Quiet as a mouse

Can anyone give some advice on barking, not excessive but lack of.

I have just acquired a Staffie, aged about four to five years, from the dog warden in Hampshire. She was found as a stray, and not much is known about her background, probably ill treatment. She has a wonderful disposition, clean, completely non-aggressive to people or other dogs, very affectionate and loving, walks well on lead; cannot fault her at all.

She was in the kennels probably for about a month and they never heard her bark. They thought maybe she had been ill treated. Perhaps she had been punished for barking. We have only had her for one week. She is quite relaxed and wagging her tail all the time but still not a sound comes from her. I recently heard about another Staffie, quite young who also couldn’t bark and made sort of grunting noises. they said it was probably a collapsed larynx. I spoke to someone else about it who has recently adopted a Labrador aged 13-14 who also doesn’t bark. I asked her, “what do you think is the reason”. She said often ageing or a paralysis of the larynx. Maybe it was caused by retrieving sticks or something stuck in the throat. So now I am thinking, in my dog’s case cannot be ageing so must be something else. My vet doesn’t think it is anything to worry about, not a health problem fit and healthy in every other way, but it would be nice to hear just a “woof” now and again.

Does anyone have any ideas or experience of this? Is there any remedy and could barking return?

Mrs V. J. Denton, by email