barking at everyone
 

Our yorkie, Brody is 13 months old. About 3 months ago he started barking at everybody who came to our door. Including family members who come visit us frequently. Somedays he will bark only a little, and other days for several minutes, and sometimes his tail is wagging (which makes me believe he is happy to see them) but other days he has barked & growled and sounds so mean. I correct him right away and for the most part he will listen, but will growl alittle under his breath. When I pick him up he will stop barking...but continue with that little growling. He is not fixed yet, and for the most part really likes people. I dont understand this barking behavior at people he knows so well (they play with him and hold him frequently). When we take him for rides in the car he will freak out barking at people he sees, so I have been trying to work with him on this too. Is this barking behavior ever going to stop? We have a dog and a cat and he will bark at them too, but he loves to play with them? Im confused..I've never had a dark do this before. We love him so much and I dont want people to think he is mean or to be afraid of him, because we like to take him with us often. Any advice, please....would be appreciated.

Does he only do this at home, or does he bark and growl at people in public too?

I had an issue with this as well. To me, it seemed that Fiona was a ball of terror when she was a little puppy, and as soon as she hit about a year and a half, she was a totally diffrent dog. she literally grew out of her bad habbits...sometimes, you need to ignore bad behavior, but other times you need to pay attention to it. If anything, ask your vet what you can do, good luck.

Mine used to bark at everyone, but she grew out of it.

He does it every where we go. We went camping this weekend and a little boy ran towards him to pet him and he freaked out barking, and growling, I was afraid he was going to bite him.

OK the last one I understand. A little kid RUNNING up to a dog is likely to start them barking, especially little dogs. But I understand where you're coming from, our little Gracie (1 yr. 9 mo. old) barks too, and at times it grates my nerves and it feels like it's starting to turn into a problem. I'm even thinking of buying one of those electronic Dog Barking repellers or whatever they're called. I know there's a lot of threads on this

Barking repeller
 

Amazon.com: Pet Parade Dog Repeller and Training...
OK does anyone think these things are cruel ? I've seen others used by dog trainers, military, etc. and of course there are different types and price ranges available to be sure.

Please be brutally honest, I do not get my feelings hurt. Has anyone had success with them, hate them, or think that they don't work ?

I'm having a barking problem like brodynbre's and have tried just about everything I can think of to correct it.

ahhhhh I am having the same problem, he barks at anything and everyone, even when i talk him out for walks or to stores. He has been to training classes which helped but didn't help for the barking I hope it does away soon. He will be a year old on sunday the 15th.

I have (and still do) used the dog repeller. It is NOT mean or cruel and has worked wonders with Toby. Whenever he starts barking for no reason I press it once and he stops. It's almost to the point now all I have to do is show it to him and he stops barking. And what's odd, is whenever I press it, he not only stops barking but runs straight to me. Megansmomma also has one (she's the one that told me about them) and said it has worked wonders for her as well.

So there is hope after all !!!
 

Thank you !!! That's what I wanted to know. I've ordered one and will try it out when she's being bad. I'd like to clarify that I don't want to discourage her from barking, just the darned "nuisance barking"....i.e. acting mad-dog around people she already knows and shouldn't be barking at.

Thank you for your input diannenet, it is appreciated !!!! :cool: