Papillons are an amazing toy breed of dog. Although they are generally small, 10 lbs. or under, they make wonderful adventure companions. They can make perfect pets for active, outdoorsy families who, for whatever reason, decide that a larger dog isn’t for them. One factor people often take into account before adding a new dog to their family is how loud, in general, the dog’s breed tends to be. Small dogs are often stereotyped as being yappy. If you live in an apartment building, or just don’t like noisy dogs, this stereotype may turn you away from adopting a small breed dog. So are papillons loud?
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Papillons Do Tend to Bark A Lot
This may not be the answer you were hoping for, but papillons, in general, do tend to bark a lot. Some people might even refer to this breed as being yappy. Papillons tend to be alert barkers. This means, if you live in an apartment building, they may bark every time they hear other tenants in the building. Or, perhaps when they see a person, dog, or squirrel outside the window.
Some papillons just seem to be the type of dog that likes to hear themselves bark! Besides alert barking, my personal papillon, Kitsune, “talks” quite a bit when he’s playing, and when he wants something. He can be quite demanding when he wants to be!
Luckily, Papillons are Also Smart!
If you had your heart set on a papillon and are discouraged to hear that they can be loud, have no fear! Papillons also happen to be the 8th smartest dog breed! What does intelligence have to do with barking? Being smart doesn’t stop them from barking, of course, but it does mean they are relatively, when compared to other dog breeds, easy to train!
That’s not to say that training papillons not to bark is always easy. It can be a challenge sometimes for sure. But if it means the difference between being able to keep your papillon in your apartment with you or not, then training your papillon not to bark so much will 100% be worth your time.
- Do Papillons Make Good Apartment Pets?
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- How Long Do Papillons Live?
- List of US Based Papillon Rescues
- Papillon Breed Standard
Tips for Dealing with Loud Papillons
- Don’t give in to your papillon’s barking. If your dog, like mine, likes to demand bark, it’s important not to give in to their demands. Doing what your dog wants you to do when he or she barks helps to teach them that barking will get them what they want!
- Don’t yell at your dog for barking either. Dogs don’t always understand what we’re trying to convey if we yell at them. Worst case, sensitive dogs can be upset by our yelling, but still not really understand what we want from them.
- Consistency is key. If you’re working on training your papillons not to be so loud, make sure everyone in your house is on board. If one person is working on training your dog not to bark, but everyone else in the home is just giving in to the barking, then you’re dog is less likely to learn quickly what you are expecting from them.
- Stop barking before it starts. Learn to identify the things that trigger your dog’s barking. While you are working on training, doing your best to avoid triggers will make your (and your neighbors) lives easier. This may mean doing things like keeping window shades closed so your dog can’t bark at things outside, or using a white noise machine to drown out the sounds from outside.
- Talk to your trainer and vet. If your dog is barking mostly when you leave them home alone, it could be due to separation anxiety. Consider enlisting the help of a trainer or veterinary behaviorist. If your dog gets especially stressed when left home alone, consider discussing options with your vet. They may recommend using medication to help keep your dog calm when you leave, in addition to working on training your dog to be more comfortable alone.
- Teach your dog what you do want them to do! Teach your dog a behavior that you’d like them to do instead of barking. For example, if your dog barks a lot when people knock on your door, teach them to go lay down on their beds when they hear a knock at the door. This gives them something to do, a way to alert you to a visitor, without making a sound.
Keep Up with Training!
So you put in the hard work and trained your papillon not to bark so much? That’s awesome, but don’t let up now! Consistency and repetition is key when it comes to teaching our dogs what types of behaviors we want to see from them. This is coming from personal experience because, I have to admit, in recent years I’ve let Kit’s “quiet” training lapse quite a bit.
When we moved out of the city my partner and I became a bit less concerned about how loud our dogs were. We didn’t have any close neighbors to worry about annoying anymore, after all. Plus Kitsune is 14 now and after the rough year, health wise, that he had last year I tend to let him get away with things now that I wouldn’t have when he was younger.
So working on brushing up on training Kitsune not to be so loud is for sure on my to do list! He’s generally a really good dog, but he does alert bark and barks quite a bit now when he wants something, usually food. I joke about what an amazing little watch dog he is, but in reality if anyone ever broke into our house Kit would probably just try to convince the burglar to help him get into the refrigerator!
Papillons, Although Sometimes Loud, are Amazing Dogs!
Papillons are adventurous, sweet, social little dogs that make amazing adventure companions. Their sometimes excessive barking may be a downside to some. But for owners who are willing to put in the work, papillons are fuzzy geniuses who are usually easy to train. If you think this might be the breed for you, and you are ready and willing to put in the time needed to train them, don’t let their tendency to be barkers scare you away. Sharing your life with one of these amazing little dogs is well worth the effort of training them!
Comment below! If you have a papillon, does yours bark a lot? Do you have any other tips for helping owners to cope with barking dogs?
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