Please don't come over....

[Olly-Bears Mama 0]

....cuz all of a sudden, every time someone knocks on the door, rings the doorbell, or even walks past the front yard, all three dogs are set off on a barking frenzy. Its driving me nuts. Merphy has a very deep bark, he's a Lhasa Apso, so their barks are deep to sound like big dogs and scare off palace invaders. Oliver, Shih Tzu, has just discovered his big boy bark, or more like a howl. Its very high pitched. Milo, my parents Yorkie has that yippie bark. Mine never barked at the door, but now they are SOOOOO bad.

Can someone please give me ideas on how to get three dogs to behave when people come over? And FAST! They even bark if someone they all know comes over, or whenever one of us comes home. Its annoying, and needs to be addressed before I move. Thanks!

[TheShihtzuation 0]

Oh boy.. do I remember those days. When Marc was still with us.. he would bark at EVERYTHING. Klepto would join in even though he had no idea what Marc was barking at.. then they'd end up barking at each other and getting in a mini bark fight!! LOL. Sometimes Klepto would be to blame for the starting the barking wars, but most of the time it was Marc.

Since Marc's passing.. Klepto took on the role of avid barker. I thought I was lucky because when Klepto would bark Pokey would just look at him like he was crazy! But now.. its the "I bark, you bark" syndrome all over again.

I think there was a topic on this recently somewhere ... maybe if you do a search for 'barking" (though that may just bring up every post on this board, no? haha).

Good luck with your dogs.. let us know what works for you!

[Olly-Bears Mama 0]

You just described my house, but add a dog in there! I have a headache.

[tzuhouse 4]

Afraid I can't help, mine just whine and no barking BUT they get so excited and won't calm down for awhile, they jump up on people when they enter....I hate that too, but we don't get many visitors, and that makes it harder to try to control. Any suggestions on this too would be great...may be the same training method, I sure don't know.

[Olly-Bears Mama 0]

Cathy, that's how mine used to be. Its also annoying, just a little quieter. I know there are ways to train them to go to a spot when the bell rings or something. My problem is Merphy, he's into instant gratification. If he has to go wait somewhere, he knows he has to wait to get a treat. But, if he jumps on someone, then its instant gratification. Then Oliver just follows whatever he does. So now, since we've been here, Merphy and Milo have the barking contests, and Oliver follows.

[mi_ku 1]

Watch "It's Me or the Dog" She's dealt with this a lot but I can't remember exactly what she did. I know you aren't supposed to open the door until they calm down. However, that's easier said than done, especially when it's your parents house. What are you supposed to do, call everyone and say next time you come over it make 30 min for me to open the door, LOL.

[Apeke 4]

Maybe you can search for the It's Me Or The Dog TV show on line and check out her programs and see if you can find the program that shows her training about barking dogs and watch it online...

I do not know what TV channel it comes on in your area, but if you know...just type in that channel and then search the tv listings?

[emmasmom 14]

Emma is getting worse with the barking too.....it's driving us nuts! She's hearing stuff or seeing stuff, but we have no clue what it is. She just flys off her bed in a fight of barking & huffing like a bear. Nothing is working, so I will be watching this post also.

[kcsheperd 13]

Ceasar says you have to 'claim the door'.. Meaning if they race to the door to greet people, you race to the door, and move them away from the target..not physically, just by saying..shhhht.. or whatever it is that sound that he does..and make them move away from the door..when they 'sit' give them a treat..When people come in the door, have them ignore the dog until they relax, THEN give them attention..as we know tzu's love attention! Rally is also a lhasa with a big bark..but he never barks a lot..Only once or twice to let me know that someone is here.. I've also heard if you teach them to speak on command..then its easier to teach them 'quiet' on command..However, Pays knows 'tell me'.. and she is still struggling with 'shhh'.. lol..

As for the crazy barking at everything..I have to use the squirt bottle on Payslee..She will go on these little rampages like when the storm sirens go off, and she will bark non-stop..so after I have told her to shhhh the 5th time, she gets spritzed..lol.. She's like "Hey..where did that come from?" and I usually dont have to do it more than once..

[FairyTail Josette 14]

Watch "It's Me or the Dog" She's dealt with this a lot but I can't remember exactly what she did. I know you aren't supposed to open the door until they calm down. However, that's easier said than done, especially when it's your parents house. What are you supposed to do, call everyone and say next time you come over it make 30 min for me to open the door, LOL.

