The barking
 

Has anyone used any form of bark collar. Lily gets so excited and starts barking which gets Bella very upset and make an outing a chore. You can't even get her to listen when she gets like this I was wondering if anyone has used one of these and did it work and did you only have to use it for a short while for lesson to be learned. They come with a small shock or a spray . Thanks

I wouldn't use the shock style collar. Some people here have had success using a spray bottle combined with commands.

Is Lily barking during the walk/outing? Are there certain triggers like dogs and people?

I sympathize because Max barks when he is excited. It helps to take him out alone periodically to train. He isn't food motivated outdoors, so treat training doesn't help. We do train indoors for basic commands and that does help. Frequent practice being around barking triggers also helps.

For the most part Lily is a good girl but if she even thinks she is going out side or for a ride in the car she goes crazy there is nothing that gets her attention and it goes on and on once she is outside and playing she is fine . When we come home from being gone she does the same thing. I am starting to see her do the same thing with getting a treat and if I don't get it under control it will be all the time and very hard to correct. We have been able to train alot of other thing out of Lily like biting when she was young but this one I am having no success .

Her sister Bella 3 years old ( Lily almost a year) is a sweet gentle calm little girl that gets very upset with all the barking and it makes a fun happy time not so fun.

I would never ever use a shock collar especially on smaller dogs because it's not good for their little bodies and well it's kinda cruel. Have you looked into a trainer? We also have to remember barking is their voice.

I know I dont like the idea of the shock collar but I was thinking of the one that sprays . A trainer is a nice idea but they cost quite a bit of money so that won't work for us. Thanks for the though. I dont mind some barking thats how they talk put when its not productive it needs to be controlled .

I have never but know people who have. Our yorkie isn't a yapper.

You can look up training techniques online from trainers. Positive reinforcement works a lot better then negative. I would also worry about the spray possibly being toxic ex specially for small breeds.

Your situation sounds similar to ours. Max shows his excitement about going out by barking. Teddy gets annoyed, although he grown more accustomed to it.

When Max starts to bark, I correct him with "settle down" or "quiet" or "no bark." If he doesn't listen, I sit down at my computer and ignore him. Max will start performing 'good boy' sits. :D I get up again to finish putting on harnesses, etc. If he barks, I sit down and ignore him again. Teddy meanwhile starts moping or rolling his eyes. ;):)

I understand that it is hard balancing the training with 2 dogs with 2 different needs.

I am not against training collars - but I most definitely am against using the shock mode -- I would *not* use shock mode. Try it on yourself first, on the very lowest shock setting - and see for yourself - it's just AWFUL feeling! It's way too big of a shock for a small yorkie (or any size dog, really, imho).

HOWEVER, two things....1) these collars also have beep mode and a vibration mode -- neither of which is painful, uncomfortable, or cruel - these are modes that can get their attention readily and interrupt whatever behavior is occurring. Like this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And 2) you could also try the non-collar bark genie, however, it will also affect your other dog...which may not be preferred.

I've used a spray bottle with just plain water. The idea is to shock her into stopping the bark by using something that will quickly get her attention. No harm done but consistantly using the spray bottle with water soon made her realize when I picked the bottle up what was going to happen. Won't hurt to try it on your little one.

Thanks for all the suggestions I do have a bark gene but as you would expect it works on Bella but not the problem child :) LOL

Sometimes I don't think they know what we want from them and we have to find something to get there attention at the moment they do it so they go Oh you mean you don't want me to bark so much. I wonder if I got one of the spray ones I would only have to use it once or twice and message received .

Lily is a 8 plus lb girl she is full of life and over coming a bone defect called IHOC it is quite rare. While having her nails trimmed at the Vets it was fractured and now seems to be remolding its self. She is a fighter and we love her so much. Bella doesn't alway share our feeling for Lily.

