New Member with Problem Yorkie
 

Hi,

I'm new to Yorkie Talk. We adopted a 16 month Yorkie about 2 months ago. She came from a home with children and other dogs. Roxy has a barking problem. She's not too bad inside but will sometimes sit at the window and bark at people & other dogs that walk by. When we let her outside, she barks very loudly and we usually end up having to take her back inside. We bought a shock collar and have been using it for a month now. We put it on her whenever she goes outside. She gets shocked by the collar, yelps and keeps barking. She will keep barking until whatever is making her bark leaves or we bring her back inside. When we take her on walks, she barks at other dogs even if they are far away from her. The shock collar does not seem to be working. Any advice on what we should do?

Thanks,
Terri

I think using a shock collar is cruel especially when its not working and the dog is repeatedly being shocked

I have no advice for you. But I would never use a shock collar. Try a squirt bottle or canned air

I agree with Chachi. I would never use a shock collar on a Yorkie. If she is yelping, it is probably set too high. A lot of times nothing will work for barking dogs. I used a citronella spray collar for Ellie, which is much more humane, and it didn't work at all. I use the word "quiet" to make her stop barking and she listens on occasion but usually doesn't. Some people get good results by spraying their dog with water. That didn't work for us, so now I have to pour some water on her which seems to work for a little while. Have you tried handing her a toy when she is barking to refocus her attention? It might just be boredom.

Have you seen Cesar Millan's shows? His method of correcting this type of behavior works like a charm and doesn't take but a little while. Maybe go to his web site and look at his movies. If you don't see one with that type of training, then maybe order one.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.co.../dogwhisperer/

Please understand that your dog needs training is all. A shock collar on
a toy dog is not the way to go. If your looking for an easy fix this is not
it. Some Yorkies need more training than others but unless he knows that
his constant barking is wrong he has no idea it is.
Try training using a soda can with coins in it. Stay with him and when he
barks unnecessiarly shake the can rapidly at him telling him NO BARKING.
Continue this when he barks and praise him to no end when
he stops and provide a treat for his good behavior. This must be done
immediately when he stops barking so he knows when he stops he's a good
boy. People don't understand that a dog does not want to be bad but without
being told what to do and how to do it he has no clue. It's much like raising
children. Unless they are told want to do and what not to do they would
not know what is good and what is bad. A yorkie is no different.
It takes lots of patience and believe me they are as smart as they come.
Good luck. If you have a library near you you can possibly get Ceaser Millan's
CD's there.

I totally agree with this

You may want to try training classes - and ARCHIE just gave you some great advise -

Mine girls only bark when in our house, but bark they do at every noise, every person who walks by, each squirrel they see, etc. I have had some success with the pennies in a can (you shake it whenever they bark and say "no barking"), but it only really works when whatever they've been barking at is no longer making noise or in their field of vision.

Wishing you the best of luck at retraining!!!

Hello there, :)

I have never heard of a shock collar before..and to be honest i don't like the sound of it at all :(

I think a distraction of some sort is the answer..a bottle filled with a few stones to shake or just a loud NO! and clapping your hands should work.
My Staffie sometimes barks at a couple of other male dogs that regularly walk past our garden gate..he has taken a dislike to these other males passing 'His territory' and he goes crazy..i just clap my hands very loudly and shout NO! i find this is enough. call your dog to you and then give a treat. Give it a try. :thumbup:

you can easily teach yorkies a no bark command if you take the time. We have done it. When the bark say no bark real loud, and they will look at you. when they stop barking say GOOD boy or GOOD girl.

This had worked for us because Ryoko was scared of thunder, we did the no bark and kinda petted and cuddled with him to make sure he knew that he was ok. Also our landlord musta found a critter a few nights ago and was barking at like 3 am, so we said no bark , told him to go back to bed, and he did. sometimes he will kinda wimper and whine to us a bit cause he wants to bark, and tell us he thinks there is danger or something comming, or another dog is barking. but now if we say no bark, he wont bark. When we do want him to bark we say speak and he does it as well.

please get that shock collar off that baby asap.... thats very very cruel.
try any other training method... yorkies bark, thats what they do...

