I need some advice
We bought our first GSD at 8 weeks old, comes from good working lines.
Ecko Vom Schoberhaus
He is now about 7 Months old and We have a unique problem. Ecko won't bark. My wife loves it(of course), but I am wondering if there is something to be concerned with. Ecko has a great play drive, very quick in learning obedience, I haven't been overly concerned with polishing the OB stuff and the only problem I have with him is anticipating a down when he's playing ball and he's told to sit.

I have heard him bark 2 times in the last 5 months, once was after I threw a large cardboard box into the back yard and he got spooked, He seems to be pretty sound and not afraid of anything. The second time he barked at a friends small dog because he wanted to play and the dog ignored him.

I don't want to worry too much but I am wondering if this is a normal development for a dog with sound nerves. Is 7 months a long time to not be barking? I want to develop his bark on command to adapt into training.

Try getting your wife to tie him before you come home. When you arrive home do not go to him until he "speaks". When he finally makes any noise go to him immediately, set him free and play with him.

Next teach him that he must “speak” on demand before you will open the front door and take him for a walk!

Scott ,
You have to remember that everytime this dog will see his handler he'll bark at home for him. I rather save that bark for strangers. It is a good idea to do that on the field , like a run away type of exercise builts bond and such but for me I also had a pup that would not bark he is now 10 month old and we had him out on the field and we took out his favorite toy and teased him with it by showing it to him and than hiding it behind my back and I did that for a while , he would clap his mouth but no sound finally after a while he made a little barking sound and I threw his ball for him to fetch, I did that exercise everytime we trained. He now barks for his toy , sack and now barks for the sleeve. Make sure what you ask him to bark for is what you really want at all times.I do not want him to bark for me when I get home , I have little ones and barking late at night when I get home is not ok, strangers well that's a differant story. Scott ,I like your idea but not in the home for me. Outside is better. I like the idea to bark for what he wants, but I they bark on their own at me as it is and I did not teach them that.My problem was he would not bark for his toy and other things ,he had a serious look and intense for his toy but no sound. I think some dogs are vocal at certain stage. I have noticed some bloodlines are like that, and some other you can't shut up.

Jonathan, my 18 month old male GSD hardly ever barked when he was younger. With each passing month he barks a little more but I will tell you that I did a lot of encouraging. If he did bark in the house (rare event), I praised him no matter what he was barking at. To this day, I say, "Good boy" whenever he barks. With another dog this may turn into a disaster with the dog not shutting up but this is by far not the case w/Gunnar. He just happens to be a dog that will not bark just for the sake of barking. It's a wonderful trait.

I had a similar issue with my basenji. He was virtually silent for the first 8 or 9 months, but I really wanted to teach him to yodel on command. I would bring in really unusual objects (a younger brother's toy viking hat), and that instigated the first yodel. After that, I made him yodel before allowing him to play with a toy (mostly by showing the toy and then hiding it, etc)...he came around, and became a frequent yodeler after that! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />