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Old March 20th, 2009, 06:07 PM
ddianam ddianam is offline
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Smile dog barking

Hi!

I have an 8 month old male Yorkie who constantly barks. He not only barks at noises he hears coming from outside, but he regularily barks for no apparent reason. I dont mind if he barks at a noise, what i do mind is him barking at us or at nothing. I am not sure what to do and any ideas would be quite helpful.
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Old March 20th, 2009, 08:43 PM
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Hi,
first let me know how much exercise you do with him per day?? Even if it's a little dog it takes aproximatively 3h to 5h of exercise per day, you can do obedience with him, he can learn some tricks to do for you more than : sit, stay, down.... Less exercise per day, more a problems like bark, destruction behavior, anxiety, he will do during the day!! Each dog have to work you know. so you can take lesson of obedience with him, to show him some trick and rewarding him with dog cookies or sausages and maybe more he work, less he bark!!! Hope that you can do this maybe not 5 hour per day but the more you can :-) let us know how it goes!!!
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Old March 20th, 2009, 10:13 PM
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How often do you bond with your pet? Some of the reasons for excessive barking are loneliness, boredom, or wanting to catch attention. As tweety said, your dog must get adequate exercise. You should also train your dog how to hush. You can also give him some chew toys to keep him occupied.
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Old March 21st, 2009, 12:48 AM
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An eight month old yorkie should definately not be getting 3-5 hours of exercise a day . I do agree that the dog should definately have regular exercise and that frequent short training exercises are a great way to work his mind . Stuffing a kong with yummy goodies is also a good way to occupy a dog (freezing the kong extends the length of time as well).

You will need to work with the dog to prevent him barking at you. Obedience sessions would greatly help. Another piece of advice I have used is to do something the dog dislikes every time he barks at you (leave the room, cut a toenail of the dog etc.).

Goodluck .
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Old March 22nd, 2009, 06:09 PM
ddianam ddianam is offline
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Hi!
All this advice is great! Truthfully, he doesnt get as much excercise as he needs, I try to take him for a walk everyday but with this winter weather it is sometimes hard. Now that the weather is getting better I will definitely take him on longer walks.

TerriM, you suggested doind something he dislikes everytime he barks, I just started squirting him the face everytime he barks..Im wondering if this is cruel? I have only done it for the past 2 days and it somewhat works.

I dont think that loneliness is the reason for him barking, my family and I bond with him everyday...

Do any of you know anything about the cintronella collar's that help train dogs not to bark-is this worth me trying? I am thinking that this may be too mean for me to even attempt on my dog.
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Old March 22nd, 2009, 07:29 PM
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I hope your little yorkie can get the barking under control!

I do have a citronella collar for Buster but only had to use it a couple of times for him to get the idea. Now, if he barks too much, I just tell him that I will get the collar and he stops. If that doesn't work, I can put the collar on him, but not activate it and it works. I think if you need to use a collar, the citronella is more humane than a shock collar .... I could never shock my dog. :sad:

If you are going to try the citronella collar, shop around......there is a HUGE price difference between stores!

good luck!
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Old March 22nd, 2009, 07:37 PM
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I don't agree with squirting dogs in the face....though many people swear by it.
My arguement is not that it's cruel, but that the dog has no freakin idea what your doing. The correction is not clear and IMO you should NEVER EVER correct a dog (especially a puppy) if it cannot clearly relate the action to the correction. Poor timiing and poor corrections will do nothing but damage the relashonship with the dog and make you out to be an unstable leader.

Imagine if someone came to your home and squirted you in the face with water every time you said the word "is".

Whenever dogs make a sound it is to communicate, that is clear. Instead of correcting natural beahviour, try to figure out WHY she is barking. Remember dogs have very keen senses....she can probably hear things clear as day that you wouldnt be able to hear if you were standing next to it! Do you by chance live in an apartment? Have loud neighbours?
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 11:41 AM
ddianam ddianam is offline
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I dont live in an apratment so my dog definitely doesnt hear my neighbours. I know that my dog does hear noises very clearly from outside, as a dogs hearing is very sharp, this barking I can understand and tolerate, it's the barking for no apparent reason that frustrates me. When he looks at me and barks, I do assume it is for attention and he wants to play, so I do play with him, but I really can't play with him every time he barks. It's not like I dont give him enough attention, I play with him regardless of barking or not.

