Barks constantly!
 

My little guy barks constantly, all day long. He sits on the back of the couch and watches out the window, barking at every falling leaf, squirrel, bird, or whatever, then charges to the door, and won't stop barking until you let him out.
I've purchased 2 bark offs, and they worked for about a week now he ignores that.
Any suggestions before I loose my mind???LOL
Kathy

How often do you walk him?
I find that Poppy barks when she is bored... especially at night she will look out of the window and bark at her own reflection.
When she gets like this I play ball with her or take her out for a walk.. A tired yorkie is a happy yorkie (and usually a quiet one too) :)

We live in the country, so Max can go out as often as he likes, we play with him a lot (right now he just got nutered so can't play as much), and he has a ton of toys. He does love to play, especially with my husband, their favorite is hide and seek LOL

Has the barking become more frequent since he was neutered?
Maybe its because he cant run around as much.
Once he is fully healed and can run around a bit more then the barking may stop. :)

I sure hope so, or I'm going to need ear plugs LOL

I agree a tired Yorkie is a happy Yorkie. Lots of toys, running around playing fetch, and nice long walks..

I too tried the bark off and it worked a couple of times and then stopped. If i try to use it now, he gets mad and starts barking harder...lol

If worse comes to worse, I suppose you could try pennies in a can or a water in a spray bottle. I've never used the water myself, but I used to use the pennies! They worked pretty good.:D Depends on the yorkie.

I feel your pain...Rocco, who was never really a barker, has found his voice :eek:. He sits on the back of the couch and barks at everyone walking down the street, or any critters in his sight (squirrels make him just nutty!). It doesn't matter what time of day or how many walks he's had. I have tried a few training techniques but so far none have worked. I have to say, he doesn't do it all day, but when he does it's just ear-piercing!

We tried the pennies in the can, but it scared the others when only one was doing the barking. We use the water bottle....they are always within arms length all over the house. :D

Great for misting plants too! LOL.

LOL, I might have to resort to the water bottle. Just can't bring myself to do the whole "shock" collar thing :mad:
He's a spoiled little guy I know, but his bark is earth shattering.

We won't do the shock collar, but I can appreciate the "earth shattering".

Our little Zander's bark sounds like someone is just mutilating him. It has been cause for quite the panic as my wife and I both "RUN" to see what has happened only to find that he wants the kitty cat. :D

Ok... This sounds like Izzy...and its like the squrrials know that izzy goes nuts over them.. They sit about 15-20 feet from the door eating their nuts.. Her bark drives me crazzzzyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!

i'm going to try the penny's in the can and if that doesn't work then ill try the water bottle :)

I've tried the pennies in the can (didn't work) but not the water - he's always right near my silk drapes when he's barking and I'd absolutely ruin them spraying water :rolleyes:. The bark he has for squirrels is crazy - sounds like he's screaming and I'm worried neighbors will think I'm abusing him!!! Let me know how you make out...good luck!

Pennies in a can works with Lucy. She runs full out if she sees me approaching with a spray bottle so I kind of gave up with that.

Her barking is not as bad as my Westie's though. I finally got him a spray collar for his incessant outside barking. It was very effective and, to me, more humane than a shock collar. It just sprays fine lemon mist - under his chin but in the general area of his snout so he can smell it. Apparently, dogs don't like lemon. (Who knew?) It took him less than an hour to figure it out. Now he knows - collar on - no barking. Collar off - free to bark. I am quite please with how quickly it worked. I put it on him only in the early morning and late evenings when he likes to stay out and bark.

To be fair, Westies are made of much studier stuff than yorkies. And, things like pennies in a can are not going to work for a Westie. He's much more stubborn than little Lucy.

Probably, I would not use such a collar on my fragile little Lucy. But it did work for Ringo!

2 years ago when I hired a trainer for Cooper she introduced him to the pennies in the bottle/can method. She explained that it has to be "charged", almost like a clicker. She scared both me and Cooper almost to death! When he started barking, she through it across the room towards him. We both jumped. Now he knows that even if i say "do i need to get the bottle?" he stops whatever he's doing. If you do decide to do this, obviously don't throw it at your dog, and also don't let your dog know that you are the one who through it.

OMG. Shock collar NO :eek:

I have a loud mouth myself
And what works like a charm is the water pistol

It just takes them out of the barking mode and it's harmless to them
But follow it with a NO ...
And then a Good Boy praise so they get the positive reinforcement benefit

I tried the water bottle for the first time today, so far it's working! :) Keeping my fingers crossed that Max:aimeeyork keeps up with the good work.

The pennies in a can worked for us. It got to the point that all I would have to do is show the can.

Maggie is a whiner and I got to get her to stop with the clicker. She went thru clicker training in obedience school so it worked like a charm.

Good luck.

can you tell me what the collar is that sprays fine lemon mist? i'm really curious about it for my yorkie....

I've never tried one, but there are a bunch of "spray" collars on the market.

Here is an example sold on Amazon.

Amazon.com: Premier SpraySense Anti-Bark Dog...

