Great Pyrenees: Understanding Nature versus Nurture

One of the most important things about adopting a new dog, is understanding it's breed.  While great leadership and training will yield amazing results for just about any dog, each dog breed is unique.  There can be decades or even centuries of breed development which will almost ensure certain traits you can expect.  Our job as great owners is understanding what has been bred into our dogs to serve a beneficial purpose versus what is perhaps just naughty dog behavior, or just their unique personality.  A lot of dog traits are very intentional for what their "working" purpose is, yet can be undesirable in a home setting.  It's key to understand what your dog was born to think of as "good, I'm doing my job" so we can cater how we approach training if those behaviors are undesirable in the domestic setting.

So this is your first Great Pyrenees, what can you expect?  Like all large breed dogs, if it's a puppy, you can expect bursts of play followed by very important periods of rest and sleep.  If you've had a high energy breed puppy before, do not have the same expectations.  Pyr puppies still play like the best of them, but they can crash pretty hard and do need time to rest so their huge bones can grow properly.  Great Pyrenees tend to reach their full height at about 1 year old, and may continue to "fill out" for the next year.  Personal experience has told me that Pyrs don't tend to tolerate ear cleanings or nail trims very well (as they are a stubborn breed) so early exposure to these routine things is key, especially since double dew claws need trimming, and they can be prone to ear infections due to having floppy, long-haired ears which can trap moisture and breed yeast and bacteria.

Expect your Great Pyrenees to want to be by your side.  People often mistake the fact that they were bred as livestock guardians as a reason to think they will do well outside, alone, for long periods of time.  In the absence of a farm and flock, *you* become their flock, and your house the farm.  They are bred to always be with those things to protect them, and depriving your house pet of these can lead to depression and unwanted behaviors.  Because this breed was in fact bred for outside work, their coats are very resilient.  The coat of a Great Pyrenees reflects dirt and water very well, and requires more brushings to release dirt than baths every time they get muddy.  In addition, their coats serve as amazing insulators.  If you are concerned your Pyr is only a cold-weather dog, think again.  While they love the snow, they tolerate reasonable heat well.  Never shave a Pyr's coat, as this exposes them to direct heat and sunlight.

Pyrenees are "leaners".  While a lot of people like to take it as personal compliment (ie. "he likes me!") it's a breed trait.  Pyrenees didn't watch their sheep from afar, they nestled amongst them and watched for predators.  Leaning enables your Pyr to know where you are without having to keep eyes on you, freeing them up to survey their surroundings.  Because this is already in them, they will lean when not feeling threatened or not "working".  I've noticed that we can see this trait when leash-training our Pyrs.  In my experience, a Pyr is quick to lean against you as you are walking them.  While I'm not super confident I could train this out of a Pyr, I have never felt it to be a detriment to their other leash walking manners.

As most know, Great Pyrenees are prone to night barking.  If you have a Pyr pup, ensure you are addressing this right away.  We need to respect why they do this, and not consider them naughty for it.  Barking is ideal in a livestock guardian setting, as it scares away the threat.  Your Pyr will absolutely think he is doing his job, and will be confused when you say otherwise.  Natural, breed barking is in response to stimulus from surroundings.  If your dog, any dog, barks incessantly, there may be another underlying issue.  Often times, we cannot see or smell what they do, and their stimulus is beyond our immediate comprehension.  Versus reprimanding a barking Pyr, I have found it more effective to show them you "see what they see", praise them for a job well done, and they should cease so long as the threat doesn't persist.  This is natural for this breed, and should be expected upon adoption.  A well-balanced Pyr shouldn't bark more than is justifiable.

Bored dogs will dig, yet some dogs have digging in their DNA.  Pyrenees will dig, and this should be another consideration with your new dog.  If you allow them a spot or two to have their hole for coolness and comfort, they are likely to leave the rest of the yard alone.  It may take some patience on your part to let them find their ideal spot.

Expect your Great Pyrenees to be gentle and accepting of people, children, and other animals.  A Pyrenees who is aggressive with children or cats, for example, is not the breed standard.  If your Pyr shows these signs, this is something that could and should be remedied with training and guidance.  The only normal time for aggression would be in a guardian setting, where the Pyr felt threatened that another dog was impeding on his property.  This means your Pyr may be great with all dogs outside of the house, but potentially feel they are a threat to their "property" inside the home or the yard.  While I have found most Pyrs to be sweet 99% of the time, it would not be unusual for a Great Pyrenees to insist on being the only guardian if an alpha presented himself as a threat.

It is not in this breeds nature to have any predisposed health concerns specific to the breed.  Health concerns associated are more or less due to them being a giant breed, but not a Pyrenees specifically.  We worry about all our large and giant breed dogs when it comes to dental and bone health.  You can read a ton of literature and studies, and never see this breed pop up as a breed with specific health concerns.

Aloofness is in the nature of this dog.  Your Pyrenees isn't distant, cold, or disinterested because it stares off at times.  Being stoic, they tend to greet strangers thusly.  That stoicism is coupled with stubbornness.  Expect your Pyr to be resistant to training, perhaps only willingly sitting for a snack.  This nature is key to ensure these dogs are not easily tempted to leave their flocks.  If you were to visit a farm with livestock guardians and hold up a juicy slab of meat and call their name, they won't come.  Good job on their part.  Patience is required to teach our gentle giants to come when called and other various commands, and food/treat motivation is an expected component initially.

Understanding their nature is so important, so we select the right breed to begin with, and then to understand why they do, or don't do, certain things.  Owners, through education, can be spared having to hear themselves lament, "I can't stop her from doing that!".  While training does work wonders, understand you choose a Great Pyrenees, and love them for all their amazing breeding and characteristics.

-Shannon Murphy

Before You Adopt A Great Pyrenees: Night Barking

No one wants "a barker".  That loosely describes what owners interpret as dogs that bark without relent, and whose training to diminish barking seems a daunting and impossible feat.  Like with any dog ownership, we must do our research on breed traits that are specifically bred into that dog breed.  There are dog breeds not inclined to bark, and while that doesn't mean they won't, shop there first if you are unsure you can tackle this topic of barking.

Great Pyrenees are PRONE TO NIGHT BARKING.  The list of reasons why owners surrender their Great Pyrenees is short—the dog escaping, the dog barking, or the cost to feed and care (which is not unique to the breed).  It's important to distinguish 'unwanted behavior' from 'unnatural behavior'.  Unnatural behavior is alarming, and knowing it is such is by understanding your breed.  For a Pyr to dig at the corner of your living room floor relentlessly in search of ‘something’ is not natural for this dog.  It may, however, be natural for a terrier breed that was bred to find vermin.   Pyrenees guard livestock, period.  When are our furry sheep at most threat?  Dusk, early dawn, and during the night.  These are the hours when their farmers are sleeping, and predators lurk.  It is natural behavior.

Barking tends to escalate due to the improper response on the part of the owner.  Frustrated owners yell "stop it!", which of course is discouraged in pretty much everything I have read on how to modify unwanted barking.  They're already freaked out by something, and now they're really freaked out!  You are barking too, they think, so of course they will continue.  Of course, other times mimicking barking can be recommended for corrections.  I give my dog a quick, deep, calm "hey!" when he tries to chase my kitty.  I am alpha, and he responds positively to my 'bark'.  (I must point out that this scenario is with our Bullmastiff, who is young and still learning about the kitties.  My Pyrs are true to their breed standard, and amazing with my cats!)

