He barks at everything!
 

I think I jinxed myself. A few months ago I wrote in a post that JoJo rarely barks. Well, he has since found his voice and boy oh boy, does he love using it. He barks at EVERYTHING. Birds chirping, trees rustling, cars that drive by, school kids walking by, a ringing phone, even the TV. He's broken two sets of blinds from going crazy when he sees or hears something outside. I've tried the coins in a can, a spray bottle, saying "no bark", even praising him when he's NOT barking to see if that would work...but to no avail.

It's gotten so bad that I'm afraid my neighbors will start to complain (he's got a big dog bark). I don't know what else to do at this point. Just a few months ago he rarely barked, and now at 1 1/2 years old it's constant...I never saw this coming!

I was wondering if obedience classes would be beneficial for a barking problem? If anyone could share some success stories with obedience classes (or any method that worked for you) and barking I'd appreciate it, as it would give me some hope for my ears lol.

I saw no one replied to you yet but you aren't alone - my Chanel has always been more vocal than Cheri but since I had to move and now work fulltime - she's worse....she sits in the window and waits to bark at the littlest thing - I'll close it and she looks at me like "why mom ?" but I haven't found a good solution yet -

My son told me my girls NEVER bark when I'm not here - only when I'm home - so it could be a protective thing ? I've also asked my neighbors and they've never heard them bark when I'm not here - so small blessing there

hopefully someone will offer you better advise.

Try using Bitter Apple. Most major pet stores carry it. When ever the puppy barks spray a little in their mouth along with the command that you use for them not to bark, i.e. hush or quite.

Trust me, Sugar and Jojo are the same, this bad behavior continues until today :(

barking mad yorkies
 

I think its hard to get a yorkie to stop barking at noises all together because they are such great little watchdogs. But I've tried a few methods on my 3.5 yr old yorkie Paddington who looooooooves to bark at noises that at least get him to stop after one or two barks rather than 500.

First..teach him to speak. Sounds counterintuitive but once you teach them to speak on command then you can teach them to be quiet.
So once he is consistantly speaking on command.(which you can train by whatever method..clicker/treats etc) then tell him quiet...if he stops barking for three seconds reward him. I use treats sometimes/sometimes throwing a ball for him(sometimes toys don't work as well for me b/c paddy is sooooooooo crazy about balls he'll sometimes start barking more..he uses his brain a little better around food lol.) Over time wait for longer periods of quiet before giving a reward.

Now...since yorkies are oh so clever...he will probably decide it is fun to just start barking at you when not asked to get you to reward him for then being quiet. To prevent this becoming a fun game for him. Ignore unsolicited barks in the beginning. Progress slowly to practicing when he barks at doorbells/wind/cars once he has a consistant idea of what "quiet" means. And you don't necessarily have to use the word quiet. you can say enough or
ahh or anything that will make him stop barking for a few seconds. Eventually you should also be able to phase out rewards.

Its a slow process but i have definitely gotten at least some control over the amount of barking using it. And he never really barks unless we are home orsomewhere where he spends a lot of time...so i think it is territory protection. Good luck and hope this helps!

One thing you can try will take a little time but it can work if you only have 1 or 2 dogs.
First you teach the dog to bark and respond to you when you say "Speak". You train them to do this on purpose barking and treat when you say "speak" and they do. Then you continue that trick by teacking them to stop speaking when you say "Enough". So what you are teaching them is to bark on command but also to stop on command. Like I said this works very well if you have only one dog and for up to 2. If you have a pack it is much less effective.

Oh boy, hopefully we'll both figure out a way to lessen their barking soon!

I've heard this is a good method, and I have actually tried it, but I can't seem to figure out how to get him to "speak". He just looks at me like "huh?". He gets confused and sits, lays, tries to give me his paw...lol. All he sees is a treat in my hand and has no idea what he's supposed to do to get it! But if this is so effective, I'll continue to try it.

I think you and I have the same issue. JoJo never barks when I'm not around. I never considered it could be a protective issue...I just assumed it's like with children who feel they can get away with more when they're with their mother than with others.

I do have bitter apple, but haven't used it since he was a puppy. Is it safe to spray it in his mouth directly? I never considered that as an option, but if it's safe I'll definitely consider it as I remember when he was biting as a pup he hated the taste of it.

keep going with the speak...he will figure out how to get the treat eventually At first I would also bark a little bit myself to get mine to bark. It seems really silly to make them do it but it really does work. I'm actually watching "Its me or the dog" right now and she's shown yet another way to do the same thing. Instead of teaching them to speak on command teach them the stop command..first she gave the dogs treats everytime she said stop. Then she would stay stop when they weren't paying attention to her and if they came over to her when she said it they got a reward. Then finally she rang the doorbell to get them to bark and then said stop and they stopped and looked for their treat.

It probably takes a lot longer in reality than on the show but at least there are a few options. Patience is key with all training.

I wouldn't spray it in his mouth.
Here are the ingredients: isopropanol, bitter principles and extractives.

Isopropanol:
Isopropyl alcohol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

extractives:
Extractives - definition from Biology-Online.org

I love Victoria, she's really good and I like her methods. I will have to try this myself. Sometimes I wonder if anything will work for him because he's got a mind of his own and can be verrrrry stubborn (as most yorkies are haha). But I will definitely try it, thanks. :thumbup:

Thanks for the info. I was a bit leary about spraying "directly" in his mouth. What I think I'll do is dilute some in a spray bottle and use that instead of plain water.

Looks like I've got lots of different methods to try. Hopefully one of these works for my stubborn furbutt! Thanks everyone. :D

Pennies in a can are very effective for some (although they do nothing for others lol). We just bought the Pet Parade Dog Repeller and WOW it is GREAT. It worked wonders on Bandit (he only barked at one person on a 4 mile walk full of people....hooray) however, it wasn't overly effective for Nala but she responds well to the pennies in a can. The Pet Parade button was so effective I now just need to say SHHH and he won't bark (I can tell when he's getting ready to). Good luck:thumbup::thumbup:

I did actually try that same exact repeller. I was so excited because it worked so well for a couple days, then he got used to it and would continue to bark anyway. I'm tellin' ya...he is something else!! :p

But I'm glad to hear it at least works for you! :thumbup:

Derby is the same way. We can't get him to speak, but he won't shut up when he's barking. "No barking" doesn't seem to quiet him down. he just barks barks barks

I'm glad I'm not alone!

And it's frustrating and cute to see him trying all the tricks he knows because he doesn't understand what i'm asking.

What kind of reward are you using to get him to speak? Use something he REALLY would want (high value reward) and he may be more motivated to figure it out. If there is a toy that makes noise that would encourage him to bark that would help too.

Here is a helpful link!
How to Train Your Dog to Bark on Command | eHow.com