Growling and Barking -need your advise!

[Freddy_SW]

Ok..once again i need your help. Freddy started growling and barking at me constantly when he wants attention or wants me to play with him.

I tried different things to make him stop: can with coins, time outs, ignoring, leaving the room, put him on his back and saying no...but nothing works. He is doing it every day. He is barking at me so loud that i just can't ignore it (unless i really leave the room) and if i want to get him to put him on his back, hold him there and tell him no, he runs away so fast that i don't always get him. He hides under the table or Christmas tree and continues barking and growling at me....if i ignore him, he comes closer and closer..and tries to bite me if i continue ignoring him. When i walk away he bites my feet... It sounds like he is really mad at me or something but it seems like he just wants me to chase him and play with him.

He needs attention 100% of my time at home. He is home alone about 3-5 hours a day. When i leave for work in the morning my husband is with him until 2:30 pm ( he is saying that Freddy sleeps pretty much the whole time) and i get home at 5:30pm/6pm. I take him for 45 min walks every day and play 30 min (ALL attention to him , no tv or radio) also. I don't know what else to do. H ebare;y plays by himself. When i put him in his crate for time out, he sits in there quietly until i let him out. I am not sure if it is "the alpha dog issue" because he listens to me when i tell him to sit, lay down...roll over etc...UNLESS he is in his "barking mode" then he doesn't listen to me at all.

HELP!! It has been going on for a about i month now...

[Patti]

Maybe he needs a yorkie brother or sister. I know mine entertain themselves a lot playing with each other. Hopefully others will have some ideas.

[Freddy_SW]

thanks for your reply Patti. I guess nobody else has an idea what i could do.

I wish i could get another yorkie to play with Freddy but i can't! I plan to take him to doggy daycamp sometime soon and see if being with other dogs all day will help him to calm down.

[yorkieusa]

Originally Posted by Freddy_SW

Ok..once again i need your help. Freddy started growling and barking at me constantly when he wants attention or wants me to play with him.

I tried different things to make him stop: can with coins, time outs, ignoring, leaving the room, put him on his back and saying no...but nothing works. He is doing it every day. He is barking at me so loud that i just can't ignore it (unless i really leave the room) and if i want to get him to put him on his back, hold him there and tell him no, he runs away so fast that i don't always get him. He hides under the table or Christmas tree and continues barking and growling at me....if i ignore him, he comes closer and closer..and tries to bite me if i continue ignoring him. When i walk away he bites my feet... It sounds like he is really mad at me or something but it seems like he just wants me to chase him and play with him.

He needs attention 100% of my time at home. He is home alone about 3-5 hours a day. When i leave for work in the morning my husband is with him until 2:30 pm ( he is saying that Freddy sleeps pretty much the whole time) and i get home at 5:30pm/6pm. I take him for 45 min walks every day and play 30 min (ALL attention to him , no tv or radio) also. I don't know what else to do. H ebare;y plays by himself. When i put him in his crate for time out, he sits in there quietly until i let him out. I am not sure if it is "the alpha dog issue" because he listens to me when i tell him to sit, lay down...roll over etc...UNLESS he is in his "barking mode" then he doesn't listen to me at all.

HELP!! It has been going on for a about i month now...

He is just a puppy and has tons of energy that is not being burned by an hour and 15 minutes of activity. Many yorkies don't play by themselves. You aren't dealing with any alpha issue. You have a yorkie that is bored and needs more attention and more activity. Lots of them that I've seen will bark to get you to play with them or do some activity with them. Too bad you can't get another one to keep him company, because it doesn't sound like you have enough time to spend with him. They are people dogs and apparently you are his person. He is dependent upon you for everything. I'm sure doggy daycamp would be perfect for him.

[Freddy_SW]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

They are people dogs and apparently you are his person. He is dependent upon you for everything. I'm sure doggy daycamp would be perfect for him.

that is defenetly true...he follows me around everywhere i go and i do try to spend as much time as i can with him everyday, i feel bad for not having more time for him but i do work full time and only have 4 hours a day to spend on my life outside of work...and i just can't spend those 4 hours playing with him...i didn't think that it would be so bad because he is not alone all day and would have the option to play with my husband if he wanted but he doesn't and i know others with yorkies that don't have that problem.

well, i will try my best to play with him some more and taking him to doggy daycamp next week i hope he will like it!

thanks for your input!

