My wife has always had small dogs. In our 37 years, she has had a Poodle, 2 Schnauzers, and now a Yorkie-Poo. We've been lucky, and never had a yapper, till now.

Tucker, aka Tucker Butt, aka Butt Head, is making up for the others. He is the absolute orneriest little terror we have ever been exposed to. He and I have a blast together. He might be my wife dog, but he's my buddy. If he wants to play, or start some shit, he comes looking for me. That's the good part.

He's an 11 pound dog, with a 30 pound bark. And we're not talking bark, bark, yip, yip, bow wow. We're talking HOLY SHIT, THE MONGOLS ARE COMING THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, AND GENGIS KAHN IS IN THE LEAD.

It doesn't make any difference if it's the neighbors pulling out of their drive, the mailman, the bathroom door closing, me coming upstairs, or walking down the hall, or god forbid, someone dropping grape on the kitchen floor. He goes off like it's the end of the world.

We've had him for a year and a half, and he's done this occasionally, but it seems to be getting worse. I have a great time with this little guy, but there has got to be a way to cut down on the barking. He's going to give one of us a heart attack.

Any help would really be appreciated.

Aloha,

Get an industrial strength spray bottle.

One that can shoot a Stream of water 10 plus feet.

Every time the dog barks, tell it NO and spray it.

Worked with our dog(s).

PS Get several bottles and leave all over the house.

That way you don't have to go looking for the bottle.

Worked for us.

Course, if the dog likes to play with water.......

What do you do when he barks? Is he partially looking for a reaction?

My lab while he didn't bark like that he would jump up on me when I came home. He ended up being a 105lb's lab so this wasn't cool since he would do it to others. He just wanted to say hi and get attention.

I started turning my back on him every time he did it and walking away. This stopped it as he just wanted attention but didn't know he was too big to jump on people. After a few weeks he would still run up to me and others but would stand there wagging his tail.

Your dog seems like he may be reacting to something he hears. How old is your dog?

Terriers are a bit crazy anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by YogiBear:
Aloha,

Get an industrial strength spray bottle.

One that can shoot a Stream of water 10 plus feet.

Every time the dog barks, tell it NO and spray it.

Worked with our dog(s).

PS Get several bottles and leave all over the house.

That way you don't have to go looking for the bottle.

Worked for us.

Course, if the dog likes to play with water.......

This is a good idea. I forgot it works since my lab would think it was a game but then he would shove his head infront on a hose nozzle on high for fun.

Keep a drag leash on him in the house at all times when you are there with him. You will be amazed at how it will change his behavior. He may try and chew it so if and when he does sternly correct him. The leash' are about a buck .50 so buy several if he is a chewer.

When he goes off grab the leash and walk him around the house. Give him several stop and sit commands. He should do it with out a command. Once he calms you should be good till the next episode. Take him outside if you have to. It will work. But you have to do it consistantly.

Obviously each household is unique. A household with small children/toddlers this might not be a good idea. Or very young puppies.

This technique for us has helped with young dogs needing behavior modification.

Also, have tiny treats on you and give him a small treat as a reward when doing this.

I am not a fan of the water treatment.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

Hard to beat a bark collar. Look for one that starts with a mild stimulus and increases with each bark. They learn quickly.

Ok, I’m going to go against the grain here.

He is trying to protect you by letting you know that, in his mind, something is wrong. Noise…movement, doesn’t matter, he is doing his job.

Stun gun?

I keed I keed

Yogi, the water bottle is interesting. I have heard of people using them on cats, but I never thought about using one on a dog. It might surprise him, and get his attention.

Comet, He does get a reaction from us. Usually it's HOLY SHIT TUCKER. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU BARKING AT? When he does this, it's usually totally unexpected. He's about 2 1/2 years old, and all these are normal noises he hears every day. When he does it, it just scares the crap out of you.

old rugged cross, I had never heard of that, but it sounds interesting. We'd have to keep the other end of the leash attached to one of us. He knows he's doing something wrong. As soon as you look at him, he takes off, but he doesn't stop barking.

Oday, my wife has been looking at collars.

olfuzzy, he might be doing his job, but we need to find a way to get him to go part time. These are normal house noises. We're talking the stuff he's around every day. I guess we've had him closer to 2 years, and I would have thought he would have figured out the difference between normal and not normal sounds.

synthplayer, at 2:00 in the morning, I can't say it didn't cross my mind.

Bark collar.

No mudflapp. A light weight 3' or 4' leash and just leave it on him. Let him drag it wherever he goes in the house. He will get used to it. In the house the leash is on, period as long as you are in the house with him. Trust me on this one. It works.

This is not just a method for controlling his barking. It is a method for better overall behavior. When he goes ballistic, get a hold of the leash immeadiately and change/redirect his behavior. Do not scold him though. Just redirect his focus on doing what you want him to do. And reward him once he does what you want him to do.

Sounds a bit like he needs a reality check on the pecking order of the pack there. The leash will put the two of you in control. Tiny treats only when he does what you want when he is on the leash during one of these sessions will help him figure out that his place is to do what you want when you want it. Not what he thinks is best.

