# My dog won't stop BARKING!



## graficoartista31 (Feb 16, 2007)

Hello there,

When I got my second dog (first time raising a puppy), i found this site to REALLY help me with training issues so I'm now turning to you all again for advice with my older dog. His name is Einiestien and he is a real treat! He is loveable, sociable, and cuddly...but that mouth!!! urgh! And incase it matters, Einie is a spaniel/lab mix of 5 years. 

From as far back as I can remeber, Einie (Einie is my b/f's dog before we met) has always been a barker. Everyone in the family knew einie for his voice. He barks for attention, he barks when he is hyper, he barks at anything that moves in the backyard, he barks when he is seperated from us, and he just barks, barks, barks! We got him a friend (not to stop the barking, but for companionship) about a year ago. I thought for sure einie would train our new dog (davinci) to bark too! To my excitement, davinci still remains the quiet one while einie takes center stage. 

My issue is noise. From the moment we come home from work, till the time we go to bed, einie will bark at EVERY oportune time. If Davinci is playing with a toy, einie barks to entice him to play with him. If einie is outside going potty, not 5 mins will go by before he barks to come in. He barks while he plays, and when no one will play with him. I can't seem to get him to be quiet! We pay PLENTY of attention to him so I know its not out of bordem. I think its more hyperness and playfulness while forgetting to keep his mouth shut. Sometimes it gets so out of hand that we need to inforce the bark collar (which works WONDERS until he notices we took it off out of pitty).

My ears are bleeding! HELP!


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## Annamarie (Oct 14, 2007)

part of the problem sounds like it may be that you're giving in to his demands for attention. if he barks to play or get something from you, ignore him. if he goes outside to potty, let him in BEFORE he barks. if he barks while he's playing, stop playing. etc


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## blackrose (Oct 7, 2006)

Annamarie gave some good advice. 

You have to first understand why he is barking. Is he barking for attention, is he bored, is he being a watch dog....? Once you know why he is barking, you can use that against him. 




> He barks for attention


 Okay, so here is one reason. The next time he barks for attention, ignore him! Turn your back on him, cross your arms, ignore him. If at anytime he stops barking, even if it is to take a breath, turn back around and give him the attention he wants. If he starts barking again, turn back around and ignore him. This may take a while, but remember that persistance is the key. Everytime you give in and reward him while he is barking you are reinforcing the barking. 



> he barks when he is hyper


 Some dogs just love to vocalize when they are having fun. Chloe loves to bark when she is running rampade around the living room. It is quite cute, but then, I don't have to listen to her all of the time. lol If he barks when you are playing with him, "Give me the toy, you fool human! Gimme!" turn you back on him. Stop all play. Still barking? Ignore some more. If there is anyway you can startle him into not barking so then you have a chance to reward him for being quiet, do so. 

Also, how much exercise is he getting? A dog that is laying down exhausted isn't a noisy dog; trust me on this one, I work in a kennel. We get some very noisy dogs in at times, but after they've had a good romp and play session, not a peep comes from them. Chloe would be very barky/whiny when she had too little exercise. A good two mile walk/jog cured that. 



> he barks at anything that moves in the backyard


 When you know how to fix this one, let me know. lol My to lab mixes like to bark at random things (rabbits, deer, etc.). I've just taught them that when I say, "Okay guys, enough." they are to be quiet. I don't know how I did, I just did. 



> he barks when he is seperated from us


 If you leave the room and he can't follow so he barks, do NOT go back into that room while he is still barking. When Chloe was a puppy she would cry and bark every time I left the room and she couldn't be my shadow. I wasn't going to have any of it. I would hide from her line of sight (she would be at the bottom of the stairs gated off and I would be at the top around a corner, for example) and just sit. I'd let her bark and cry to her hearts content. Then, as soon as she shut up, I would pop out of my hiding space and praise the bejeebers out of her. She barked once for twenty minutes strait, but I can now leave her in a seperate room and not one peep comes out of her. 

Teaching a dog not to bark exessively takes a lot of patience, but it can be done.


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## msc (Dec 19, 2007)

Hi I have a Dalmatian like that, loves to bark, and drove me nuts. Tied every thing ignoring him bark collars he did not care he would just bark. Then some place I read to teach him to bark on command then you can teach him to stop. I will not say that he dose not bark any more but it did help a lot, now I can tell him that’s is enough and he will stop for a wile. It is a hard one good luck


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

blackrose said:


> When you know how to fix this one, let me know. lol My to lab mixes like to bark at random things (rabbits, deer, etc.). I've just taught them that when I say, "Okay guys, enough." they are to be quiet. I don't know how I did, I just did.


