Oh boy - I know exactly what you mean! My husband also has a home office and holds long (as in hours) conference calls during which time he also does some webex-ing and we've had some bad times last year with Charlie barking non-stop! I reached out for help on YT and got suggestions from many of the members that have replied to you.
Spray bottles didn't work - the citronella spray (not the collar) worked but was so upsetting to Charlie it only added to his other problems. What did work has taken a serious commitment from us and a long time - proper training! Charlie was a rescue that I adopted Aug 06. The little guy already had 3 homes at the age of 9 months. He had some issues - the least of which was awful barking spells that lasted for hours (READ OVER 4!) in a nerve grating high pitch bark. I used to walk him for HOURS to try and exhaust him into giving it up - to no result!
Charlie sometimes will still get barking but between using the "look" command or telling him "enough" - we are able to stop him. It really was the "look" cue that was the miracle trick we needed. Getting him to make eye contact with us and demanding his complete attention helped him break his fixation on whatever was the cause of his distress. We still keep a special jar of treats for the "look" command - top shelf all the way!
Because Charlie has a tendency to anxieties we've also worked real hard to get his crate to feel like a place of safety for him. We keep special toys that he only gets when he is in his crate and always cover the crate for him when he is in it. I'll admit we did initially try to crate him when he was barking uncontrollably but it just didn't help settle him. Now I will settle him in his crate in a quiet place if there is a call scheduled during a time he might normally get wound up (like when the kids are all coming home from school). I've found it is easier to keep him calm than to calm him after he gets going. I just tell him to "go to his place" and goes over and climbs in.
I don't know if your little one has always barked or if she has just started this. But it might be a symptom of under lying anxieties that if you could identify you might be able to try some form of behavior modification techniques with. This is ultimately what worked for a number of Charlie's issues (I should also say that his issues were so severe that we had him on a small dose of doggie Paxil while working on this with the help of the U of Penn!)
Good Luck - I feel for you! I will be praying that you will have success soon.
J |