HELP!!URGENT My dog never stops barking!

[Rosies Mamma]

Rosie just won't stop barking or howling! As soon as i put her in the kitchen if we are eating there will be barking and scratching on the door. I will go over to her and say firmly Be quiet, she will be quiet for about five minutes then start howling. She gets plenty of time settling in the sitting room with us during the day & evening. We have tried ignoring her but she is very fiesty and will howl & cry for all she is worth! I have never had a dog as cheeky as her! Should i resolve to a muzzle? Should i get a trainer? It is driving me ccrazy and my neighbours have been complaining. I am thinking of rehoming her if it goes on. It would be fairer on her and us. We just can't live with it! Ive given up all hope now. Please help! I love her, but it can't go on forever.

NO electric collarsd OR high pitched alarms please!

-Many Thanks Heidi & Rosie

[Mermaid1]

Does she always bark when you are eating? Is she in the same room with you or separated? If she is in the same room, definite don't feed her from the table as this will only reinforce the behavior to bark for food. If she is not in the same room, you may try to bring her in the room where you eat and stuff a kong toy with a really tasty treat, this may keep her busy and entertained while you eat. You can also try feeding her dinner at this time but not on her plate, put it in one of the balls that roll and food fall off so she has to work for it, while you guys eat.
If she is the barking when she is in the room with you, do you have any idea why she barks? Is she asking for food or attention?
You may be walking her already, but she may need more exercise and stimulation. Try walking her before dinner time.
If she is in a separate room, you may try the above plus use a gate instead of closing the door so she can see you.
Hope this helps. I wouldn't give up on her yet. Try to find out why she barks, avoid the trigger, change the routine.

[Rosies Mamma]

Yes, most of the time and she will scratch on the door, She is separated because their is a rule in our family house not to let the dogs ocme in while we are eating because of the hairs our otehr dog makes! ( Cavalier ). I will try bringing her in the room & will buy a stuffed kong toy for her and put in a tasty treat ( thinking of getting some from an american website they seem to have cool ideas ). She never barks when she is in the room with us, we mostly think its because she wants attention because if she is in the room while we are eating she goes completely bonkers( im not joking. Running her face across the carpet, Jumping at the window managing to get up on it, Running around ) and then it disturbs everyone from eating. Thanks for the information so far and the stimulation & excersize! I will try all of your ideas out and see which works best for me or all together!

Many Thanks - Heidi & Rosie :shortyorkie:

[Wylie's Mom]

Have you tried 'startle' methods to break the habit? As in, having a metal can filled w/ coins and then shaking it really hard when she does the incorrect barking? Sometimes that helps...

[tjdmom]

If this happens when you are in the other room eating, could you try giving her a bully stick or a highly praised treat that it will take her a bit of time to work on? Even an interactive toy can sometimes be helpful. If that doesn't work, could you crate her in the same room with you? That way she can see you are close but she can't beg you all for food?

[Rosies Mamma]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Have you tried 'startle' methods to break the habit? As in, having a metal can filled w/ coins and then shaking it really hard when she does the incorrect barking? Sometimes that helps...

I have tried this before but it made my fur-baby get really scared and barked even more, and she runs away sometimes when we shake something.

[sandy simpson]

DO NOT REHOME HER My friend went to Petsmart and bought a no bark collar. It does not shock. It gives off a high pitch sound only the dog hears and the dog stops barking. Please try this before you give your precious dog away!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Tell me about her if you would - her age, what her day is like and if she's spoiled from constant attention, lap-sitting and giving her her way most of the day or left alone while everyone works or somewhere in between. No wrong answers here just tell me how she lives and how her day goes.

Is she an anxious, high-strung, nervous dog, scared by noises and shaking at times often or even occasionally? How does she do in obedience training - a ready, happy worker or uninterested?

[Rosies Mamma]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Tell me about her if you would - her age, what her day is like and if she's spoiled from constant attention, lap-sitting and giving her her way most of the day or left alone while everyone works or somewhere in between. No wrong answers here just tell me how she lives and how her day goes.

Is she an anxious, high-strung, nervous dog, scared by noises and shaking at times often or even occasionally? How does she do in obedience training - a ready, happy worker or uninterested?