That's alert barking.....they're doing their job of alerting the rest of the pack (you) of a problem. Here's the neat part....once they learn what is normal or is OK to be there, they stop alerting/barking. Here's the hard part...in order to teach them that you have to go out there every single time, thank them for the alert and do just what you did...Say OK guys enough and then walk away. That lets them know that it isn't anything to be concerned about and eventually they stop alerting to that deer/rabbit.
My Shelties used to go crazy when the raccoons first came to the bird feeder each night....now they just sit and watch them!


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## boogadoo (Jan 23, 2008)

All of the previous post offer some good advice however, sometimes it is just a personality issue. I have 4 dogs from 7 lbs-102 lbs. and even though they make up my "pack" I have to address their idiosyncrasies on a singular basis. As a general rule they are well behaved, however, we joke that my 7 lb mini Schn. has turrets syndrome! We finally bought a shock collar for her...for starters, she still would bark enough that it made her neck swell from the shocking! After she finally got the idea a new prob arrised..every time my Rottie would bark my Schn would run to the other side of the yard. HA HA HA...my Rotts bark would set the collar off. Barking can be a learned means of communication for many things and at first can be unknowingly be incouraged in each individual pup. I did find that the Barker Breaker worked great on all the barking. It is ultrasonic sound. I would also recommend a knowledgeable trainer because there is right & wrong times to bark. In the wild a pup would have a mother to teach them these "rules" but it would be their full time job. Since domesticating dogs we have to find a balance between wild/ domestic


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## Aussiefan (Jan 21, 2007)

Ahhh yes...barking. I am fairly lucky in that 3 of my 4 dogs don't do much of it, except when its appropriate (like stranger approaching the house) My sheltie though....
Which is fairly normal for that breed, he would bark at everything and anything. I just got one of those little lemon bottles, and kept him on leash quite a bit for the first few months, i would have the lemon juice in my hand, he would bark, i would say "quiet" he barks again, i would squirt the juice in his mouth and repeat "quiet" the juice wouldn't taste so good, and he got the hint and learned it quite fast. He is still a Sheltie, but pretty much only barks when its more appropriate.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

Which beagle owner hasn’t had to deal with barking? The most effective way to deal with barking, in my opinion, is to show your dog that he doesn’t get any leverage with it. By giving him attention when he barks, by going back into the room when he barks because you’ve been separated, by letting him out of the house when he barks, back into the house when he barks… you show him that he has leverage with his bark. So far, to his mind, barking has gotten him whatever he wanted and wherever he wanted to go, so why shouldn’t he bark?

My beagles used to bark like mad, out of excitement, once they saw me getting out their leashes for a walk. Spunky, in particular – she would stand there, barking her head off at me, basically saying “Hurry up, hurry up, put on the leash so we can go out already!” So I would stand there, holding the leash, just looking at her like “you can bark yourself sore, it doesn’t bother me.” When she was quiet, even just for a moment, she got leashed up. Or if she was leashed up and barking for me to open the gate, I would stand there saying “Spunk, bark all you want, we’re not going anywhere.” When she was quiet, I’d open the gate.

Do you catch my drift? By giving your dog what he wants when he barks – attention, playtime, a toy –you’re basically rewarding the behaviour, just as you reward a good “sit” by giving him a dog biscuit. Ignore bad behaviour and reward good behaviour – show him barking will get him nowhere, and give him what he wants when he asks quietly.


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## graficoartista31 (Feb 16, 2007)

Well, so far all this is good advice. The frustrating part about it all, is that I have tried alot of it... and for a while too! Here is each sinerio and its delemas:

To go outside...

Einie doesnt bark to go out. He will just paw at my leg. Not a big deal since our house is huge and he'd never go out if he sat by the door quiet. I'd never see him. But the moment we go to the door to go outside, the chaos begins. My younger dog Davinci gets so excited to go out that he jumps all over einie. Einie tries to sit but with the excitement of davinci running around and the fact that we have tile, he slides and therefore wont sit. Davinci doesn't sit because einie is standing and wagging his tale which distracts his attention from me. He thinks its so exciting to go out and he won't sit either. Its more of a tag your it mentality. FYI... I've tried the treat thing to praise for sitting, and after 3 months of listening well, i eliminated the treats. The second I i did... they forgot how to sit. But if I grab a treat, they listen. !!!! urgh!!! After patiently asking them to sit to go outside, they finally both give me 2 seconds of sitting which i immediatly praise like crazy and let them out. I will admit, consistancy isn't the best. I sometimes pick davinci up and walk him outside if he is just too hyper. (he sits in a crate during the day which could be part of his hyperness..but I noticed the same behavior of excitement even when he is let loose during the day).