If you throw things in your dog’s direction, spray them, and/or make sudden, extremely loud noises (either with an air horn, a penny can, or by growling yelling):

Your dog is quite likely to become scared of you;
Or (more) scared of the thing they were barking at in the first place;
Or scared of the area in which this happened;
Or scared of some other random thing that was present when scary things started to happen.
Your dog may shut down in general, as behaviors are suppressed without alternatives being reinforced.
Your dog may redirect aggression, i.e. bite you or another vulnerable member of your household: a child, a cat, another dog.
Your dog may develop a “punishment callus.” This is very common. Since very few people really want to hurt or startle their dogs, people usually start out lightly with the aversive. The result is that the aversive must be escalated over time to appear effective. You will eventually reach a limit, either with what you can physically do, or what you are emotionally willing to do, to scare your dog. Then what? I do have to wonder how many times those throw bags have been thrown at the dogs instead of near them, no matter what the instructions are.
References on fallout from aversives.

Oh and by the way, it’s not just the dog who can get ill effects. If the actions you take successfully interrupt the barking (note that I didn’t say solve it; just get rid of it momentarily):

You will be reinforced for using aversives, becoming more likely to do so again;
You will likely increase the severity of the interruption as time passes (see above). Barking is a natural dog behavior and very difficult to suppress successfully.

My weird sense of humor kicked in & the first thing I thought of was "drug his food - at least that way you might get ONE good night's sleep". But I'm thinkin that's probably out of the question, right?

rattle can worked wonders for our Dobie at a certain age.

It worked for all sorts of behavior mod, very successfully.

Also, 'command voice' rather than coochy coo inquiry voice (What IS it pooch?) far more effective.

There's a lot of choices out there in training land. Long ago "Wodehouse" was a marvelous coach for modifying doggie behavior; I'm sure she's long gone.

The trainers I liked taught in 'my pack' it was up to ME to become the 'alpha dog'....otherwise expect to be treated as something else by the rest of your pack....barking at you.

Put some pennies in can (like a can from some beans). Tape the lid on.

When he barks, shake the can hard and say no. They apparently can't stand the sound.

quote:

Put some pennies in can (like a can from some beans). Tape the lid on.

When he barks, shake the can hard and say no. They apparently can't stand the sound.

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That is predicated upon your not minding that sound. Barking might be preferable. The dog also might think the owner is slowly losing his mind, maybe getting early onset dementia. LOL

'pennies in a can' IS a 'rattlecan'.

It was a simple and very effective tool once WE learned how/when to use it.

Psychoanalytic techniques on a dog generally are ineffective; behavioral modification really IS effective.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Put some pennies in can (like a can from some beans). Tape the lid on.

When he barks, shake the can hard and say no. They apparently can't stand the sound.

Mrs DF makes a noise with her voice that is so offensive that none of our pets dared misbehave after the first time. She has even used it on me.....

[quote]Mrs DF makes a noise with her voice that is so offensive that none of our pets dared misbehave after the first time. She has even used it on me.....

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Thanks for a good laugh. I appreciate good humor.

This type of behavior is often the result of a dog that doesn't get daily exercise and/or mental challenge sufficient to drain his energy and leave him feeling satisfied he's done a day's work most every day. Energy that doesn't get drained has to come out somehow, and often it's in ways displeasing to the humans in the house. A tired dog is a good dog. Different dogs have different energy levels. It's up to the owner to determine how much daily exercise the dog needs, and then provide it.

If you don't already, take the dog on daily brisk walks where he has to spend a good chunk of time in heel. Treadmills and swimming pools can be a alternatives to walking, if walking is a problem for the owner. Also, find some activities such as agility, hide-and-seek (using toys, treats, etc.), obedience, that he can participate in daily. Such activities will give him a sense that you have provided a job for him to do, so he doesn't have to find one, i.e., alerting to every sound he hears. It's important that the exercise not just be running around, playing, chasing a ball, chasing birds, etc. Some of it needs to be structured and controlled by the humans, so that the dog sees the humans as in charge of all activities.

quote:

If he wants to play, or start some shit, he comes looking for me.

This sounds like he's free to get excited when he wants, which is kind of at the heart of the problem, probably. The humans need to take control of when it's time to be excited, and when it's not, and also control the level of intensity during playtime. If he barks during playtime, I'd stop play, and resume when he calms a bit, considering the current problem. Assuming the alert barking and play both often occur in the same areas of the home, I'd also try to designate a play area away from where he normally alerts, if possible, in order to try to get him to stop associating the excitement of play with alerting. Just like with children, dogs sometimes need to be managed with regards to proper time and place for excitement and play.

Finally, if he doesn't know already, patiently but firmly teach him the meaning of the word "no," as well as "go to your place," or "go to your spot," and provide a bed or crate he goes to when commanded to do so. Rewards are fine when teaching him to go to a designated spot; he should consider it a good thing, not a punishment. When he starts to bark, get between him and the area he's headed to and tell him "no"..."go to your spot." The goal is to train him that after one or two barks, his job is to go to his spot. Get someone to go outside while on the phone with you and make a sound such as closing a car door, etc., while you work with the dog inside. With someone outside to create the kinds of sounds that trigger the dog, you can replicate the problem and address it over and over, until he learns he's not supposed to keep barking, but instead to bark and then go to his spot.