Help Yorkie wont stop barking
 

My yorkie barks when she hear voices or people walking around outside the apartment. She used to bark at people outside when I walked her but I comforted her and told her its ok and eventually she stopped that. But barking at home continues. She barks when the door bell rings and while I am answering the door. She also barks if someone she has not met as a puppy comes in and will not stop until the person leaves. I have another dog he is a maltese. He used to be a very quiet dog never barked or whined. When my yorkie threw a barking fit he copied her and has continued to do so. He also copied her during a whining fit. Now they both bark. I'm not sure what to do. Any help would be appreciated.

So far, a stern "NO BARKING!" is working for Higgins, but not 100% of the time. I am planning to get a whistle which a friend who has 5 Chihuahuas blows when she wants her gang to STOP barking. She discovered it by accident and now one healthy blow and they shut right up.....hmmmmm......

Higgins COMES when I blow the harmonica. Wonder if he will stop barking if I blow the harmonica.....Where is my harmonica????
:o

It seems that a sound they do not like is the key to solving this problem unless you have more stubborn dogs. I found a website that has some tips. http://www.dogpatch.org/sheltie/barking.html I'm going to trying the throwing a can of method. You throw a can of coins and they don't like the noise so they stop barking. I hope it works. They don't really listen when I say no barking. I'll let you know if it works. Then I'll have other problems to work out with my maltese, he likes to destroy stuff when he's unsupervised or when we go out and the yorkie joins in. We saw couch stuffing in both of their poop. My yorkie doesn't do it when she is left alone....but joins in on his mischief.

P.S. I tried shaking the can 1st that didnt work they still barked but when I threw the can that had a much better effect. Seems to be working, the bad thing is I have to do it everytime they bark.

Honeyvixen82 ... welcome to the forum! I know everyone here has read our method about a bzillion times but it worked in one day for us ... soooo ... here goes! :) We also read this method in one of the many books we studied before we made a decision to buy a Yorkie ... if you use a crate ... the second day we had Toto, when we put her in her crate to nap, she started yipping! We had read that when they do this, simply tap on the metal part of the crate with a metal object. The theory being that if they do something you don't like, in turn you should do something that they don't like and I can assure you Toto doesn't like to hear metal on metal!! :p [I used a little metal curtain rod, and it only took about 6 times and she never did it again ... each time I tapped, at the same time I firmly said "NO"!] This also helped her to learn the "No" command! :) We WANT her to bark ... we just want her to know when it's OK to do it and when not to! She learned that if we firmly tell her "No" ... that means that she better quit whatever she is doing, because it's wrong! This has worked wonderfully for us and if you choose to try it, I hope it works for you! These little guys are the most wonderful discoveries we have ever made! Toto is our joy!! ;)

Here's a quick fix...at least something quick you can try.

Otis is terrified of those birthday curl-out whistle things. The one I had didn't even make noise; it just curled and uncurled. So when he did something I didn't like, all I would have to do is REACH for it, and he would stop.

Thank you all
 

Thank you for the welcome bettyeanne. :) It seems there are alot of different ways to do this but most have to do with a sound. (and some with an action) I guess I just have to find the one my dogs don't like and is most convienient. Thanks for all the help everyone! I appreciate it. :D

An annoying sound to them is key. Welcome to YorkieTalk Honeyvixen82! Hope the training methods works out for ya!

Thank you very much fasteddie. :) My yorkie got it pretty quick for today anyway. My maltese isnt getting it though. It's calmed him but he still lets out a bark. He seems to be slower than my yorkie at learning things. Yorkies are very smart dogs, so I have noticed.

Oh yeah since JuneBug is mentioning one of the things her yorkie is scared of....I'll mention mine too lol :D I thought it was funny..She is afraid of fire hydrants. I tried to show her there is no reason to be scared of it by going near it and comforting her but she wouldn't go near it.

Hahah, I thought all dogs wanted to pee on fire hydrants? Or maybe that's just naughty boy doggies. :P Yoda sure loves doing it!

Hi Honeyvixen! I have a malt and a yorkie too!!!!! Bentley (malt) is 3 years old and Mia (yorkie) is 1. My maltese is my barker and I must say, he very good at it! He has this high pitch, ear piercing bark and does it everytime someone knocks at the door or enters the house. He has been neutered but I think he has some territorial aggression which I think is the reason behind the barking. Other than that he was a breeze at housebreaking, he's very smart and seems to understand a lot of what I say to him. He's also very attached to me...a one person dog and he really doesn't interact much with other people...he's devoted to his mommy :-). I have tried everything to get him to stop, penney's in the can, squirt bottle, slapping my hand with a rolled up news paper & a stern NO! None of those worked on him, my new method is blowing a whistle and that works better than anything. The problem with the whistle is that sometimes I forget to put it on. Mia isn't a barker and I guess she sees Bentley getting in trouble for it that she doesn't want her mommy getting onto her. She is very sensitve, sweet nature, loving to all..she's a little angel, I tell everyone she's a gentle soul. Neither of mine are destructive but Mia has been a challenge in the housebreaking. If you have some problems with destructive behaviours I would consider crate training them. Tell me all about your pupster's. Everyone always ask me to compare the two breeds, so what's your take on the yorkie and the malt?

Hello Luvmypupster :) Precious ( yorkie) is going to be 2 years old this September and Lucky (maltese) is a year old. Lets see now to compare them. Precious was not easy to housebreak but Lucky was a breeze as well. Both are smart dogs but my malt is just a bit stubborn when it comes to being obidient. Both very loving dogs. My maltese loves everyone but will still bark at any sounds he hears. My yorkie on the other hand doesn't like strangers. Precious used to chew things up too not as badly as the maltese. I gave her a stern NO when I caught her and she eventually stopped. It is hard to stop my maltese since he only does it if no one is in the room or if we go out. I have caught him a few times and told him NO but it still hasn't sunk in. My yorkie grew out of it so I'm hoping he will too. When family visits precious jumps on them as she whines. Lucky doesn't jump but leans on theirs legs. Sometimes Precious will even bite their hand as shes jumping from the excitement. I been trying to teach her to calm down by telling the visitors to telll her to sit before they pet her. She will sit for like a second then return to jumping on them. Neither one of my dogs is fixed. I been looking into getting precious spade. A maltese and yorkie mix can be cute but I think 2 dogs and a cat is enough since I live in an apartment. Here's a website of a really cute yorkie maltese mix for an example. http://www.geocities.com/blt22.geo/angels_page.htm

Try the water squirter method!
 

Now this method has always worked for me over the years. I found that if you fill a water squirter bottle with tepid water..(the sort you spray plants with) as soon as they start to bark..squirt them with it..The shock of the water is generally not liked and I found it worked for me. Also I found if I left the bottle where it could be seen..it said to them..''hey if we bark again..we know what will happen''' I found this method good really and not too cruel.

I do know about consistent barking..our last yorkie..sadly no more became very poorly for most of the early part of this year. and one of his problems was that he consistently barked at everything..but thats another story really.!

Still give it a try..it can't hurt can it.. :)

Whistles, party favor blow-things, and water squirter bottles. Heheheh... funny what things we can use to make our Yorkies stop barking! :)

Well I have tried them all , the water bottle the Quiet the can with coins. Nothing works. I don't mind chester barking when people come to the door. But how in the world do i get him to stop... even if i pick him up he will not stop barking... it is anoying... Help please. Anyother suggestions.