Stilwell recommends "body blocking" or removing them from the situation. Yes, it takes practice and can take some time to actually answer the door. lol The body blocking works wonders, I've been doing this with Cody. He only barks outside at our gate. So far, I've had pretty good luck, but, it takes time and work. The body blocking technique is similar to Caesar's 'claim the door' method. But, Stilwell doesn't say anything. It's amazing how fast they learn and stop.

[emmasmom 14]

Ceasar says you have to 'claim the door'.. Meaning if they race to the door to greet people, you race to the door, and move them away from the target..not physically, just by saying..shhhht.. or whatever it is that sound that he does..and make them move away from the door..when they 'sit' give them a treat..When people come in the door, have them ignore the dog until they relax, THEN give them attention..as we know tzu's love attention! Rally is also a lhasa with a big bark..but he never barks a lot..Only once or twice to let me know that someone is here.. I've also heard if you teach them to speak on command..then its easier to teach them 'quiet' on command..However, Pays knows 'tell me'.. and she is still struggling with 'shhh'.. lol..

As for the crazy barking at everything..I have to use the squirt bottle on Payslee..She will go on these little rampages like when the storm sirens go off, and she will bark non-stop..so after I have told her to shhhh the 5th time, she gets spritzed..lol.. She's like "Hey..where did that come from?" and I usually dont have to do it more than once..

Tried that, she figured if she barked & I told her to "leave it" & "sit", that wasn't too bad! So, she started barking more, so that she would get more treats!!!! The squirt bottle I won't use, because I use grooming sprays & I don't want to scare her for grooming time. I've used the pennies in a can, with a little luck, but better luck just standing up & pointing at her & she will sit. But then she starts all over!

Stilwell recommends "body blocking" or removing them from the situation. Yes, it takes practice and can take some time to actually answer the door. lol The body blocking works wonders, I've been doing this with Cody. He only barks outside at our gate. So far, I've had pretty good luck, but, it takes time and work. The body blocking technique is similar to Caesar's 'claim the door' method. But, Stilwell doesn't say anything. It's amazing how fast they learn and stop.

This is what's working the best for me, but she just goes right back at it! She's a stubborn one!!! She's driving hubby nuts lately!

[tzuhouse 4]

Missed the last few posts on this....I have tried both Cesar and Victorias methods and while they are very good....my biggest problem is being able to be consistent. Since I rarely have people come to the door, it is hard to practice and reinforce. But, that is not their fault....so guess we will just have to work on it alot each time someone does come....

[TheShihtzuation 0]

In that halfaclass horrid situation last week Pokey did learn the "speak" command.. which I'm super surprised that he still remembers! Our "trainer" did say that once he learns to "speak" it will be easier to get him to not speak.. but uh, I dont see how.. yet.

[Olly-Bears Mama 0]

I finally caught an episode of It's Me or the Dog that addressed barking. I REALLY like her! I've only seen three episodes now, but I really like her positive reinforcement techniques. Anyway, this episode didn't address the barking at the door specifically, it did give me some ideas. Oliver has this thing that I don't quite understand. He barks if his feet are on a different level as mine or Merphy's. So, if he's on one stair and I'm two stairs down, he barks his head off. Same thing if I'm on one side of the baby gate and he's on the other.

So, Victoria had a little yippy dog, Peanut, that barked to get his way. Basically, she let him bark all he wanted, but paid NO attention to him until he stopped. As soon as he was quiet for 3 seconds, she praised and treated him. It took him a while, but he figured it out. I remember that I had a short problem with Merphy barking for a attention if I wold talk to anyone else. I would turn my back to him. That worked. So, when Oliver's started barking, I turned my back, but he didn't get it. But I figure I wasn't giving him enough time to figure it out.

So today, I came home and was on one side of the gate. Oliver was barking on the other side. I stood there until he stopped barking for a few seconds. When I started to step over the gate, he started barking again. So, I went back to the other side and ignored him until he was quiet. I tried again, and he started barking again, so back I went. Then Merphy started barking at Oliver (like he was telling him that if he'd shut up, then I'd come over). I ignored them both. Finally, they were both quiet, and stayed quiet while I stepped over the gate. I didn't have any treats handy, but I praised them and pet them.

My brother and SIL are supposed to come over for dinner tomorrow, so maybe my brother will help me with the door thing. But for now, I'm gonna keep working on the random barking.