What's that you say? Sorry, I can't hear your over all this BARKING!

[Olly-Bears Mama 0]

My Lhasa Apso, Merphy, has always been easy to train. I can get him to do pretty much anything with the right incentive. He also catches on to things very quickly. He is extremely stubborn, so may not always listen, but he knows what I'm asking of him and knows I won't quit until he does what I ask.

Oliver, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. I have trained him to ring a bell to go outside (that was easy) and that's about it. He knows "sit" when I am holding a treat, but I think he sees the treat and knows he needs to sit to get the treat, not because I asked him to sit. He sees Merphy sit for a treat, so he follows suit. Does anyone else have this little problem? And if so, how do you train a dog that just doesn't "get it"? Once we move, I do plan on getting him in a formal training class, but they don't start until January. I haven't done this before because I haven't known where I'm going to be in a month for the past year.

But, my biggest problem is his barking. He used to just play bark...unfortunately, the second I would get on the phone, he would start playing! Now that I've been at my parents house for several months, both dogs have mimicked my parents Yorkie's constant barking. Merphy is not horrible, and will shut up pretty quickly. Oliver will not. He is horrible. He barks at everything. He barks when someone is outside, even if its just me. He barks when I walk in the door, knowing its me, but he's still trying to protect something. He barks if Merphy is on the couch and he is on the floor, and vice versa. He barks if he is on one side of the baby gate, and either myself or Merphy is on the other side. He barks when he wants to go outside. He barks when he wants to go to bed. He barks when he wants to play or eat. He barks when he wants someone to pet him. He barks constantly, and its a loud high pitched bark. I'm going crazy.

With Merphy, if he barked at me, I turned my back on him to teach him that he doesn't get any attention when he "demands" it. He got it. Oliver does not.

I tried a squirt bottle. Fail. He barks until I stop squirting him.

I've tried rewarding him when he quiets down. As soon as I stop paying attention to him, he starts barking again. Fail.

I took him to Colorado for 3 1/2 weeks, leaving Merphy with my parents, thinking I could work with him. Nope. I bought him a bark collar. Didn't help. When we got back home, I left it on him. Ironically, Merphy's barking all but disappeared while Oliver was wearing it. Oliver was unphased. And since I took it off, his barking has gotten worse.

I've tried distractions, making a loud noise with a rolled up newspaper, yelling, clapping my hands at him, putting him on a leash and giving a leash correction. Fail, fail, fail, fail and fail.

I don't know what else to do, but I am moving into a condo on the first, and I fear that I'm going to find myself homeless really fast if I don't get his barking under control.

Please help!!!

[bluesy 2]

I haven't had to deal with this, so I won't be much help. The only advice I can give is to really exercise him. Getting him good and tired might help curb the barking. I'm sure you get lots of good advice. Good luck!

[kcsheperd 13]

A stubborn tzu? NOOOOO that can't be!! Well first things first..With the Sitting, and the treat in your hand..Yes, they learn to anticipate the treat. I would try training him to sit by showing him you have the treat, but then putting it behind your back and waiting for him to sit. (You may have to wait awhile) If he gets bored and walks away, let him smell the treat, and again put it behind your back..He will eventually do it..Also watch your body language. I'm reading an amazing book called "For the Love of a Dog" by Patricia McConnel, and she says that dogs spend half their lives trying to understand what we are wanting them to do, and they pick up on our body language very easy, so make sure when you are saying "sit" your body language is straight forward, and your voice is stern. I wash shocked when my trainer pointed out to me that I was talking to Sawyer in gooshy tzu talk, leaning forward to him, and he wasn't responding to crap! Then when I changed my voice to just a stern "SIT" he responded so much easier!

ON the Barking..Payslee is a barker. The way I get her to stop is by blowing in her face. It gets her attention and stops. She also knows "Look at me" and that has been very helpful in training her to do everything. So If she is barking, and I blow in her face and say "Look at me" she immediatly directs her attention to me, and I treat her. I realize its going to be hard to do that when he is half-way across the room, but start with baby steps. Barking to dogs is self rewarding, and its their only means of verbal communication, so it will never be something that all together goes away, but it can be controlled. I've also read that when we yell "STOP" or "NO BARK" they just hear that as more communication TO THEM and keep barking, much like two dogs that are barking at each other.. So that makes sense, so now if Payslee is running through the house on a tear, barking and hollering, I will say "Payslee, Look at me" in a nice voice, and if she does she gets the reward..As long as she stops what she is doing, and pays attention to me (even for 4 seconds) I reward the behavior because she is doing what I ask of her. They eventually learn that when they stop what they are doing, and pay attention to us, that they get a treat, and then that can be used to train away from all the naughty stuff we don't want them to do.. I hope that makes some kind of sense..lol..

Hope that helps!! Hang in there..they are stubborn sometimes, but they are smart little cookies!! And usually its because they honestly don't understand what we are wanting them to do.

[bluesy 2]

KC, I have that book too and just love it. She has a blog that she updates all the time http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/. Her book "the other end of the leash" is very good too.