[yorkietalkjilly]

We also play "Listen". Turn off the TV or stereo & tell Tibbe to "Listen". When he reacts to a sound, I wall up my eyes, cut them dramatically to one side & ask "What is it???" and we look around and if the noise goes away, he stops reacting. If it is something he keeps listening to or starts to go toward the direction of the noise, I will often go with him and tell him to "Check It Out". We will often go & look out the window or back into other parts of the house & come back with the "alert" is over & he gets a treat. If he growls or barks, I thank him after a few of those & we "Check It Out", though I only encourage him to bark for odd noises that are out of the usual or those "old favorites" dogs love to bark at like the noise of the garbage truck coming down the alley, the mailman, someone at the door. Other noise, I am trying to teach him to "alert" by reacting but only barking if there is a noise on our property outside or a strange house noise when it is quiet. Silly game but he enjoys it & he's learns that not every noise needs a barking response. And it's teaching him to use his hearing senses without being a yappy dog.