She is going to be two in May, She comes in the living room with us and sits with us watching tv for about an hour then she goes in the kitchen for her breakfast then stays in the kitchen for 45 minutes. We usually get ready and get our breakfast during then and let her in again for half an hour then we will go out for about 2-3 hours ( she will be in the kitchen with our other dog ) then we come back and let her sit with us for about 1 & 1/2 hours. She will go in the kitchen until the evening then and we give her her food. she comes with us for half an hour then goes back in the kitchen for bed time. She likes to lap-sit once shes settles down. We don't always give her her own way but sometimes she will be a little terror and will pretty much force us to do what she likes! ( my own fault, i know, i know ) She can get quite anxious if she gets left alone in the garden or if i let her run freely on her extendable lead/leash in the park and will be best just to run next to me. She is quite a good dog in obedience terms but at the end will get a little uninterested. Hope this helps.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Thanks for the information. I'll throw out what ideas I'd probably try myself and use what you will if it seems as if it will work for you and your dog:

Usually bright terriers require a lot of activity and exercise. I think Britster here said it first on YorkieTalk and I wholeheartedly concur, whoever said small dogs don't need a lot of exercise and activity was an idiot because most high-energy terriers in good physical and psychological health need a lot of both to work out their high levels of prey drive, natural terrier aggression, energy and anxieties(they get living hand-to-glove cooped up with us in apartments and homes most of the day).

These are just some thoughts from my perspective as one reading a tiny bit about her but I would exercise her way more, take her on longer walks where she has to walk very, very fast during the last half of the walk, enrich her life by getting her puzzle games and toys to keep her busy eating her own meal from those rather than a dish during this rehab period which will often take a small dog up to 45 minutes to get all of the bits of kibble and food from a series of Kong toys and keeps them running about, batting the kong about until it gives up more food and licking it, taking it to their special place and licking out the meat or canned food. Beats a bowl for a high-energy dog bored to tears while we're eating in another room.

Puzzle games and hiding treats or toys about the house are also games that keep them engaged and active anytime during the way, working to find their treasure. You guide them through by pointing to each piece of kibble or toy until they get the hang of it and in time, their nose takes over and they learn to scent out the objects or food. They love this game. Puzzle toys where they have to manipulate a series of trap doors or pop openings open to get the treats out also keeps dogs happily busy. The work and attention and activity working to get the rewards keeps them active and focused on something other than you all and what you are doing that much.

When you sit down to eat, give her her dinner in the kitchen or den in a series of kong toys or a series of puzzle games to find and get her food out. You'll have to show her how at first and keep it fun, act very excited when she gets a piece of food out, even when you've opened the hidden compartment for her. After a time or two, leave her with it and she'll start to work to get that food out. She'll work hard, especially if you sit close by and encourage her, baiting her to "Get that food! Go for it!" and coaching and egging her on. During mealtimes, she'll be busy "hunting" and "foraging" for her food while you enjoy yours in most cases - especially if she skips breakfast the first day or two only. Don't worry, unless she is ill, she won't be injured by skipping breakfast for 4 hours and it will set her up to be very very very interested in focusing in on her puzzle bowls or kong toys to get out her lunch and she won't be as motivated to bark for attention and companionship as you eat.

If you can, for a while, just to shake her associations up a bit and reset her patterns, confine her to a different area with her kongs and puzzle games while you eat if you can to disassociate her confinement with her old, worrisome behavior and give her a fresh start.

I would not close the door between her family(her pack) and her. Dogs eat together within sight of one another in the wild in most cases. I'd put up a decorative gate or fence so she still feels included in the family. Most Yorkies are very offended by a closed door - which your syntax seems to imply.

Better still, with proper obedience training, you can train her how to lie quietly during mealtimes and say nothing about your eating experience, though I prefer to give my dog its own meal or a kong toy if I'm enjoying a meal in his presence but he's never allowed to intrude on my mealtime. Still, even if he's not given something to play with or eat or a puzzle bowl, he's been happily trained to respect my mealtime and do his own thing because he knows he's got me most of the rest of the day and night so he's not missing out on a thing and he usually gets a "What a gooood boy" and a pet and even sometimes a treat after I leave the table as a marker for his good behavior.

As a last resort, you might also see if the old "You've Won The Prize!" type training will work for her once she's done foraging from her kongs/puzzles and should the barking start up while you are still eating. However, good, upbeat, fun obedience training will gain better control of her and make her happy to stay quiet and calm during your dinner or when friends visit.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-barking.html

If she's losing interest in obedience training toward the end, shorten the sessions and increase the number per day for a few weeks until she's actually obeying you in all areas of her behavior, make them far more upbeat and fun, give the commands in a happy, upbeat voice and make the positive-reinforcement for getting the command correct a big, big deal with lots of high, squeak-voiced praise and smiling and hand-clapping. Change her treat rewards to a higher value treat - something she wants badly. Fake the excitement if you have to but keep her engaged and wanting to do the next trick for that great, happy and prideful reaction from you and that wonderful treat she's going to get. Keeping training like a fun game keeps the dog interested and wanting more, not wanting to opt out unless they are very old, injured or ill.