I do think it's wise, when adopting a Pyr into a more city-like environment, to really put thought into the stimuli they will see through your windows at night.  I have recommended to people in the past whose Pyrs were barking too much to consider eliminating their visual stimuli.  I haven't had much feedback on the results.  My one Great Pyrenees will hardly make a peep all day long.  Garbage men, mailmen, people on the sidewalk…it all changes at night.  I am thankful for him.  What I have experienced is that when he is dead set that something is upsetting him, he won't relent with the barking until I have taken certain actions.  A few barks, I don't even get out of bed.  I don't say anything to him.  If I get up, and I look outside to see a strange person, I praise him for doing his job.  "Thank you, good boy.  It's okay, I see him.  It's fine, let's go back to bed."  Sounds nuts, but I swear this works!  He wants me safe, and he wants to be sure he woke me to see what has him so concerned.  Admittedly, nights with bad storms cause him to bark at non-persons…trees, etc.  I have to just let him bark a bit.  Those things just scare him, and if he realizes that I'm not scared, he gets it.

The thing is, I'm not going to get him to change.  He is a Great Pyrenees, and he is prone to night barking. Like all breed characteristics, this must be heavily weighed before adopting one of these angelic dogs.  I always say how I don't think I'd suggest a Pyr for someone anticipating a newborn.  I think I would lose my mind if I just finally got the baby to sleep and the dog started barking.  But it's not to say all people anticipating growing their family should avoid this breed, because they are amazing family dogs and great with children.  Perhaps you have a way to ensure the barking won't be 'in the ear' of your new baby.  My night barking Pyr is just over 2, and he has severe heart disease.  If he is still alive if the day comes I have a baby, I will be so happy about that that I don't think I'll mind if he wakes the little human…but that is unfortunately not his reality.

When I adopted my other Pyr, I did so in part because she doesn't ever bark.  Loving and wanting her was easy, but I had to force myself to consider my "10 year plan".   I'm not sure if I'll ever have kids, but if I do, she will be no challenge.  This is not to say that she won't START barking one day.  I have to anticipate change.  Perhaps a new baby in the house would cause her to be more on guard!  I can't relinquish my angel when that day comes.  My obligation was to understand her breed first, before I allowed her into my life.  Don't adopt a dog because of "how they are now".  They grow old, get sick, you move, everything can change.  The commitment to your dog is larger, and it takes a lot of thought.  How many parents consider the cost of college before growing their family?  Consider the cost of a trainer if your dog develops undesired traits.

So you have a Great Pyrenees, and the "seeing what he sees to calm him" isn't working…what next?  I cannot advise getting a trainer or behaviorist enough.  Often times the benefit isn't what the dog will learn, but what we will…about ourselves, our body language, etc.  The majority of things I read suggest ignoring undesired barking.  This must indeed be the hardest method for owners to use, but we must try.   Often negative 'cause and effect' methods are used.  You bark, I squirt you with water.  I guess I just personally hate this if the barking is natural.  My dog really is doing his job, and I hate the idea of sending him this message that he's doing something wrong. 

We have all known the 'crazy' barker though.  They bark all day long, at everything.  The general school of thought is perhaps there are other issues.  Is he healthy?  Is he exercised... and is it enough?  Is there another dog barking in the neighborhood that you can't hear, but he can?  There are so many avenues to explore before losing patience and considering giving him away.

Before engaging in selecting a new dog, it doesn't stop at breed research.  There are many traits that dogs may come with, and some may grow or diminish with training, environment, or even age.  I think we must accept the possibility for all undesired behaviors, and have an action plan in place for the "what ifs".  If you are unable or unwilling to make training a lifetime commitment, pass on adopting a dog.   Often novice dog owners treat dogs like cars…"it ran fine when I bought it".  They are living, breathing, thinking, and deeply feeling animals, of which some may be more sensitive than others.  With human children, we'd find a way to cope with any new event that arose, be it behavior or health.  Let not the mechanism of working with your dog be that born from frustration, rather from the deep love you have for them.

As I've written many times over, I am not a dog trainer or a behaviorist.  Seek a trained professional for all aspects regarding your pet's well being.  If you've had success implementing training to diminish barking, please email us.  We'd love to share your experiences with others.  

coloradopyr@gmail.com

by Shannon Murphy

Everything You're Always Asked About a Pyr...

...and Never Want to Answer

I found this article here while perusing the Internet, and it was just too cute not to share!  It was written by Catherine de la Cruz.  Anyone who owns a Pyr can almost definitely relate to at least one of its points.

How Big, Really, Is a Great Pyrenees?
Your dining room table is 27" from the floor, kitchen counters 36". The average female Pyr can walk under your dining room table only if she ducks her head; the average male needs to either scrunch himself smaller or lift your table a few inches higher. In either case, the front of the counter is not the place to store meat thawing for dinner. The top of the refrigerator is out of the reach of most Pyrs

How Much Do They Weigh?
On the scale at the feed store, 80 to 120 pounds. While trying to give one a pill or cut its nails: as much as a Moray eel. On the first day of obedience class: as much as a young elephant. The day you teach the "down" exercise in obedience class: as much as a Sumo wrestler. When walking through a litter of pups, kittens, chicks or lambs: about as much as two feathers.

How Much Do They Eat?
As much as they want - never mind what the back of the dog-food bag says. The average Great Pyrenees can survive quite nicely and maintain weight and normal activity on as much dog food as will fit into a two-pound coffee can. Most, however, have convinced their owners that plain dog food is completely unpalatable and will starve unless supplemented with ground round, chicken breast, sirloin tips or cheese omelets. If he discovers you have a weakness for cookies you may find your leg battered black and blue by Pyr-paw-pats, repeated until you share the cookies - Oreos are much preferred to Milk Bones.

Do They Shed Much?
At the annual ritual known as "coat blowing" you can comb enough fur out of your dog to have spun into enough yarn to make yourself a cap, a scarf and a pair of mittens. Why you would want to is beyond me, since everything else you own is already lavishly decorated with Pyr Hair. Since shedding, in some degree, takes place 365 days a year, you will have ample decoration on your rug, couch, bed, etc. Since Pyr hair has a particular affinity for dark clothing, the Pyr-owning business person wears a lot of light grey and tan. Firefighters, police officers and military personnel owned by Pyrs learn to leave their uniforms in sealed lockers at work and change there.

What About Barking?
What about it? If begun early, you can train yourself to come every time your Pyr barks and give it some attention. Give him enough attention for barking, and your neighbors will also begin to give you some attention. Mutual reinforcement always works. What do Pyrs bark at? Only things they can see and hear - that includes low flying satellites and butterflies. Most Pyrenees eavesdrop on a family argument four houses away, yet become selectively deaf upon hearing words like "stop that", "come here" and "be quiet". Pyr owners exchange information on stopping barking the way our grandmothers exchanges recipes for pickles - no two were ever alike.

I've Heard They Like To Dig
How do you think the Pyrenees mountains were really constructed? One Pyr, out of consideration for her owner's failing eyesight, enlarged the cup of his putting green to bunker-sized. Landscape companies report their greatest repeat business comes from Pyr owners. Some Pyr owners, however, simply resign themselves to living with a yard that looks like a gunnery range.

How Do Pyrs and Children Get Along?

If you train your children early enough not to tease the dog - not to pull his tail, wake him by jumping on top of him, pinch his ears or steal his food - your Pyr will be safe from the kids. Children are not as easy to train as a Pyr because it is not legal to put a choke-chain and leash on a child.

Understanding Separation Anxiety

Working with rescue dogs, this issue has come up.  This issue comes up for people who gets dogs from all sorts of places.. rescues, breeders, etc.  It can be a frustrating thing to understand and deal with, especially since it tends to be accompanied by destruction in the home.  We get frustrated, and it just gets worse.  We met a dog at an adoption event, and they were amazing and had no history of destruction.  We get them home, and we come home to poop and destruction.  Perhaps some new owners wonder if the rescue was lying about the dog's behavioral history.  I can almost promise you they weren't.  Pets need consistency and routine, period.  Any change in that, depending on the pet, may result in separation anxiety.  (As a cat owner, I can say that I find cats even that much more sensitive to change, and they manifest their "destruction" by unwanted urination.)

Separation anxiety can be described as a dog's over dependence on it's owner to feel safe and content.  This can be because you've rescued a shelter or rescue dog, they were separated too early from their dog mom, general fear of isolation, and sudden home changes.  Home changes may fly under the radar for us, but not for our dogs.  A new baby, new work schedule, new emotional state, missing a deceased family member, or other changes to the environment.  By definition, this unwanted behavior occurs when the animal is left alone, and doesn't happen in your presence.

Often I hear people say, "I only left him alone for a minute!"  The reality is, the general school of thought suggests their anxiety peaks at 30 minutes.  So the destruction isn't necessarily because you left them alone an hour longer than usual.  At this peak, that is when the damage occurs.  Scratching at doors, pulling down drapes, etc.  They may also go potty inside, and it is then not related to house training at all; not if when you are home, they ask to go outside as they should.  They may also whine/bark/talk a lot when you are gone, not eat or drink, and perhaps take excessively long to greet you when you get home.  "You're home?  Really?  Are you sure?  You're not leaving again are you?"..   ten minutes later..  "So, you're really home, right?"

As in my previous article about desensitizing your dog, this is often the suggested method to remedy separation anxiety.  Leave for a short period of time, and then come back.  Short may be even just 5 minutes.  Gradually increase your time out until they can be left for 30 minutes.  Then increase it to 1.5 hours.  I have read at this point, you should be okay.  Your dog may take longer, you'll have to see.  We can also employ counter conditioning; getting your dog to associate you leaving with a good thing.  "OOh!  Every time before she leaves she plays with me for 5 minutes with my favorite toy!  Then, she leaves me a peanut butter Kong.. yay!"

My literature suggests that crate training to address separation anxiety may not be effective at truly reducing the anxiety.  It may spare your couch from being eaten, but the problem isn't being addressed and the anxiety will persist.  Punishment is not effective; I doubt I need to go into why.  Lastly, people may try to add another pet.  "Oh, he just is bored and needs a play mate".  Likely not true.  You, and your absence are the issue, and he may just transfer than anxiety to the new pet also.  "Why are you so freaked out?  Should I be freaked out too?"  Remember that there is a difference between boredom and/or not enough exercise versus anxiety behavior.

Sadly, I've seen too many instances where separation anxiety has been cause for an owner to surrender.  I think they may have lied to themselves when they said they'd have the time to really train and work with their dog.  It's hard to find the time.  It may mean you have to get up a little earlier or do a little more after you get home from work.  But spend the time.  No one has ever suggested this modification process needs to take years.  Chances are, you did a great thing by adopting a rescue dog who came home and found cause to be a little insecure about you and your home.  Can you blame him?  Walk him the rest of the way down that road of his "forever home".  Patience, love, and understanding.  Shoes are replaceable, they aren't!

Dog Behavioral Modification 101

The field of dog training and dog behavior is an ever-growing field, with more new information emerging all the time.  It's also a controversial field, with many experts disagreeing with certain approaches to behavior modification.  I'm going to review some basic pieces of information regarding approaching your dog's unwanted behavior.

Before reviewing this, it's always important that owners distinguish between "unnatural" behavior and "unwanted" behavior.  With behavior that is natural for a dog, it becomes important to approach them with patience and understanding that we are truly trying to alter that which is essentially natural for them.  And it being natural, we shouldn't feel disappointed, frustrated, or that something is wrong with our dog.  Natural dog behavior includes digging, barking, sniffing our delicates, and potentially chewing on something before they know any better.  These things aren't wrong, they are unwanted.  Unnatural behavior can be any natural behavior taken to excess, ie. barking that is persistent without relent all day long.  This is a tough determination for an owner to make, as we are not as sensitive as they, and often times there are real reasons they are overstimulated which are still natural.  Unnatural behavior may also be obsessive behaviors, ie. a dog I once knew who'd fixate on the last place he saw his ball, and not leave until physically forced.  He's stare for hours.  This may be more natural for a terrier breed (their job is to find the vermin in the hole), but it wasn't natural for his breed.