[JoeyP]

this is something that I deal with on a daily basis
So I know what I am talking about
My guys think
I am the local activity and/or cruise director
And the way to stop it is multi-factorial
First is you ignore ... Never acknowledge the barking or growling
And do not .... Do not try to say no
Or make eye contact
That will just lengthen the barking jag
Leave the room and come back only when they stop
Praise them when they do stop

[roseylovestosho]

Originally Posted by JoeyP

this is something that I deal with on a daily basis
So I know what I am talking about
My guys think
I am the local activity and/or cruise director
And the way to stop it is multi-factorial
First is you ignore ... Never acknowledge the barking or growling
And do not .... Do not try to say no
Or make eye contact
That will just lengthen the barking jag
Leave the room and come back only when they stop
Praise them when they do stop

What if you can't leave the room because you are potty training and you can't keep your eye off of him? My problem is that he'll growl/bark when he's tethered to me...can't really punish him by putting him in his crate because he's supposed to "like" being in there...

[NAUTILUS1900]

I had the same issue until I brought home a second Yorkie. Barking and growling stopped instantly.
I know that it's not easy to have a second puppy and I think that kind of problem is not of an alpha dog but of a smart dog, that gets bored easily.
You can try Nina Ottosson games, that work fantastic with that kind of dogs. Also try to create games that work with mind instead of games that drain energy.
Try hiding treats and let him find them or try toys that you can hide food in them.
And off course try to be calm and never loose your temper

Maria

[JenniferLeigh]

As a puppy, Lexi used to go mental when I came home from work. I would ignore her completely for the first 1/2 hour - this really helped calm her down when I got in the door.

I also would put her in her kennel for a time out if she got too crazy. Lots of people don't recommend putting your dog in the kennel for a time out, but it worked for me. Perhaps a playpen or area where the dog is away from people would also work?

Obviously puppies are puppies and they will be crazy but what I tried to teach Lexi was that barking and going bonkers would not get my attention. Good behaviour would get my attention.

[kayi078]

he needs friend, buy another puppy please

[smepperson]

Our four and a half month old is seeming more and more to push the boundaries to test alpha limits. We recently acquired some bitter apple spray for our rattan basket and the feet and legs of many chairs and tables as well as the rug (yes he tries to eat the short pile of our wool rugs) and when he tastes it he gets crazy, runs to his bed and barks and growls while he's rolling around. I noticed that he does this when he needs to pee or poo or is tired as well. He will run around like he's psychotic, try to bite and sits and growls and barks from under the dining room table. This afternoon he was barking at me while we were on the couch. It's like he's trying to tell me something and I'm just not getting it.

We have not been able to walk him lately because he gets so cold so quickly. He is pad trained somewhat but I'm fairly sure he prefers to go out. I can tell he is letting me know when he needs to it's just that we were trying to keep the 2 activities separate and we've found he just does better with the walk. The yard thing - always in the same place - every couple of hours is just not his bag at all.

Also this evening we had him in his playpen while we were having dinner and basically he had a temper tantrum. Thrashing his bed around, biting the carpet, growling, barking, trying to bite me (not hard) when I took him out. I did get him out, held him a couple minutes, let him calm a bit and put him back. After he settled completely (lay down in his bed quietly a few minutes) I took him out for good.

I need to add that he has taken fairly quickly to early training. He knows 'drop it', wait, no or ah ah ah, and will wait a very short bit for me to throw his toy - say go - and then get the toy. Mind you this is under 5 seconds for now but I'm thinking maybe he is bored because he is so smart. We really want to do puppy classes but that is not in the budget this week - just paid for college classes. They do have doggy day care and I am considering that but what can we do as parents? Could this behavior be because he is not used to being an only child? My baby Gizmo was super smart as well and did very well having the run of the house almost right away but with Teddi's chewing (teething I'm sure),

Hubby and I just decided to enroll in doggy day care tomorrow. There is a great one that our Gizzy went to years ago and is still going strong. We are hoping this helps but do not want to break our bond of only a few weeks. He gets a little poopy attitude when he goes somewhere new.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!