I am still a bit unsure about the citronella collar and I would NEVER EVER use a shock collar. Maybe I should just stick with squirting him with water everytime he barks.
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 11:46 AM
BenMax BenMax is offline
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Originally Posted by Blackdog22 View Post
I don't agree with squirting dogs in the face....though many people swear by it.
My arguement is not that it's cruel, but that the dog has no freakin idea what your doing. The correction is not clear and IMO you should NEVER EVER correct a dog (especially a puppy) if it cannot clearly relate the action to the correction. Poor timiing and poor corrections will do nothing but damage the relashonship with the dog and make you out to be an unstable leader.

Imagine if someone came to your home and squirted you in the face with water every time you said the word "is".

Whenever dogs make a sound it is to communicate, that is clear. Instead of correcting natural beahviour, try to figure out WHY she is barking. Remember dogs have very keen senses....she can probably hear things clear as day that you wouldnt be able to hear if you were standing next to it! Do you by chance live in an apartment? Have loud neighbours?
I have to agree with Blackdog22 here.

Does your pup have a favourite toy? If so, when he starts to bark give him the toy. I have trained mine to pick up her toy when she gets overly excited. It not only prevents her from that annoying bark but she is praised instead of corrected overly so.
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 01:00 PM
ddianam ddianam is offline
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by giving my dog a his fav. toy whenever he barks, isnt that just like praising him everythime he barks? He'll know that when he barks he will get a toy....???
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 01:07 PM
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Alot of times with puppies, the best correction is redirection.
As for the citronella collar, I personally would never use any type of physical training collar on a puppy. On a mature adult dog, I would use such a training collar only as a last resort.

When he starts to bark at you I would immediately start doing some OB. Nothing special, just normal OB with reward for desired behaviour. If you make this a habit, chances are he will start to see you as more as a leader as well as become a more well behaved dog. OB is often the greatest remedy for most doggy issues as is excersise.
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 01:15 PM
BenMax BenMax is offline
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Originally Posted by ddianam View Post
by giving my dog a his fav. toy whenever he barks, isnt that just like praising him everythime he barks? He'll know that when he barks he will get a toy....???
Try it and you will find out on your own. The behaviour of barking will cease. This will redirect his behaviour.

As always stated before, you must try different techniques. Let me ask you ddianam - do you think squirting your dog in the face a good idea?

I am curious to hear how you would approach the situation other than the method you are using.
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 02:02 PM
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Originally Posted by ddianam View Post
Hi!
All this advice is great! Truthfully, he doesnt get as much excercise as he needs, I try to take him for a walk everyday but with this winter weather it is sometimes hard. Now that the weather is getting better I will definitely take him on longer walks.

TerriM, you suggested doind something he dislikes everytime he barks, I just started squirting him the face everytime he barks..Im wondering if this is cruel? I have only done it for the past 2 days and it somewhat works.

I dont think that loneliness is the reason for him barking, my family and I bond with him everyday...

Do any of you know anything about the cintronella collar's that help train dogs not to bark-is this worth me trying? I am thinking that this may be too mean for me to even attempt on my dog.
First of all, sorry to hear about your struggles with your puppy. But hang in there - it's a learning process for your dog too.

You mentioned you don't think your dog is getting enough excercise on 'walks' - but you do not need to go outside to work with your dog on-leash, or to stimulate their minds and make them think. Putting your puppy on a leash and working with him inside your house is great - not only because it teaches him to follow you on the lead, but it shows that he needs to do so whether he is indoors or out.
Getting down on his level and playing with him is another great form of excercise.
I totally understand that weather can keep us inside our houses with our pets, but that certainly is no reason *NOT* to work with them on-leash and stimulate them.

I also would not reccomend doing something your dog 'dislikes' every time he barks. For one thing, (as Blackdog brought out) this is your puppies only form of communication. Your puppy is just learning how to communicate with you, and it's your job to encourage his desire to do so - but show him how to properly do it.
By squirting him in the face and using a citronella collar, you're confusing his natural instinct to tell you that he wants to play, or that something is bothering him. If something really WAS wrong, you want him to be able to tell you, right?

As BenMax suggested, giving your puppy a toy is not rewarding him for barking - but rather redirecting his barking behavior so that his focus is now on his toy.
And, just for the record, smaller breeds (like yorkies and the terrier line) are normally vocal dogs. They just are, period. It can be controlled to a certain extent with proper training and redirection, but you will always have a dog that will love to be vocal.
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 02:17 PM
BenMax BenMax is offline
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Originally Posted by Bailey_ View Post
First of all, sorry to hear about your struggles with your puppy. But hang in there - it's a learning process for your dog too.