Since they are couped up all day, i try to give them 10-15 mins outside to "AIR OUT"...but after they pee, they want back in. If I don't get up after the first "warning i want in" bark...then the bark riot starts. He could litterally bark for an hour strait (i know cause i tried the waiting game till he was quiet). I have a hard time this this because I know my neighbors probably hate me! He immediately stops barking when I come to the door. I think his bark is part boredom (he is tied up outside) and part separation anxiety (since we just got home, he wants to see us). 

How do I solve this issue without anoying the neighbors with the "wait till your quiet game".


Play time:

Davinci is the quiet one and Einie is the vocal one. When they play.. they will growl and tussle and then all of a sudden "BARK!!! BARK!!! BARK!!!" etc. He does this out of excitement and as an attempt to get davinci to play. Its not a mean bark.. its more like "Hey play with me!" or "Hey foul play! Now im gonna get you back!" I try to break them up all the time but when I do davinci will jump at einie to antagonize him, like two boys flinging arms at each other while you separate them. I read somewhere that when you have a second dog, you tend to loose the ownership because the pup will see the other dog as dominate over you since it is also a dog and you arn't. I think this happened. Davinci doesnt listen to me AT ALL! Einie barks when he plays out of excitement and i think he thinks im scolding their PLAY rather than the barking when I stop the play. How to I get the message across that its the bark I don't like.. not the play? I try the bark collar but einie knows what it does and will stay quiet until he is bored of silence and starts to bark again. He could care less about the sting. He is more enthralled with the intimidating bark. 

Any other suggestions?


These are the 2 main problems I have. I think once I sod my back yard and fence it in, they will have room to run and be occupied outside. But the excitement bark? URGH!!

I have tried EVERYTHING! Bark collar, treats when quiet, waiting till he is quiet, but its like he has memory loss and forgets what I taught him in 30 secs. Going for walks and car rides is a hoot too! Same sinerio as going outside to potty. RAMBUNCTIOUS! No one listens to me! They just turn in circles and wag their tails and jump on each other in play. I wait patiently, but after 30 mins, I give in cause I have to leave. They can go on for HOURS!!!! 

How do I get my little one to listen? Ive tried the treats and to my wonder, he listens PERFECTLY when I have a treat in my hand but completely ignore me when I dont. He even goes thru the motions of tricks I taught him. But no treat? No listen! 

Im going thru the motions...but its not working!! HELP!


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## Dogstar (May 11, 2007)

For excitement barking, I've had VERY good luck using some of the focus and relaxation exercises from a book called "Control Unleashed"


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

It sounds like ou are using the back yard for exercise. For exercise to be effective the dogs need to be mentally and physically stimulated every day. YOur own back yard is boring. they already know every nook and cranny. I may have missed something in reading the posts, but if you aren't getting them out every day (at least 30 minutes for a small dog and 45-60 for a large dog), outside the yard...exploring new places...they aren't getting the required stimulation. 

We have been having some barking issues lately and I find that PLENTY of exercise, lots of play sessions in the house, having a "bark your head off" session when she comes in after the first morning potty, and teaching "thank you, now quiet please" has really helped. 

I've also noticed with a multiple dog household that sometimes it helps to split up the dogs in the evening. I find they wind each other up less if one is being cuddled in the family room while the teenager watches a movie, one is in my lap while I check out the dog forum, and one may be somewhere out in the garage while my husband is puttering. If I leave all three in the same room they bark over who has the toy, they bark over chew sticks even though there are more than enough for everyone..."I want the ONE YOU HAVE!!!", they bark if the other barks, they bark when the dryer stops and then they all start barking. It was just overwhelming.


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## JuliaT (Jan 21, 2008)

My female dog only barks for food. I've been trying to ignore her and having her wait before I open the door to give them food. My male dog is a different story. He's the most mellow unless someone comes to the door (which is fine b/c that alerts me) or sometimes he would growl then bark for no reason. But at night, he barks and barks. We go out to figure out what he's barking at but never find anything. How do we stop his constant barking?


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