Barking barking and more barking ughhhh what's a mommy to do ?
 

So apparently Gizmo has become a fabulous barker, thanks to his kitty Lucy who teases him while they play. I think Lucy knows it scares the other cats, and now that Gizmo is allowed upstairs with the other kitties, Lucy instigates him to bark more than ever. How do I train Gizmo to only bark when say someone is at the. Door or something, instead of constantly barking? A dog barks outside, Gizmo barks. Lucy sits up on the table to tease him, he barks. He hears the waves crash on the shore (were right at the beach) Gizmo barks. Gizmo barks at everything lately in the last week or so. Any hot tips on how to quite him? I've tried stern commands of no bark, talking gently saying quiet, distracting him to other activities, nothing works, in fact, the more you try to stop the barking the more he barks. I've even thought well maybe if I just ignore him he will stop, nope he can pretty much bark forever and then some. I am at a loss and my ears are going crazy lol. Any advice of things to try that I have not thought of would be greatly appreciated. I have even tried a squirt bottle, and trying to separate him from Lucy so she can't instigate, it was a no go on those too. I am at a complete loss :-(

Spray bottle with water and if the plain water doesn't work add a few drops of vinegar to the water. If I even pick the bottle up Gunner stops barking.

All I heard was "we're right on the beach" and something about ocean waves. ahhhhh ;):)

Kidding! Here is a thread with some ideas: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...h-barking.html

Max gets a little too talkative when he hasn't had enough exercise, and he is in love with the power of his voice. He can be really stubborn about it, so I can relate to having tried all of the usual tricks.

The one thing that seems to work for us is a party air horn. I don't have to actually use it. Instead, after giving the command to "quiet," I pick it up and say, "Do you want the horn?" (anyone reading this, never hold the horn close to a dog or point it directly at them, and this isn't for sensitive Yorkies). It really isn't that loud, but he doesn't like it.

You do have a big challenge with a kitty who likes to egg on Gizmo.

Be very careful with vinegar. I wouldn't risk it because of the potential harm you can do to the eyes.

Yea I would never use vinegar, I would be way to scared of it burning his eyes. If it weren't for kitty Lucy I probably wouldn't even have this problem ughhhhh. Yea the spray bottle doesn't work at all lol, I can spray him all I want and he thinks I'm playing with him. I will have to read that suggested thread and see if there is anything I haven't tried. I've even put him in time out in his pen lol, like I used to with my daughter when she was little, but apparently it worked better with a human child than a fur one, of course it doesn't hurt that Lucy patiently waits outside the pen till his time out is over hahaha. I threatened my husband I'm just going to put all 3 cats and Gizmo in our very large bathroom upstairs to work it out and not let them out till they are all quiet lol, hey you never know, it might work ;-)

I found that with Jess all that worked was saying "no barking" loudly then picking her up and putting her in the laundry room (which she hates) for a minute. If she comes out and does the same thing I repeat. She seems to be getting it. She let the kids on the bus with the neighbors this morning without going ballistic...

I used an aspirin bottle I would shake it and say bad dog, the noise would snap him out of it and he would walk over to me. Now all I have to say is bad dog and he stops and comes to sit next to me.

dog
 

Here is a last resort thing to try. I really do not like it but y friend's husband was dying and the dogs barking was really upsetting him. So she went to Petsmart and bought a collar that gives off a high pitch sound when they bark. It bothers their ears and it got them to stop barking or at least lower the bark. It does not shock them. I would never do that. But if it is do this or get rid of the dog, I would try this. Hope the barking stops. I tried shaking a can of rocks and that helped a little.

I always say "Enough" in a stern voice! They understand that I mean business, but my husband has no control over their barking and it is very irritating. They bark their fool heads off when he is going outside for a smoke break, and it drives me up a wall! Good luck! I might try the squirt bottle idea......

Yea the problem with Gizmo is any loud noise just makes him excited lol, I think it's because he and Lucy the cat argue a lot when they play, it's unfortunately how they communicate :-( I guess since she can't bark and e can't meow, whoever eats the loudest wins :-) they are quite the pair I tell you haha. I would never consider getting rid of him for anything, and I'm sure eventually I will figure out the magic command that works, I'm hoping its just a phase he's going through as he hasn't been doing it that long, and I'm trying to get control of it before it does become a habit. I so want him to bark when strangers are outside, plus it will also be a task he will be trained to do in the future once he starts training for emergency response. I guess at least I know he's very capable of barking loudly, now I just need to figure out the magic of when to bark :-) I will update if I figure it Out lol. So yea time out does not work, squirt bottle does not work, giving a low voiced command does not work, and anything that is loud as a command such as yelling to making any loud noise is by far the worst as this one just makes him super excited and louder :-( so its going to take some further thought of things to try :-)

You could try the "You Won The Prize!" method!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-barking.html