Boston Terriers are one of the quietest dog breeds around. Being an owner of two Boston Terriers has given me an appreciation of their quiet demeanor. There are times when they will let loose but it is not a lot and not often.
In comparison to other dog breeds, Boston Terriers are below average barkers. The question of does Boston Terriers bark a lot depends on the perspective of the owner. For all of the owners polled the answer has been consistent, that in general Boston Terriers do not Bark a lot.
In the past few years, I have been in homes with Boston Terriers, Australian Shepherds, Schnauzers, Golden retrievers, and Frenchtons. Compared to these breeds a Boston Terrier barks the least. If you are interested in our experience please keep reading.
Do Owners Think Their Boston Terrier Barks A Lot?
Thank you from the Boston Terrier Society for this poll.
Out of over 200 owners, only 16% of them stated that their Boston Terrier barks too often.
If you want to compare that poll to another one on which dog breed barks the most you can check out The 10 Dog Breeds That Bark the Most (and Why They Bark) | Hepper
- Chihuahua
- Beagles
- Cairn Terrier
- Pomeranian
- Miniature Pinscher
- Rat Terrier
- Dachshund
- Australian Shepherd
- German Shepherd
- Alaskan Malamute
So as you can see from this list Terriers love to bark but the Boston Terrier is not part of the top ten dog breeds for barking.
While writing this post we started reading to make sure our experience with our own two Boton Terriers matched what other owners thought. So thanks to Boston Terrier Sub Reddit forum and a blog on thesmartcanine.com, below is what real Boston Terrier Owners had to say on the question of if Boston Terriers bark a lot.
1. Pgcooldad says No: “No. Only when someone is at the door or you play/roughhouse with them. I have two and occasionally they will bark at each other when they want the same toy or chew hide. My experience is that, they don’t bark.”
https://thesmartcanine.com/do-boston-terriers-bark/
2. Bravelittletoastgirl says No: “Maddie makes lots of growly whiny noises if she wants attention, but I’ve only heard her bark when someone’s on our back porch.”
3. Winelover211 says No: “I have a Boston we raised from a puppy in an apartment and he never barks. The only time he will is if he’s on the bed and wants down and we walk away. Other than that, he’s quiet.“
4. Thedaltonxp says No: “Mine is pretty mellow. She will play as long as I want to but she is also completely cool laying on the couch with me if I don’t want to.“
5. Internetdoofus says Yes: “I had a Boston Terrier that was very vocal. We had a couch in front of one of our upstairs windows and he would lay on top of it (to get the sunshine) and would bark at anything he say on the street. Cars, people, birds flying by, you name it.”
6. Zuvembi says No: “I’ll chime in with the rest and say not much barking…The only other time is when he gets his toy stuck under something – which leads to his “Oh my god, come quick, this is important! There’s is a toy in danger!” bark.“
7. Festion says Mixed: “My Boston barks, but its always a security bark, doorbell, knock or a sound on the TV. He barks when playing and it gets too exciting.”
8. Wallflower7522 says No: “The fact that they rarely bark is so great. My neighbors dog barks 24/7, it drives me nuts but our girls only bark when they have a reason to.“
9. Ninjashira says No: “My dog almost never barks. He’s two years old, and I think I’ve only heard him bark maybe three times. He makes plenty of other weird noises though!“
10. Iredditfromwork says Mixed: “Mine has ONLY ever barked in her sleep. Her only waking vocalizations are moans and squeaks…It’s kind of adorable, and perfect for apartment living…but i’ve met other Bostons that DO bark quite a lot.“
Is a Boston Terrier a yappy dog?
When I think of the term yappy, I picture a high-pitched continuous bark. The kind of bark that just wears on you. Picture in your mind 10 Chihuahuas all letting you know someone is at the door. To me, that is the picture of what a yappy dog is.
As I was writing this paragraph I was trying to decide how I would categorize the bark of our Boston Terriers for this post on do Boston Terriers bark a lot. My mind came to a blank I wanted to say they are more of a lower tone bark, especially for their size but I wasn’t sure.
I turned and asked my wife if she would consider our Boston Terriers to be yappy dogs with a yappy type of bark. She looked at her legs covered with two Boston Terriers trying to cuddle up as close as possible to her. Then she looked at me for a few seconds and said, “I don’t remember”….. Think about that answer.
If my wife can’t remember if our Boston Terriers barks and if they are yappy but instead shakes her head like they are not, then it validates my original answer to start this article. Do Boston Terriers bark a lot? The answer is obviously no they are not a breed that will be driving you crazy with the constant barking.
The second thing that just happen as I was writing this is my son came to the door which set off the ring doorbell. All of my dogs of course took off to the door to greet this new stranger coming to the house. Out of the three dogs, I have one of them got very loud and the other two did not make much of a sound just ran to the door and made a low growl type bark. Just enough to let me know someone was there.
Below is a video of us trying to get Bosco to bark at us to show they will bark but as you can see it took some play time to get there.
What do Boston Terriers bark for in general?
Basically, I find that Boston Terriers will bark for communication. I know that sounds goofy as all dogs bark to communicate. What I mean is that Boston Terriers bark for purposeful communication. They are trying to let you know something and therefore they bark.
Boston Terriers will bark when trying to alert you
As we talked about above when someone comes to my door the dogs will make some type of noise to let me know. I know this sounds a little like I am going against my answer to do Boston Terriers bark a lot, but I’m not.
In most cases what I have found is my Boston Terriers will get up and run while barking a little. On the other hand, if they are really excited about who is coming in they will let loose a little.