I got it at Pet Smart. For some reason, I thought the collars all sprayed that nasty stuff you burn in the summer to keep the mosquitos away! Citronella. But, as someone pointed out to me, Citron means 'lemon' in French.

The smallest collar that they had is huge on Ringo. So, unless you have a really big Yorkie, I would say it's probably going to be too big.

I haven't used it much at all; since the weather here has gotten so cold, Ringo has not been staying out and barking.

I will say that it did work for Ringo and my neighbors have all commented on how quiet it has been around here of an evening. Ringo is still his old, spunky self, so it didn't traumatize him for life or anything. But I did use it sparingly.

So glad to see this thread --
I live in a Condo and Buddy barks every single time someone passes the door, or if he hears a door open or close in our hallway.
Lately a few of my neighbors have been doing construction in their units - and I work from home. The barking is driving me crazy.
Someone mentioned a citronella collar - but so far I haven't found one small enough - if anyone has a specific recommendation, I would love to hear it!
(the can works, but I feel that a collar is a more immediate correction, and may work better...)

Hi,
I used the squirt bottle with water trick, it has worked wonders with Max. He was starting to bite an nip as well, and one squirt with the bottle and he stops that too. give it a try!

I would move the couch so he couldn't see out that might help :)

Thank you everyone for your tips! I'm so glad I found this thread. Bella's constant barking is becoming such a problem. My sister and her two small children (3.5 yrs and 7 months) just moved in with us and her barking wakes them up at night. Bella barks at my dad when he just walks by her and she goes crazy at my bedroom door if someone even walks by. I tried the pennies in the can, spray bottle and the simple get up and tell her no. NOTHING has worked and it's getting worse! I'm going to try to see if I can find a spray collar that fits her, so if anyone finds one that would fit a 3lb Yorkie please let me know! Any other tips are welcome! :)

Good luck and keep us updated.

I can assure that the reason that my Roxy has been barking an awful lot lately is simply due to boredom. Oh we play but that doesn't work as good as her normal three walks a day. Not long ones, it's the outing that counts.
Lately it has been cold and rainy. Roxy isn't into walking in the rain, even when she has deluxe rain coats and boots to wear. When she isn't sleeping, eating or playing she is barking at every sound. The birds at the feeders, anyone coming into the yard, and deers in at night.
Some of the barking is due to ongoing reasons as normal, even when she is regularly being walked. IE: People coming into the yard and deers in at night but I have noticed over the holidays that she is overly mouthy. Driving me nuts as well. Thank goodness it is easy to distract her by way of her toys and play time.
My suggestion is leash him up and get him outside so he can investigate, sniff and walk. Hopefully he is all healed by now. Even just being outside to where it is all happening so he can feel a part of it may help.
Once my girl is walking regularly again, I am sure the constant barking will cease to just normal amounts.
Lastly, it is possible to teach him "no bark". With persistence and patience, of course.
Just FYI, there are many no bark videos useful via Youtube. Just search you tube for teach dog no bark. Hope this proves to be of help. Good luck. Wishing for the best.

There are a lot of squirrels in the yard at my parent's house and Daisy goes crazy with barking. Her bark is DEAFENING. I had to close the curtains and put stuff along the bottom of the curtain so she couldn't peek through. That stopped that. At home I don't have many problems with her but I do live in an apartment and she does tend to bark at passersby sometimes. I usually let her bark a few times and then I say "OK, Daisy, that's enough", or "Thank you, Daisy, that's enough now". She usually pipes down some and then stops, but if not, I get up to go and pick her up and make her sit in my lap (in time-out) until she settles down and quits growling. I'm very neutral emotionally when I do this. I'm not mad and I don't scold her. I make her stay a little longer than she would like before letting her go. If she goes back to doing it again either immediately or later on, I go through the whole thing again. She's pretty good at listening to me now for the most part because she knows when I get up she is about to be put in "time-out". Daisy doesn't particularly like to be kept immobile unless it is her idea. I do the same thing when I am walking her. If she goes into ballistics, I stop her from moving forward. I make her heal by my leg and stand still until she stops, then I'll "allow" her to proceed forward. If she goes into another barking fit then I heal her at a standstill again (or, if it's really bad, turn her around in the opposite direction).....and so on and so forth. She's pretty good now. She certainly knows what I am trying to communicate to her and she has become pretty good at complying with my wishes. She' a good little girl at 2 years of age.....and she's done a good job of trying to be a good little girl all along. I hope this has given you a new idea or two. Also, as already mentioned, walk your dog a couple of times a day.....play with your dog a few times on the floor. These dogs may be small but they are HIGH energy dogs. They NEED that "concentrated" exercise. I don't think it is enough for them just to be put out in the backyard....unless you teach your dog to play fetch. My dog loves that game. Being let out in the backyard helps but, oftentimes, it doesn't prove to be quite enough. Also, they are intelligent dogs and need more mental stimulation. Work with your dog on some obedience....sit, stay, come, staying calm during basic grooming, etc. Well, that was a mouthful....I hope one or two things I've mentioned ends up actually helping you out. Good luck and take care.