dog not barking

Question
Hi
Is it not normal for a dog to not bark when the door bell rings or when the mailman or ups comes.  She wags her tail and doest not bark.  i had dogs a lot and I have never seen that I adopted about 4months ago and she is 3 1/2

thanks
Jen

Answer
Dogs acquire conditioned responses to both doorbells and mailmen.  The doorbell rings, people enter; the dog soon learns that doorbells mean 'people will enter' and begins to bark an alarm or a greeting.  also, the mailman approaches and the dog observes a 'stranger' coming toward the house.  The dog may or may not respond at first (especially since she is new in the home) but with repetition she may begin to bark either an alarm or a greeting.  The mailman ALWAYS LEAVES when the dog barks; the dog begins to connect her BARKING with the mailman LEAVING, which further empowers her to bark and begins to create a mental structure in the dog's mind that the mailman is LEAVING because of HER.  This is one reason why it's so common for mailmen to run into trouble with dogs.  Dogs which bark alarm, and which are a guarding temperament, will soon become more aggressive toward the mailman BECAUSE he leaves!  Dogs which bark a greeting might begin to CHASE the mailman in order to GREET HIM.  These are all conditioned responses.  Your dog has probably not lived with a doorbell in her home and may never have seen a mailman.  I wouldn't worry about it.