at our closest neighbor (garbage company, last holdout in a commercial/light industrial zone), and then he'd go out and bark again for about another 30 - 45 minutes. After that he was back in and happy as a clam until dark, never asked to go out to potty or anything. nothing i could do (and i tried so. many. things.) would put a change in his routine
after a while I did learn to just live with it, but it was hard. the last dog before him maybe barked once or twice a year, so it was a major adjustment
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u/Salty_Activity8373 8h ago
Mine stay inside at night in the living room. I have 2 adults and a 6 month old. They only bark when there is a reason to bark. We have a schedule and they follow it.
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u/Bottled-Bee Le Crumb Miette 4h ago
I want to share one of my favorite memories with my first Pyr. 2am, muddy from running outside, it was during the winter as well. Mercury in the back yard barking his ass off. I finally got him to the door and was crying because I was exhausted.
Deli meat, Cheetos, food in general was all over the floor as bait. The damn dog wouldn’t come in.
Police showed up after an hour of him barking and me chasing him outside and someone called. Mercury immediately comes in when he sees me go to the door, (he was deaf) and was on guard.
I didn’t have pants on, I was muddy up to my elbows and was telling the PO what was happening. It was awful.
He did get let out at 2am again, but when I’d go to the door he’d be right there, most of the time. The other time’s was me crying with deli meat all over the floor.
Thankfully Miette came in with snacks.. she is easy, but not Mercury.
Don’t be me- I am stupid.
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u/F4BDRIVER 3h ago edited 3h ago
Read up on the ",Three. Three, Three" rule for adopting pets. He's not comfortable in his environment yet, either.
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u/EngineeringSad5417 7h ago
We dealt with this exact issue when we first got our 2 year old. Incessant barking and running / pacing all through the house almost all night. We were getting no sleep and she was clearly working herself up all night. Our vet suggested trazodone to help ease any anxiety at being in a new home (we’re not even sure she’d ever lived in a home since she was a stray before the rescue picked her up at the shelter). That helped a ton; we’re almost entirely tapered off it after 6 weeks. The other thing that has helped immensely is getting a vibrating (not shock) collar on Amazon. $30 and it lets her know that any barking out of boredom or for attention isn’t okay. We put it at a reasonable sensitivity so she will still low growl or bark through it if she sees or hears something actually concerning, so the result is that she’s able to still follow her instinct/do her “job”. We only had to put it on her a few nights; we forgot the next night and she barely made a sound! Now we just put it on for a night or two if she starts to bark at nothing again. It hasn’t affected her happiness or demeanor at all, which is something we worried about.
She now sleeps (or at least rests) all night in our room or down the hall, with only a very rare (and usually justified) bark or two.
The last thing I’ll mention is to look into the 3/3/3 rule for dogs adjusting to a new environment. Your foster could just be settling in. Good luck! It will get better.
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u/F4BDRIVER 4h ago edited 3h ago
Try giving him a marrow bone or a bully stick or some other chew to keep him busy. Ours gets a soup bone from the grocery store every night at bedtime and is silent all night. He also sleeps in his crate /cave. He's only annoying when he wants something. He'll "Woof", not bark constantly but give a deep "Woof" every so often and stare at us until we figure out what he wants. We've taken to asking him if Timmy's in the well again!
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u/SnooStrawberries6185 4h ago
When we brought our most recent pyr home, she had been a stray and was probably a year and a half. She barked at night WAY more than our previous pyr who was a puppy when we got him. It took her awhile, but she did settle down. Now we hear an occasional night time bark, but much more reasonable. I think she was used to having to be on guard all night and it took her while to let that go.
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u/SnooStrawberries6185 4h ago
Also, we have 3 occupied bedrooms at night. Neither pyr would have been happy to not be able to observe the other rooms. Our previous pyr slept downstairs by the front door at the base of the stairs most nights and our current girl prefers outside our bedroom door in the hallway where she can see the other doors or in the same spot at the bottom of the stairs. Shutting yours in one room may be contributing to the problem.
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u/Beneficial_Trip3773 3h ago
I have 3 they sllep with me and they are quite. Get a noise machine. You're welcome.
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u/Leigh-is-something 13h ago
Do you let him outside just before bed? Ours has to ‘patrol’ before bed or he won’t settle down.