How long do they have to stay Quiet for before they earn a treat?

I'm still not getting anywhere with Cooper, but Max will stay Quiet for a couple of seconds, which is good enough for me. If I'm in another room and say Quiet he comes running to me which means he understands.

The trick is going to be taking it outside the house. I'm not sure exactly how to transition this. Max will do anything for me if we are training in the living room but once we leave that area it's anything goes.

I have to say--- this is a funny thread. Maybe it is funny because I have a yorkie and been there done that!!!! I laugh at the one when the partner knocked on the wall AFTER the peanut butter was put away. And the other guys too.

I have or had 5 different breed of dogs... they all bark. Some more than others, for different reasons. Remy (yorkie) yodels—I recorded the sound the three make and sent it to my homesick daughter.


Thank heavens none of the current ones bark when walking.. just at any door bell ringing, kids playing outside etc (and as I said in another post... a frog farting two miles away) but I did have a pom that barked at everything... i mean everything!! If I picked car keys... heavens to Betsy .. my dh always takes a banana with him as he goes to work so Sebastian would bark if one of us touched a banana!!! It really had a bad impact on our lives. I realized it was partly separation issues.

Thank you guys for the post... I am going to read the link and start working with my current crew!!!! I can do this!!!!

:thumbup: Interesting post....

I'm starting to train Dex, but he seems to be more interested in what Dudley is doing. Dudley wants to do what Dex is being told...It's turning out to be a big play time.

Are you training them seperately or both at the same time?

From the second week we got Dex, he learned from Dudley to sit to get his morning treat.. I don't even have to say a word and Dex will be sitting down waiting for me to get the treat out of the cabinet:rolleyes:

Update on Barking Issue
 

I'm getting somewhere with Max! But, it's only in the house. Now, when the UPS or postal delivery person comes to the door I yell "QUIET" from my office. Max and Cooper are already at the other end of the house barking. When I yell QUIET Max comes running to me for his treat! I suppose it's working because he stops barking. Cooper, not so much.

When we are walking it's still a complete disaster. The barking starts immediately after I put the harness on and we are at the door, ready to walk out. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes to calm him at the door and sometimes he never stops. I don't want to forego the walk so I take him anyway. Obviously not the right thing to do but I can't stop him from barking. Once outside it takes him about 1 minute and he's fine. If he starts barking I'll say QUIET. He'll look at me and then do his trick routine of sit, down and rollover in the middle of the street. He clearly doesn't get it but he's quieting. The other day on our walk he saw a bag flying on a street sign and went nuts. I couldn't control his pulling and barking. We went home.

This morning we went to the groomer and he barked like a siren from the car to the front entrance. It's totally embarrassing. She has an empty paint can full of rocks that she shakes when the dogs bark. She put my boys in a kennel and shook the can. To my surprise Cooper did not have a heart attack (he's knows the coin bottle) and Max stopped after a few minutes.

When I picked them up the groomer said Max did not bark the entire time. He stopped when I left and started again when I picked them up. So as I could have guessed, it's me.

I bought a bigger can at Lowe's today.

You sound like you're making progress! And you are definitely having a lot of patience. I know how difficult it can be to have a dog that won't be quiet. My dads JRT is this way. Nothing you do seems to really stop her. But they also have never worked with her as diligently as you are doing with your two boys.

Keep up the good work -- I really don't have many tips as I am lacking in the barking experience. Jackson does what Max does... if he starts and I say "Jackson, here" he comes running over for his treat and hushes up. I don't really deal with barking at my regular house where it's just Jackson and I, but visiting my dads house with 3 dogs total definitely makes for more barking and more of a challenge.

Thanks. I appreciate the comments. We are doing to well with the barking but I'd say the walks are about 75% better. Cooper walks by my side now!

I guess I'm fortunate in the fact that our Graysee only barks at people who come to the door. She will leap off my lap, or out of her bed, or wherever, and rush to the door, spin a couple of circles, and stand there barking, looking for me to come to the door and open it, so she can then walk (not run) out to sniff the visitor's shoes or pant leg. Once she does that, and sees that it is: A) someone she knows, or; B) someone that I'm OK with, she won't bark anymore. But getting her to stop PRIOR to all that, is almost impossible. The only effective thing I've found is to roll up a magazine or a newspaper; once she sees me doing that, she will become very docile. That stems from her puppy days, when I did the same thing to interrupt her outdoor barking through the fence at the neighbor dogs. I never hit her with the mag/paper, just smacked it against my leg so the loud noise startled her. Then I could get her attention and teach her "NO BARK"! When we're indoors, and she hears a "strange" sound from outside, she will perk up her ears, and begin emitting a low growl, and unless I stop her and tell her "SSHH, It's OK", she will get more aggressive until it escalates into a full bark. Usually I can get her to quit with just a finger in the air, or the command "NO BARK", but the door bell or door knock inevitably gets her up and to the door, vocalizing all the way! On walks, she NEVER barks or growls at other animals, or people, but this past Christmas season, she DID growl at a plastic Santa in a neighbor's yard!
:)

It sounds like you've pretty much got it all under control. Max is doing well with the indoor barking if I shake a metal can full of coins and say SHHH. Outside the house is a different issue!

aping??? or monkey see monkey do :p

i can't take Sadie anywhere she's a barkaholic too. i did give up walks because she embarasses me so darn much. she's CRAZY!!! she barked all during the vet appt. the other day and made me feel horrible. i feel like it's my fault that i cannot control her at all. Bentley is fine unless he's with her and she's nuts then it's like they attack and try to kill each other because they are both over the threshold. working with a trainer is helping some but not that much with Sadie's crazy barking.

What is the trainer doing with Sadie? Max barks almost uncontrollably in public.

Great ideas :)

Sadly it's time for me to join this post, my quiet shy little Harley, has found his voice! :eek

I think I'm going to try the teaching to speak and trying to get him to quiet. I also use a body block when it's directed towards another animanl

To be honest with you, I don't know if it's worth the effort to train to bark. I've been saying SHHH and shaking a can of coins. I no longer need the coins and Max knows that SHHH = no bark. He's great in the house, awful outside.

I don't know what to do when he barks outside when he's in the "no listen zone".