New dog on my floor (condo) HELP!
 

Hi everyone,
I hope I am posting in the right place.
I have terrier troubles! This is my first terrier, though I'm an experienced dog owner, This is new territory for me and frankly I need all the help I can get. I've had my boy for over a year and things have been pretty good, except for his separation anxiety, which we are working on! But recently a new behaviour has developed. For a few weeks now, he's been running to my apt door and barking like crazy. In trying to remedy this issue, im afraid I may be making it worse. ive read many articles of advice and am trying a combination of things I'm not even sure are a good idea. I read that I should get up and look and tell him "it's ok" and this seems to work in the sense it's a single bark and then he calms down. But it also means in an evening I have to get up and go to the door ten times to tell him it's alright. I'm also afraid it may be encouraging the behaviour. Ignoring him doesn't work he just gets louder. So we've also tried training "settle down" using a leash. it seems to be working but still in progress. If he's not actually attached to the leash he only listens 50%. In doing this I realize, there's a new dog on our floor! Eureka! So I waited for just the right moment to catch them in the hallway, I thought introducing the dogs might be the answer. My dog is very social, he meets dogs outside no problem, dog park, no problem, he goes to doggy daycare, no problem. He let the new dog sniff him for a few seconds, it seemed to be going well and all of a sudden he lit up. Barking, not play barking and the nasty growl. So we separated for a second and let them try again, same thing. They gave up and walked away. Yikes. Now I know he's really going to go crazy every time that dog passes and I'm not sure how interested they are in working out the problem since it's my dog who is the issue!!! Any suggestions? Thanks.

You'll probably want to speak to a behaviorist. I have had the same issues with Teddy and a lot of it is part of the tendency to guard which has been bred into yorkies as they are terriers and prone to barking at everything. Also, as they are little, they are not good sometimes with meeting other dogs as they have a fear of being hurt. I do feel your pain about conflicting training techniques online. I've been through all of this for three years now and I was told by a behaviorist at a university who studies dogs to just ignore it as even negative attention i.e. correction can encourage the behavior. If you're unable to this because of the apartment situation, I would suggest a behaviorist on the basis they may be able to teach you some things that I've not learned as we live in a detached house so barking isn't as big as an issue for neighbors etc.

My Loki only barks when the people on the third floor come in or go out. I swear it is because they once tied their dog to the porch in the rain and he was whining and Loki was upset. He hated hearing the other dog whine, Loki started whining with him.

Now, he freaks out when those neighbors go in or out. I have no clue how he knows it is them and not the second floor or the mailman, etc., but he does.

I usually tell him, "inside voice" and he starts to chuff instead of bark. Not perfect but it is quieter.