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Originally Posted by buttonboys  Thats what i like to hear  she had a barking fit yesterday as a cat came into our garden but after that silence again.I know dogs bark and i dont have a problem with that,just hear so many negatives about yorkies and so far there so wrong.My baby girl is an angel,long live ROSIE haha  |
It's not a Yorkie's fault if he is yappy. He was bred to be a very independent, take-charge kind of a dog who thinks for himself and will keep going after his most active, fast kind of prey - namely rodents and rabbits and such critters. Such a head-strong dog is going to speak up when he disagrees with something going on around him and want to take charge and best it. The trouble is because they are small, most owners don't set boundaries and stop small dogs' excessive barking after the initial alerting barking. As the terrier is strong-willed due to his breeding, sometimes one must reinforce your command to go "Quiet" by standing the dog down(in a calm, teaching, firm but never mean attitude) until the behavior stops. Most owners won't do that the same as with the big, booming barking of large dogs and so the little guys get used to barking in unlimited amounts. Of if they do it, they don't do it every time and keep it up.
Most dogs love to bark and it gives them something to do, as many toy dogs can have somewhat boring lives in domestication and living inside 24/7. You can't blame the little guys for wanting to have a job and they think alerting to danger or everything that moves such as they were bred to do at the beginnings of the breed, is their job.
As I said in an above post, I teach my dogs to bark with a treat for barking on command and then, after they have thoroughly learned that command to "Bark" or "Speak" in about two weeks, I progress to teach "Quiet" by waiting for them to they take a breath between barks, when I begin to say "Quiet" and treat them w/in 3 seconds. Wow, this is a fun new twist to the "Bark" game to them and they are shocked at the change but work to learn this new tack. So I keep getting them to bark on command, and then say "Quiet" as they pause for breath and treat and in time, start to tell them "Quiet" as they are still barking. If they stop barking right away, they get praised/treated immediately. And working that way, they are taught to go quiet on command. In a month, a dog should have these two commands down pretty well but you keep teaching it as just part of their daily training program.
And if you teach them to stop barking with the "Quiet" or "Enough" or "No/Stop" command, it really does become like a game to them to stop barking and get their payment of a nice treat. But once they have learned that command and should they keep barking despite the command, you must reinforce the excessive-barking boundary and stand up and walk toward them, your body attitude purposeful, firmly backing them down with constant eye contact, giving the "Quiet" command perhaps just once again(never more than that), pointing directly at them and standing over them until they go quiet and stay quiet. Once they do go quiet under that tense circumstance, don't re-excite them right then by praising because they got & stayed quiet(as they could start right back barking again from the excitement of the praise), just keep pointing and looking at them and walk into the kitchen and get them a treat to mark their good behavior. If they start back up barking again on the way to get or immediately after the treat, stand them back down again in the same calm, firm manner, giving the "Quiet" command, eyes locked with theirs and pointing and walking toward them where you stand and stay until they go quiet, at which time they get a treat. Barks again, repeat. Over and over until the dog learns that excessive barking will be met with a stand down and your stern visage and eye-locks until they reason that this is going to be the outcome every darn single time they bark too much so to save face, they stop themselves after an initial spate of barking. A few more of these episodes of standing them down in a firm but never mean way begins to teach them that barking boundaries are always enforced in this pack and besides, when they do go quiet, they get a lovely treat. In time, they learn how much barking you will allow before it gets drastic so they learn to stop themselves after the allowed barking. But, a few months down the line you might have to do some more stand-downs as dogs do tend to forget you keep boundaries and push the boundaries, as dogs are juvenile in nature for most of their lives. So expect recidivism!
Eventually they learn your preferences and actually do tailor their barking patterns to what you have taught them if you are consistent, always patient and loving in your training. That is why many Yorkie and toy-dog owners have yappy dogs, they just don't enforce boundaries in a firm, gentle manner.