My Dobermann just this afternoon has started yelping in pain every time he barks. We were at my sister's house in the garden and he was just standing still barking at the fence at some people going past on the other side. The barking was completely normal but then turned into yelping. He seems completely fine otherwise. We've been home for a couple of hours now and he's just tried to have a bark at the man next door but it turns into a yelp again. Any ideas?

Has he had a bee/wasp sting on the mouth?  If he was in the garden when it started, that would seem logical.

Thanks for the response :-) It's a possibility I guess, though I'm pretty sure he hasn't been stung. He was barking completely normal one second, then yelping the next. I was with him in the garden the whole time.

I've had a Google and it's come up with neck pain caused by a disc problem as one possible reason (the neck is held higher when barking). I have actually thought for quite a while that he's got something wrong with his back. We saw a specialist 18 months ago who detected lower back pain but he thought that it was connected to the leg having been carried awkwardly due to a torn cruciate ligament in the knee. He then had surgery for the knee 8 months ago and they decided not to MRI scan his spine as they were sure it was all down to the knee problem. No major issues since. But then about a month ago he was totally unable to sit and eventually got into a down but then couldn't get up at all and my friend had to carry him into the vets screaming. They thought he had a soft tissue injury in his back or hip but after an injection and some metacam in his food he seemed to get over it in just a few days (was up and walking that same evening) and he's been back on normal walks for about 2 weeks now.

He seems normal in every other way - moving fine etc, it's just the yelping when he barks. Very odd. We have an appointment at the vets tomorrow so will see what they say.

> We have an appointment at the vets tomorrow so will see what they say.

That's always the best bet :)
My last dog used to suffer with ear problems, sometimes he would yelp when he barked if his ear was a little sore.