I wish pennies in a can worked for Howie! That only seemed to tick him off and make him start barking furiously. Sigh. Same thing with the squirt bottle.

Ok, here's what's given me relative success. First I got one of those bark boxes they sell at Petsmart. It's a small box with a button on top and speakers. When your dog starts barking it emits a high pitched noise only the dog can hear to quiet it down. You can also press the button yourself if you want to use it as a training tool. My problem with that was that the one I bought didn't typically pick up Howie's barking (which seems impossible to me) so I always had to press the button. Effective for awhile but eventually he got accustomed to it and didn't care.

Then I watched an episode of "It's Me or the Dog" and not surprisingly this same issue with two yorkies was one of the stories. What she taught on the show is to keep treats in your pocket. When the dog starts barking at the door, a noise, wherever bring out a treat and make them sit and stay. By the time they get the treat they forget what they were barking at to begin with.

When all else fails, good old fashioned yelling usually does the trick.

That is a good point to bring up! I know certain barks that she has. The house I live in, I have the ENTIRE basement, so if someone comes down to do laundry, or the rottie barks, Fiona will bark, and I know that she is typically "alerting the pack" and thats fine, I'll say, " thank you, thats enough" and she can stop. Then there are times when I'll have her in the car with me, and if my boyfriend is driving, she is usually on my lap, well, if there is someone walking on the street, she is barking through the window, which i think she is protecting me, however, when we go outside, and dogs are near, she just starts yapping! I had her out the other morning, and this really sweet lady whom is in a motorized wheelchair takes her 2 pit mixs out every day for their walk, and fiona was just barking away and ran towards her dogs, they didnt even pay mind to her, and she says to me " wow, she just wants to say hi" and just keeps going! it really annoys me, because its not just one little bark, its a whole series! My aunt is a really good trainer and she taught me to pinch at the side of her neck and make a loud noise, which seemed to work at first, but now it doesnt do anything! I just tried giving her treats outside, and NOTHING! I just don't know what else to do. She will be 11 months on the 29th, so I"m sure I can still shake this!

* looks like i wrote a novel now too! he he *

Same here! When Toby is on my bed with me, my son will come through the kitchen stomping and making all kinds of noise. It tears Toby up. He'll stand at the end of my bed like he's protecting me, barking and growling up a storm. Funny thing is, when my son pops into the room Toby makes a mad dash to go and hide behind me!!! He is such a weenie, lol.

Cash is really bad with the barking. He used to be able to get out of our house (we moved out) and since there were construction crews all around, he used to follow them, barking like crazy and he would even bite them around the ankles!!!!! :eek:
He can't get out any more, so he is under close observation all the time now. I am appalled that it got so bad, but we are working on it. We are moving into a flat in a week's time, so he really needs to stop barking!

door rings.
 

my 2 yorkies bark always when the door rings, they stop when I shout on them, sometimes, they don't stop and then I stand up that stops their barking.