Thanks again for listing

I know all about the barking. It can be very frustrating. But please don't use a shock collar :(

Despite the frustrations, I still believe training is the best source to correct behaviours. Of the many things I've read, I found this post from YT particularly useful:

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

It suggests 3 barks, "enough" command, "quiet" command. I think it's pure genious!
I think my babies have learned this...to the best of their ability. It's a "continuing education" type of training ;)

As I said I'm not interested in the shock collars but the spray collars will do the spraying much faster and on cue you can get the unsented spray as well . I have tried the water spray and again it did work with Bella but lily Loves water it was just a game to her. So this is why I am looking into the collar Not the shock collar. the spray one. Just wanted to know if anyone has used it with success

I have two little ones that bark in unison whenever they see me take out their leashes, hear my keys when getting ready to leave, feeding time and whenever they hear the word "bye bye " it drives me absolutely bonkers, rattles the nerves for sure! I would never consider a shock collar but eager to hear all suggestions

Citronella spray
 

My friend used a spray collar to train a dog to not bark when he left his apartment. It worked half way through the second cartridge (2 weeks +\-). However, the dog was 25 pounds, and the citronella was pretty strong. I'm not sure how it would work for a really small dog.

You might try youtube, and search teaching your dog to bark. Once they have learned to bark on command it is easier to teach them quiet on command. That way you could let them bark until leashes are on, or after you leave the house, or.... whenever you want. That way they don't have to be "quiet" all the time, but you could at least have a break from the constant sound.
Imagine if you pick up the leashes and have to tell them to bark :) We can just see all their faces light up, right? We'll... it is worth a try!

Thanks I wonder if the spray can be turned down . Lilys bark when she is exited is shrill and high pitched and loud I know she is happy and so excited for whats coming put its like nails on a choke board if she would just bark normal I think I could take it. :)

Check the measurements online. The cartridge is pretty big (about the size of a C size Battery?) would that be too much for her to carry around?
You might be able to turn it down, but I think it dripped out of the cartridge too after the new cartridge went in.

Believe me, I understand the shrill sound grating on your nerves, but if they are doing it all the time it makes you crazy no matter what type of bark they have LOL.

The more I think about it the more I wonder if that personality just really needs a challenge, I imagine she is super smart? Sounds like she's a pistol. Bark on command should be 100% easy for her to learn. Then if the quiet doesn't work, no harm done, at least you will have kept her mind moving for awhile.

Maybe take her to a pet store and try one on her? Read about them online lots of people give reviews on Amazon. That would probably help quite a bit.

What has helped me with my two is an air spray can, which is made for this purpose. It makes a loud sound that immediately gets their attention. They do not like the sound. I purchased mine at a local pet store. Now all I have to say is "can" & they will quiet down. The good thing is that they are not actually frightened by the container and they will both go up to the can & sniff it.

I personally would never use citronella spray as I can't imagine that being good for their little lungs. I even keep mine away from anything I spray, like my hairspray or cleansers. They know they have to be in another room when I use it.

The spray can that sounds like an Idea maybe I will look into that or what about a can of just spray air a little puff of air may get there attention. Thanks for the Idea.:)

I should have given you the name of it. It is called Pet Corrector. It is a bright orange can & comes in 2 sizes at our store. I picked up a couple small ones (30 ml) - easy to carry in a pocket, purse or in my Yorkies travel (diaper) bag. Lol

I wanted to add those collars spray citronella and that IS toxic to dogs.

Personally, I would not use a spray collar - I'd much more recommend using the beep/vibration collar over a spray. The spray collars are much more aggressive than a beep or vibration. Also, they can pick up on OTHER dogs barking, so then your dog can get sprayed when doing absolutely nothing wrong.

Just fyi...at the shelter where I volunteer, we're required (if trained) to carry Citro spray anytime we're doing dog-to-dog introductions - it's imperative for safety issues of the dog and people. We only use it as a LAST recourse. Here's how we use it: if something minor is occurring, we first just spray it away from the dogs - startling them w/ the sound, if the behavior continues - we then spray it just near the dogs, and if absolutely necessary for safety - we only then spray it in the general direction of the dog's faces - to save from physical injury.

Citronella spray is *very* unpleasant for dogs and really should only be used, in my opinion, when physical safety is in question. I do not think it should be used for general training.

The aggressiveness of training assistants goes like this: clicker -> bark genie (or other RF device) -> beep collar -> vibration collar -> citro spray, handheld -> citro spray collar -> shock collar.