You can easily train her to Bark on command and then just as easily to learn to go Quiet on command as part of her obedience training. (If you want, I'll tell you how I did it but it was only part of a whole program mentioned here, which I feel is necessary if you want a well-behaved, happy dog.) Train her to Leave It and teach her the meaning of No and those commands can also help with the occasional barking she might do in the future, as even the most well-trained, happy dogs will bark at times we want them to be quiet so they need commands they have been well-trained to happily and readily WANT to respond to when they hear them - knowing they will be generously praised and treated for exercising control of one of their very most basic instincts in life of the domesticated dog - that of barking. I make a very big deal of Tibbe going "Quiet" on command. He gets serial treats and lots of praise and smiles and a happy dance. He's been trained to enjoy that every bit as much as he does barking most of the time. He's still a happy, frisky dog and not 100% perfect but he's dang near it - all through a lot of fun training and bonding we've done through that training. Proper positive-reinforcement obedience training can reshape a dog's behavior and makes him a total joy to live with when.

Sorry this is long but it's just a series of things I'd probably do to reshape this little girl into a happy, calm yet bubbly little pet whose well-pleased with behaving.

[LovelyPuppies]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Thanks for the information. I'll throw out what ideas I'd probably try myself and use what you will if it seems as if it will work for you and your dog:

Usually bright terriers require a lot of activity and exercise. I think Britster here said it first on YorkieTalk and I wholeheartedly concur, whoever said small dogs don't need a lot of exercise and activity was an idiot because most high-energy terriers in good physical and psychological health need a lot of both to work out their high levels of prey drive, natural terrier aggression, energy and anxieties(they get living hand-to-glove cooped up with us in apartments and homes most of the day).

These are just some thoughts from my perspective as one reading a tiny bit about her but I would exercise her way more, take her on longer walks where she has to walk very, very fast during the last half of the walk, enrich her life by getting her puzzle games and toys to keep her busy eating her own meal from those rather than a dish during this rehab period which will often take a small dog up to 45 minutes to get all of the bits of kibble and food from a series of Kong toys and keeps them running about, batting the kong about until it gives up more food and licking it, taking it to their special place and licking out the meat or canned food. Beats a bowl for a high-energy dog bored to tears while we're eating in another room.

Puzzle games and hiding treats or toys about the house are also games that keep them engaged and active anytime during the way, working to find their treasure. You guide them through by pointing to each piece of kibble or toy until they get the hang of it and in time, their nose takes over and they learn to scent out the objects or food. They love this game. Puzzle toys where they have to manipulate a series of trap doors or pop openings open to get the treats out also keeps dogs happily busy. The work and attention and activity working to get the rewards keeps them active and focused on something other than you all and what you are doing that much.

When you sit down to eat, give her her dinner in the kitchen or den in a series of kong toys or a series of puzzle games to find and get her food out. You'll have to show her how at first and keep it fun, act very excited when she gets a piece of food out, even when you've opened the hidden compartment for her. After a time or two, leave her with it and she'll start to work to get that food out. She'll work hard, especially if you sit close by and encourage her, baiting her to "Get that food! Go for it!" and coaching and egging her on. During mealtimes, she'll be busy "hunting" and "foraging" for her food while you enjoy yours in most cases - especially if she skips breakfast the first day or two only. Don't worry, unless she is ill, she won't be injured by skipping breakfast for 4 hours and it will set her up to be very very very interested in focusing in on her puzzle bowls or kong toys to get out her lunch and she won't be as motivated to bark for attention and companionship as you eat.

If you can, for a while, just to shake her associations up a bit and reset her patterns, confine her to a different area with her kongs and puzzle games while you eat if you can to disassociate her confinement with her old, worrisome behavior and give her a fresh start.

I would not close the door between her family(her pack) and her. Dogs eat together within sight of one another in the wild in most cases. I'd put up a decorative gate or fence so she still feels included in the family. Most Yorkies are very offended by a closed door - which your syntax seems to imply.

