So she barks....

I am what you would call a paranoid (pet) parent. When Emma was a puppy (I know she still is, but I mean a SMALL puppy), I worried about everything. Okay, I still do for the most part, but I digress. I used to worry about her barking.

In the first few weeks we had her, she didn't make a peep. No whining. No crying. No barking. Nothing. She would occasionally do this thing with her mouth where she would open it to bark, but nothing would come out. It was as if she was on 'mute.' I didn't really think there was anything wrong with her, I just didn't understand why she wouldn't bark.

I posted a question on mycorgi.com (a website strictly for corgi owners) asking fellow corgi lovers if they had any takes on my silent dog. The general consensus is that I should thank my lucky stars that she doesn't bark.

Not too many weeks after posting the question, Emma started barking - slightly. She would do a sort of half-bark that wasn't very loud. We encouraged her to "find her voice" by asking her to "speak" for treats and what not. The problem was that the only place she could do that was here at our apartment. Any time we were away from home, we strongly discouraged her barking. I felt like we were sending her mixed messages.

I'm no longer worried that we sent her mixed messages.

The dog barks at everything. Everything. Neighbors going in and out of their door - she barks. Knocking or doorbells on the TV - she barks. Shadows - she barks. Nothing - she barks! Chad took her out last night and I heard her start barking like crazy. When Chad came upstairs, I asked him what Emma went crazy over. "Some one got in their car," he said. The parking lot is on the other side of our building...

There have been countless times she has literally barked at nothing. Possibly the most humorous scenario was a few weeks ago. With the weather "cooling down," we have been opening our patio door more often. At the time, the door was closed but the blinds were open. Emma caught something out of the corner of her eye and started running towards the door barking. At her reflection. We couldn't help but laugh...

It is funny though to notice the different types of barks she does for different situations. When it's just me at home, she does a quiet bark... not too loud. When Chad and I are both at home, she goes into protection mode. Which I guess is a good thing.

All in all, I'm glad our baby has found her voice and that she is protective of us.  Right now she is quietly chewing on one of her bones - but I'm sure 4 AM will be a different story.

Thanks for reading!

God bless!

-Shelley