1. Positive Reinforcement.  This is often considered the most effective method.  Versus constantly reprimanding them for unwanted behavior, focus must be to reward them for desirable behavior.  Often times the challenge here, is that we pay less attention to our dogs when they are being perfect.  If your dog is just calmly by your side, being mellow and sweet,  he needs to be praised.  He can make a reward correlation between going potty in the right place, being mellow, not barking, any time he is great or does an appropriate thing.  The reward can be treats, play, affection; whatever is your dog's motivator.  I cannot stress enough how easy it is to miss acknowledging good behavior when it isn't related to potty training. 


2.Negative Reinforcement.  This includes presenting a negative stimulus following an undesired behavior.  For example, shock collars or choke collars, as well as invisible fences.  They don't learn what is "right", but they learn what is wrong because they receive a negative response when they perform it.  This is considered less effective than positive reinforcement because it punishes them, yet doesn't show them truly how to behave. 

3. Punishment.  I take away something you like when you do something I don't like.  I personally feel there is a fine line between this and negative reinforcement, because like negative reinforcement, it shows the dog what you don't like, but it doesn't necessarily show him what you really want him to do .  Some argue another example of punishment is turning your back when  your dog jumps.  He associates a negative result.. you turn away.. but he may not learn it's because he didn't sit.  He just understands it's because he jumped.  He may stop jumping, but don't expect he will make the assumption to sit.  He may just walk away.  A personal exception, I think, to this is removing a snack if they become aggressive over it.  But, I feel this can be a mixture of positive reinforcement also.  If he's being naughty, he loses the snack.  When I give it back and he allows me to take it again without complaint, I pour the praise and allow him to keep it.

4. Classical Conditioning.  This is where you teach your dog to associate things together.  I ring the bell by the door, I go outside.  I go outside, I pee and my owner is happy!  Clicker training falls under this category.  I hear the click, I know to do something as per I was trained.

5. Counter Conditioning.  This is using something incompatible with the undesired behavior.  Using play to bring your dog to a different emotional state.   For a dog who is fearful, we try to create a different emotional state by countering their current one with other stimulus, ie. throwing the ball/frisbee.


6. Desensitization.  This is tantamount to when we see people overcome their fear of snakes by slowly increasing their exposure, until before you know it, they're holding the snake.  This could work with an item which scares the dog unreasonably, like a specific house item that is natural.  This is also the approach many take with separation anxiety.  You leave for 5 minutes.  Then 10.  Then 20.  Slowly you desensitize your dog to the anxiety caused by your departure.

They key thing to remember about all behavior modification, whether cats or dogs, is that we need to acknowledge the behavior immediately.  It's not fair to try and correct your dog for something they did 5 hours ago that you missed.  Yanking him by the collar to drag him to a pile of poop will probably not resonate with him; we will never fully understand how long their short term memories are.  In all fairness, when I come home to destruction I don't punish my dogs, but I definitely vocalize unhappiness towards the pile of debris without directing it towards the dog.  Catching them in the act is a whole other issue.  Consistency is everything, and everyone in the house must utilize the same modification methods.  If not, the dog will not understand.  There is a difference between using a louder, dominant voice and freaking out and yelling at your dog.  The later will cause your dog to be fearful, and it's intensity is not proportionate to the offense.  I hesitate to write about dog behavior and training, as this issue stirs a lot of passion in people.  It's the biggest area of argument.  Case in point, at Petsmart adoption events, the employees use water bottles and spray the dogs who won't stop barking.  This would fall under negative reinforcement.  People walk by and make snide comments about it being cruel, but many others find this an effective method, so long as you are not spraying their faces directly.  I concur with not spraying faces; it's less about being cruel and more about not wanting your dog to accidentally inhale the water.  That would be bad.  If any readers have used methods to train which they found super effective, I encourage you to jump on our forum section and share with the other readers!