Better still, with proper obedience training, you can train her how to lie quietly during mealtimes and say nothing about your eating experience, though I prefer to give my dog its own meal or a kong toy if I'm enjoying a meal in his presence but he's never allowed to intrude on my mealtime. Still, even if he's not given something to play with or eat or a puzzle bowl, he's been happily trained to respect my mealtime and do his own thing because he knows he's got me most of the rest of the day and night so he's not missing out on a thing and he usually gets a "What a gooood boy" and a pet and even sometimes a treat after I leave the table as a marker for his good behavior.

As a last resort, you might also see if the old "You've Won The Prize!" type training will work for her once she's done foraging from her kongs/puzzles and should the barking start up while you are still eating. However, good, upbeat, fun obedience training will gain better control of her and make her happy to stay quiet and calm during your dinner or when friends visit.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-barking.html

If she's losing interest in obedience training toward the end, shorten the sessions and increase the number per day for a few weeks until she's actually obeying you in all areas of her behavior, make them far more upbeat and fun, give the commands in a happy, upbeat voice and make the positive-reinforcement for getting the command correct a big, big deal with lots of high, squeak-voiced praise and smiling and hand-clapping. Change her treat rewards to a higher value treat - something she wants badly. Fake the excitement if you have to but keep her engaged and wanting to do the next trick for that great, happy and prideful reaction from you and that wonderful treat she's going to get. Keeping training like a fun game keeps the dog interested and wanting more, not wanting to opt out unless they are very old, injured or ill.

You can easily train her to Bark on command and then just as easily to learn to go Quiet on command as part of her obedience training. (If you want, I'll tell you how I did it but it was only part of a whole program mentioned here, which I feel is necessary if you want a well-behaved, happy dog.) Train her to Leave It and teach her the meaning of No and those commands can also help with the occasional barking she might do in the future, as even the most well-trained, happy dogs will bark at times we want them to be quiet so they need commands they have been well-trained to happily and readily WANT to respond to when they hear them - knowing they will be generously praised and treated for exercising control of one of their very most basic instincts in life of the domesticated dog - that of barking. I make a very big deal of Tibbe going "Quiet" on command. He gets serial treats and lots of praise and smiles and a happy dance. He's been trained to enjoy that every bit as much as he does barking most of the time. He's still a happy, frisky dog and not 100% perfect but he's dang near it - all through a lot of fun training and bonding we've done through that training. Proper positive-reinforcement obedience training can reshape a dog's behavior and makes him a total joy to live with when.

Sorry this is long but it's just a series of things I'd probably do to reshape this little girl into a happy, calm yet bubbly little pet whose well-pleased with behaving.

THIS was awesome.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by LovelyPuppies

THIS was awesome.

Thanks!

[sandy simpson]

Great ideas Jeanie! I am so thankful you are back and able to give such wise advice to us. Bless you and Tibbe!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by sandy simpson

Great ideas Jeanie! I am so thankful you are back and able to give such wise advice to us. Bless you and Tibbe!

What a sweet thing to say, Sandy. I don't know what happened to my neck but wow, did it give me a fit for a while, especially when I tried to use the computer and type. It's wonderful to be back as I missed YT & knowing what ya'll were up to so much!

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Thanks for the information. I'll throw out what ideas I'd probably try myself and use what you will if it seems as if it will work for you and your dog:

Usually bright terriers require a lot of activity and exercise. I think Britster here said it first on YorkieTalk and I wholeheartedly concur, whoever said small dogs don't need a lot of exercise and activity was an idiot because most high-energy terriers in good physical and psychological health need a lot of both to work out their high levels of prey drive, natural terrier aggression, energy and anxieties(they get living hand-to-glove cooped up with us in apartments and homes most of the day).

These are just some thoughts from my perspective as one reading a tiny bit about her but I would exercise her way more, take her on longer walks where she has to walk very, very fast during the last half of the walk, enrich her life by getting her puzzle games and toys to keep her busy eating her own meal from those rather than a dish during this rehab period which will often take a small dog up to 45 minutes to get all of the bits of kibble and food from a series of Kong toys and keeps them running about, batting the kong about until it gives up more food and licking it, taking it to their special place and licking out the meat or canned food. Beats a bowl for a high-energy dog bored to tears while we're eating in another room.

Puzzle games and hiding treats or toys about the house are also games that keep them engaged and active anytime during the way, working to find their treasure. You guide them through by pointing to each piece of kibble or toy until they get the hang of it and in time, their nose takes over and they learn to scent out the objects or food. They love this game. Puzzle toys where they have to manipulate a series of trap doors or pop openings open to get the treats out also keeps dogs happily busy. The work and attention and activity working to get the rewards keeps them active and focused on something other than you all and what you are doing that much.

When you sit down to eat, give her her dinner in the kitchen or den in a series of kong toys or a series of puzzle games to find and get her food out. You'll have to show her how at first and keep it fun, act very excited when she gets a piece of food out, even when you've opened the hidden compartment for her. After a time or two, leave her with it and she'll start to work to get that food out. She'll work hard, especially if you sit close by and encourage her, baiting her to "Get that food! Go for it!" and coaching and egging her on. During mealtimes, she'll be busy "hunting" and "foraging" for her food while you enjoy yours in most cases - especially if she skips breakfast the first day or two only. Don't worry, unless she is ill, she won't be injured by skipping breakfast for 4 hours and it will set her up to be very very very interested in focusing in on her puzzle bowls or kong toys to get out her lunch and she won't be as motivated to bark for attention and companionship as you eat.

If you can, for a while, just to shake her associations up a bit and reset her patterns, confine her to a different area with her kongs and puzzle games while you eat if you can to disassociate her confinement with her old, worrisome behavior and give her a fresh start.

I would not close the door between her family(her pack) and her. Dogs eat together within sight of one another in the wild in most cases. I'd put up a decorative gate or fence so she still feels included in the family. Most Yorkies are very offended by a closed door - which your syntax seems to imply.

Better still, with proper obedience training, you can train her how to lie quietly during mealtimes and say nothing about your eating experience, though I prefer to give my dog its own meal or a kong toy if I'm enjoying a meal in his presence but he's never allowed to intrude on my mealtime. Still, even if he's not given something to play with or eat or a puzzle bowl, he's been happily trained to respect my mealtime and do his own thing because he knows he's got me most of the rest of the day and night so he's not missing out on a thing and he usually gets a "What a gooood boy" and a pet and even sometimes a treat after I leave the table as a marker for his good behavior.

As a last resort, you might also see if the old "You've Won The Prize!" type training will work for her once she's done foraging from her kongs/puzzles and should the barking start up while you are still eating. However, good, upbeat, fun obedience training will gain better control of her and make her happy to stay quiet and calm during your dinner or when friends visit.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-barking.html

If she's losing interest in obedience training toward the end, shorten the sessions and increase the number per day for a few weeks until she's actually obeying you in all areas of her behavior, make them far more upbeat and fun, give the commands in a happy, upbeat voice and make the positive-reinforcement for getting the command correct a big, big deal with lots of high, squeak-voiced praise and smiling and hand-clapping. Change her treat rewards to a higher value treat - something she wants badly. Fake the excitement if you have to but keep her engaged and wanting to do the next trick for that great, happy and prideful reaction from you and that wonderful treat she's going to get. Keeping training like a fun game keeps the dog interested and wanting more, not wanting to opt out unless they are very old, injured or ill.

You can easily train her to Bark on command and then just as easily to learn to go Quiet on command as part of her obedience training. (If you want, I'll tell you how I did it but it was only part of a whole program mentioned here, which I feel is necessary if you want a well-behaved, happy dog.) Train her to Leave It and teach her the meaning of No and those commands can also help with the occasional barking she might do in the future, as even the most well-trained, happy dogs will bark at times we want them to be quiet so they need commands they have been well-trained to happily and readily WANT to respond to when they hear them - knowing they will be generously praised and treated for exercising control of one of their very most basic instincts in life of the domesticated dog - that of barking. I make a very big deal of Tibbe going "Quiet" on command. He gets serial treats and lots of praise and smiles and a happy dance. He's been trained to enjoy that every bit as much as he does barking most of the time. He's still a happy, frisky dog and not 100% perfect but he's dang near it - all through a lot of fun training and bonding we've done through that training. Proper positive-reinforcement obedience training can reshape a dog's behavior and makes him a total joy to live with when.

Sorry this is long but it's just a series of things I'd probably do to reshape this little girl into a happy, calm yet bubbly little pet whose well-pleased with behaving.

Amazing tips!!!


The one thing I will say to the OP is you should ALWAYS get a behaviourist because you are probably doing things that are reinforcing undesirable behavior and you don't even know it! Doing nothing or doing too much can both result in telling a dog certain things are acceptable so it is key that you learn to communicate efficiently with your dog. Training costs should always be incorporated ANYTIME anyone gets a new puppy or dog.


I had a behaviorist for Teddy just three months ago. Did he solve all of my problems? No. But he did remind me that I'm the boss and that the dog is not a human and doesn't communicate in the way that I do which meant that I could train effectively for things which I never even discussed with the behaviorist.


Good luck.