I would NEVER use a shock collar on a small yorkie. It just makes me sick to think about it. Hope someone can help you.

I don't agree with the shock collar at all...this lady is a new member looking for advice...and she will get Good advice from experienced Yorkie owners on here..but lets not give her a hard time..there has been enough negativity on here of late..;) and please don't shout me down for this...but i can just see the way this thread is going to go..:cool:

I do not feel that this is negative, it is very positive to help people, that, maybe have never owned a dog or a small dog.

I would try pennies in a can, the spray bottle, training, heck even a citronella collar but please dont use the shock collar. They are not meant for toy dogs and that your dog is yelping tells me she is in pain

I'm not saying the advice is negative...just worried a new member would be given a hard time for using this 'shock collar' which i myself dont agree with. She has been given some great advice..Archies post especially was very informative and helpful.;)

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Try the pennies in a can. That works great and it doesn't harm the dog at all. Please, if your dog is yelping it's because the shock collar HURTS. Please do not use it.

Thanks
 

Hi there,

Thanks for all of your ideas. We got the shock collar as a last resort. We hated the idea of doing it but we couldn't think of anything else. She really can not continue to bark like this. I know yorkies are barkers but this is out of control. We couldn't even stand letting her out in the morning or late out night to go potty. Her old owners lied to us about why they were giving her up. We found out the other day that they were trying to use her as a breeder but she wouldn't mate and that's why they gave her up. They told us that she was just a family pet and their landlord told them they could only have three dogs. Since she was the last one they got, she was the one that had to go. This was a complete lie. We found out through a good, rescuer friend of ours. Apparently they let her bark and did not train her at all. She is a larger yorkie, about 16 pounds and the collar is bark controlled. It starts out with a small shock and gradually increases in intensity if she continues to bark. We've stopped using the collar because it doesn't work. We've tried the pennies in the can idea, spraying her with water, trying to distract her, etc. She barks agressively at other dogs & noises. It's not a bark out of boredom. I'm going to try the suggestion of positive reinforcement.

I may also consider a training class but she has to get over her agression towards other dogs first. We are trying to socialize her since apparently her previous owners didn't put in the time with her. We try and introduce her to new dogs whenever we can.

Thanks again for the help. I'll keep you updated on how things are going.

Hey there - the training class will help her with the aggression and the barking too - and if you have the money to spend and the time - personal trainers are great if you find a good one - I've never used one but several people I've talked to have - from what I've heard most all were positive experiences

I agree anything but a shock collar :eek: Yorkies are very smart dont underestimate them. She knows she is doing wrong but her urge to do it is obviously stronger than the shock! Maybe some positive reinforcement and classes would helps lots.....

I have a true story for you, I was engaged to a State Trooper for 4 years, he called me one night said we got a call from a lady that said this. My neighbor has a Lab, they have an invisible fence the dog would run thru the fence and scream bloody murder while getting shocked and continue on running. After the people took the collar off the fence was no longer a shock to him BUT when he hit that line where the fence USED to be he would still scream and jerk like he was shocked and continue running. The lady was calling to report the dog as escaped but told this story to them as she reported it. Sorry the shock collar reminded me of it. Dogs are smart! ;)

I just want to welcome you to YorkieTalk!!

You have some good advice. Please don't take offense to all the opinions. This is a great place. I would say if what you're doing isn't working after this amount of time, do try something else.

My little Roxie likes to bark at squirrels and other dogs, it does take time to train them to curb the behavior.

:aimeeyork :) yorkiesmiles & :aimeeyork Bubba & :aimeeyork Roxie

Their necks are so small that I would never put a shock collar on them. Water sprayer, or penny cans are a much better solution. Best of luck with your training.