Guard Barking vs. Nuisance Barking...and suggestions for curbing undesirable barking!

Guard Barking vs. Nuisance Barking
...defining what's normal and what isn't

Guard Barking is a standard Pyr trait:

• Great Pyrenees are guardian dogs...all guard dogs bark, especially at night.  That's what they are bred to do!
• Guard barking occurs in response to noises or things that don't belong in the dog's realm.  Strangers, animals, bikes, anything "out of the ordinary" really!

If you and the neighbors don't mind the barking, varmints, stray dogs and other undesirable critters will stay far away. 

If the barking is not acceptable...move the dog to a place where the dog feels secure.  This might be on the porch, in the basement, in the garage, in a crate or kennel...whatever works for you and your dog.

Nuisance Barking:

Mostly, problem barkers bark because they are bored.  Accustomed to a lot of attention, they don't know how to behave when alone.  More often than not, we have set this up ourselves.  We want our dogs to be happy, so we spoil them:  our dogs get treats and petting whenever they wish.  It is entirely normal for owners to act this way and entirely normal for dogs to complain when they feel neglected

Identify the Proper Cause of their Barking:

Has something in your dog's environment changed?  A dog's behavior can change quickly when things around them change, and often we as humans are challenged to sense what it is that they are "seeing" that we are not.

• "One of my Pyrs has recently started barking more, because the new neighbors behind us installed a motion light, and every time it switches on, he "switches on".  Have you tried crating the dog during times when you are not home, and also crating him perhaps when he starts barking excessively?  During the night, I close my drapes to diminish the outside stimuli which may cause him to bark more at night.  Sometimes "blocking" their visual can help." - Shannon (previous adopter)

OR...is the barking due to boredom?

Suggestions for curbing undesirable barking behavior:

• First of all, your dog must learn that barking for your attention doesn't work. If he is unhappy outdoors and barking eventually makes you bring him in, he learns that barking gets results. If barking makes you yell at him, well, that's better than nothing. "I'm bored. Maybe I can get them to yell at me again." Although yelling doesn't work, negative reinforcement can still be useful. Perhaps a little story will help explain:
  
  

  "As a veterinary student, I lived in the basement of an animal hospital. We did a lot of boarding, and there were occasionally dogs that barked at night. These dogs were warm and well-fed, with plenty of water.  Their kennels were clean and dry. All they lacked was entertainment. I quickly learned that hollering "quiet" was useless. Here is what worked: I'd put a little water in a Dixie Cup and quietly stand in front of the barker, not saying a word. Within a minute or two the dog would bark again, whereupon I'd immediately dash the water in his face, turn around and go back to bed, all without saying a word. I'd usually have to do this two or three times the first night, once or twice the second night and maybe even once the night after that. Nearly always after the second or third night, peace and quiet."

  
  
  "Quiet" repeated calmly and clearly once or twice in a normal voice will teach your dog to associate the word with water in the face and with not barking. Later, in situations where he would ordinarily bark but stays quiet instead, calmly praise him. 
• A change in environment may help. You could put him at a friend's house for an afternoon or two to vary his routine, often relieving their boredom.
• Some find that using a squirt gun/water bottle can help.  Never squirt them in the face, but often a squirt to their hindquarters when they bark undesirably. 
• When owners feel like they have tried/done everything, then a trainer is often a great suggestion.

Articles of Interest/Suggested Reading:
http://www.milkandhoneyfarm.com/dogs/training.html#Barking
http://www.gpcgc.org/pyrforme.htm
http://dogs.about.com/od/dogtraining/qt/barkingdogs.htm