Based on the type of bark and or the growl I will know if I need to answer the door. If they are excited and barking more than they typically do I know one of my kids is home and they have a key. So when the kids are home the answer is yes if I was asked, do Boston Terriers bark a lot.
If the Bostons jump up running to the door with a growl or lower bark it’s very inciteful. I know that it means either I need to get up and answer the door or Amazon.com is dropping off another package for my lovely wife.
Boston Terriers will bark when they are yelling at other dogs
My neighbors would say yes if asked do Boston Terriers bark a lot. For some reason whenever I let them out there is another dog walking by the house or stopping to pee and claim my house.
When they see another dog they will let them know to keep moving and get away from their yard. So of course the other dog will stop and pee on more things to let my Boston’s know what they think of all the barking.
Now I would have assumed this wasn’t typical since I was told how Boston Terriers are not much of barkers. I tried to brush it away and blame my other dog who isn’t a Boston for leading them down the wrong path.
Then I visit my Mother In-laws home and she to has a Boston Terrier. When you let him out of the house he runs about a thousand miles an hour to get to the fence in the back. He knows that the French bulldog maybe waiting for him to yell at.
Again though I will blame her other dogs for leading the Boston down the wrong path. Because we all know that the answer is no when asked, do Boston Terriers bark a lot 🙂
Boston Terriers will bark when being playful
As you can see in the video I posted above Boston Terriers will bark when they get excited and start playing.
Just like people, not all Boston Terriers are the same. Even with the two, I have at home they will get excited about different things.
My larger Male Boston Terrier named Bosco will let you know when he is excited. He will also let the other dogs know when he is excited. When get gets going sometimes he will get very loud.
My female Boston Terrier on the other hand will not bark much while playing. She will get the zoomies and run around but doesn’t bark often. On the other hand, if someone is trying to come into the backyard she will go nuts.
Did I Mention Turtles and Boston Terrier Barking?
For this situation, I change my answer completely. Do Boston Terriers bark a lot when there is a turtle in the backyard? Yes, the answer is yes.
This is especially true when I decided to sleep in for the morning. I let the dogs out and went to lay back down. You would have thought that there was a war going on in the backyard.
It was so loud by the time I walked back outside my neighbor was also looking to see what was wrong with the dogs. I remember him saying that was not the normal good morning neighbor bark, it was something is wrong bark.
As I went around the corner of my house fully dressed in my robe I had to laugh at what I saw. From a distance, my two Boston Terriers had something trapped under a shelf in the backyard. they were both really excited but nervous.
My first thought was that they had a snake trapped under there and I needed to get them away from it. I yell for them to get away and of course, being Boston Terriers they didn’t listen to me.
When I was able to push them out of the way what I found was that my two Bostons had a big turtle trapped against the house. I don’t think they had a clue what it was but he wasn’t getting away.
I picked up the big turtle and walked him away from the yard. They followed me inside and I thought the adventure was over after that but I was very wrong.
A few hours later the dogs were acting like they needed to go out again and that’s when the real fun started.
So at the time of my son walking in the front door the dogs starting barking up a storm in the backyard. At first we thought they heard him come in but it seems like an excessive amount.
Being that Boston Terriers are usually pretty quite the first thing my son said was what’s wrong with the dogs. I said I don’t know but its probably the turtle back again.
I told him quickly how the dogs had the turtle pinned against the wall earlier that day. He laughed and said I guess I will go save the turtle this time.
He walked outside and then I could hear him yelling at the dogs. He sounded alarmed so I got up to see what was wrong. It didn’t sound like another turtle issue.
When I opened the door he told me they have a snake pinned and I am trying to get them away before it strikes one of them. I asked if he knew what kind of snake. He couldn’t see but was having trouble getting the dogs in.
I went outside to help and when we got the dogs away and inside we could see the snake they were in battle with. It was the snake that we fear out in southern Louisiana. It was 2 Boston Terriers vs a Cottonmouth.
Once we got the Boston Terriers to calm down and get away from the snake we had two very important things to do. The first was to check the dogs and make sure the snake did not bite them.
My wife and son inspected them while I kept my eye on the snake hoping he would just go away. After they inspected the dogs we were very relieved to find out that nether of them was hurt. As far as they were concerned they had defended the property and won the day.
Of course I still had to deal with the snake and get him away from the yard. In the end no one got hurt, the dogs are fine, and the snake is out of the yard.
So to circle back to the original topic do Boston Terriers bark a lot the answer is that they do not typically bark a lot. When they do bark it is to let you know that there is an issue and you need to come check it out.
By the Boston’s being a more reserved breed when it comes to barking this is a pro for the breed in my book. When they let loose and start making a bunch of noise you know something is not right.
This to me is much better the some of the other dogs I have had. They will bark just to bark. you never know if something is really going on. If you want a dog because it will alert you of danger or issues a Boston Terrier may be the breed for you.
Conclusion
For new owners looking for a great new dog to bring into their home the question of do Boston Terriers bark a lot, maybe on the list. As we have written and shown in the video Boston Terriers are not big time barkers and I would not consider them a yappy dog.
Boston Terriers will bark when you get them very excited just like most other dogs. They will alert you when someone is by your house. A Boston Terrier will be a little territorial and bark if a person or another dog comes near your property.
For the most when asked do Boston Terriers bark a lot, I would reply that Boston Terriers bark just the right amount. What do you think? How would you rate your Boston Terriers barking?