Barking a learned behavior?

Pit, for the most part, has been a very silent dog up until recently. He'd growl and squeal when playing with me and other dogs but never ever made a peep at the sound of a doorbell, people knocking or people walking by our fence.
I'm currently boarding two very vocal labs and it seems as though since they've come here, Pit has picked up some very annoying habits I had hoped I wouldn't have to deal with since he never displayed any of them before.
If someone walks above my room, the labs will growl and bark, if someone comes to the door, they bark, if someone talks outside the room we're in, they bark. Pit now thinks it's a great idea to do the same and I can't stop them. To add to the joy, one of the labs marks excessively and Pit has now picked up this fun behaviour, too.

Do these behaviours stick with dogs once they are learned, or is he doing it because he's just joining in with the labs because of some social thing?
Any of you had any luck reducing or eliminating these behaviours in your dogs?

I have that problem also. I have a chihuahua and a pit bull. The chihuahua is very vocal and very nervous around people. Every time she barks my pit bull does also. I hate it. What I hate more is that she started to teach him human aggression which is a HUGE no no! I used to take them both on trips to dairy queen, and now I only take reggin. The last time I took them both a guy walked up to my chihuahua and she just went off at the guy, and as soon as reggin seen that he started barking and growling at the guy also. It surprised the heck out of me. Couldnt believe it, because just minutes before reggin was licking the guy to death before he went up to my chi. He LOVES people. So now my chihuahua cant go on walks with us anymore. She teaches my other dog bad habits.

For Cider it was a progressive behaviour. She was not confident, shy, scared. More we worked, more time passed, more she learned she had a voice. I'm proud we worked passed her issues, and she's a confident dog now. But.. she enjoys hearing herself. Worked hard on quiet.. but she enjoys hearing herself so much, that you have to hold her muzzle to get it to stop. Now she barks when she hears something, barks when the wind howls, if she sees a squirrel, and because she's happy it's dinner time.. And once she gets going.. she goes and goes and goes..

Has Cider's barking had any effect on Smudge's barking?

Smudge barks when he hears something.. the mailman is a main target.. But his bark is funny and low, and not near so annoying.. If you tell him enough.. he usually stops. He only barks for real things heears no matter how endlessly loud Cider is. He's a fan of top dogs on OLN.. if there are dogs competing he lets out mini woofs as he watches But Cider hasn't made him any louder or more frequent. She can howl at trials and stuff and he sleeps.. Has never crate barked. Even hearing her do it, he doesn't care (thank goodness).

Sounds exactly like Tucker and Maggie!!!! LMAO I think we should start a club. Loud Mouth Cockers lol.

Tucker was progressive like Cider though I beleive when we had Disney he really taught Tucker the joy of a good loud bark.

Usually a quiet or even a shut up will work. Sometimes they just enjoy their voices alittle too much.

I can't help you there. My border collies pretty much make no noise (Bandit makes moaning and howling noises when I say we're going out for a walk). My little dog barks when she wants something. Like if she's hungry or has to pee. All the years I lived with a yappy dog I never figured out how to get her to shush.

I think it is.

My example is the opposite, Gonzo very rarely barks. When I first adopted Fozzie, he was super vocal, and barked at toys, strange noises, everything! He is predisposed to it, after all - Corgi... and Beagle... and maybe Husky! All barky breeds! But, after a month or two, he hardly ever barked, and still doesn't.

But when he hangs out with one of his dog friends (a BC mix) who is extremely vocal, he starts barking with her.

It is reallyyy annoying. But, I'm sure it's only temporary. Pit will probably be back to his normal, non-barky self soon! =)

Ronin too! When I first got him he was SILENT - not a peep out of him! Once he started to gain confidence, the "Bark Faucet" got turned on. I've found that all three of my dogs are very vocal, they will bark when they're in drive, whine and warble when the want something, etc. They really DO like the sound of their own voices!

With Ronin (same as Cider), I let him bark a little - for him it's a sign of confidence, and I've worked so hard to boost that confidence, and he's come a long way. If he wants to be a loudmouth about his success, that's fine by me!

I'm afraid too to turn her off, and break any confidence. Seems at 6 months my want to keep her from jumping on strangers backfired.. And she became more scared of people than ever. In the confidence gaining.. we also love strangers again.. and jump on them. I'm really torn. She loves people, but the behaviour is rude.. so I've let it fly.. I don't want to do more harm than good..

So I let her roo about dinner.. I find it cute.. I let her have out a few barks at the mailman, the neighbours dogs briefly.. Some nights, it does feel endless though as I really think she enjoys hearing herself. I am glad at all the progress though..

oh when we brought thunder home he barked once in a while, that was until we got Cinni, then, eventually, Thunder "helped" Cinni with her bark.. and now it's crazy.. Cinni barks like crazy and we dont mind one bit. they dont howl yet though.

OC never barker a real bark...till he spent some time with a female CO lol. He loooooves this bitch, thinks she's the greatest ever. Anyway, female COs are the ones that alert to danger, and alert to everything else hehe Anyways OC is so smitten this bitch that he started wanting to do everything she did, including sounding off. She'd be barking her big warning barks then suddenly we'd hear "oof! oof!". That was my boy trying his darndest to bark just like her! LOL His whole body would move with each "oof" because it took that much effort for him to utter the sound LOL

He can howl and talk all day but he just cant bark worth a d@mn which I have NO complaints about! Ronan can utter some bark-type noises but its only once or twice then he shuts up anyways. They do get eachother going with howls sometimes though. I find it cute. On average, they hardly ever make a sound.