You mentioned you don't think your dog is getting enough excercise on 'walks' - but you do not need to go outside to work with your dog on-leash, or to stimulate their minds and make them think. Putting your puppy on a leash and working with him inside your house is great - not only because it teaches him to follow you on the lead, but it shows that he needs to do so whether he is indoors or out.
Getting down on his level and playing with him is another great form of excercise.
I totally understand that weather can keep us inside our houses with our pets, but that certainly is no reason *NOT* to work with them on-leash and stimulate them.

I also would not reccomend doing something your dog 'dislikes' every time he barks. For one thing, (as Blackdog brought out) this is your puppies only form of communication. Your puppy is just learning how to communicate with you, and it's your job to encourage his desire to do so - but show him how to properly do it.
By squirting him in the face and using a citronella collar, you're confusing his natural instinct to tell you that he wants to play, or that something is bothering him. If something really WAS wrong, you want him to be able to tell you, right?

As BenMax suggested, giving your puppy a toy is not rewarding him for barking - but rather redirecting his barking behavior so that his focus is now on his toy.
And, just for the record, smaller breeds (like yorkies and the terrier line) are normally vocal dogs. They just are, period. It can be controlled to a certain extent with proper training and redirection, but you will always have a dog that will love to be vocal.
Thank you for explaining this much better than I.

I also have a barky little min pin from h*ll and though I am not great with training little breeds (as they zoom by very quickly) I have found that they do not respond to consequences. The only way I have found that works is redirecting undesired behaviour. So far so good.
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Old March 23rd, 2009, 05:39 PM
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Thank you for explaining this much better than I.

I also have a barky little min pin from h*ll and though I am not great with training little breeds (as they zoom by very quickly) I have found that they do not respond to consequences. The only way I have found that works is redirecting undesired behaviour. So far so good.
Awwh, I love min pins! They sure do have a lot of energy though, don't they? I find a lot of people are more 'timid' when it comes to training techniques because of the small frame with the toy and mini breeds. But great suggestion about the toy direct, BenMax!
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Old March 24th, 2009, 08:58 AM
BenMax BenMax is offline
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Awwh, I love min pins! They sure do have a lot of energy though, don't they? I find a lot of people are more 'timid' when it comes to training techniques because of the small frame with the toy and mini breeds. But great suggestion about the toy direct, BenMax!
Coming from you Baily I appreciate your words. Personally larger breeds (for me anyways) is easier to train as you have more hands on. With tiny breeds, it is hard to get them to follow suit as they scurry around so darn quick that unless your are super agile - you cannot catch them ...and they certainly do not stay put. Would I ever own another small breed just based on the trials and tribulations of discipline and correction...never. In saying this I would not trade her for the world, but I have to say that these little ones are more of a challenge then any dog that I have had to train, foster or otherwise. They certainly have character!
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Old March 24th, 2009, 09:49 AM
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when he barks for attention and you do play with him........thats also rewarding him for barking, when Brina use to do this I'd get up, walk away from her and start doing something at the counter....when she would come over to quietly sit beside me looking up at me, then and only then would I grab a toy to play.
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Old March 24th, 2009, 09:51 AM
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when he barks for attention and you do play with him........thats also rewarding him for barking, when Brina use to do this I'd get up, walk away from her and start doing something at the counter....when she would come over to quietly sit beside me looking up at me, then and only then would I grab a toy to play.
Great point.
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Old March 24th, 2009, 10:07 AM
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My American Eskimo is a barking fool - most Eskies re. Unfortunately, squirting with water is a favourite of his - he just opens his mouth and asks for me to bring it on - Eskies love the water. Toys don't work. Fortunately he doesn't bark at me just for the sake of it - but he does responds all too quickly to external noises of which there are many - and to dogs on TV of course - except the fake dog noises such as the ones in the commercial for Great Wolf Lodge or whatever the name of the place is.
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Old March 24th, 2009, 10:15 AM
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Coming from you Baily I appreciate your words. Personally larger breeds (for me anyways) is easier to train as you have more hands on. With tiny breeds, it is hard to get them to follow suit as they scurry around so darn quick that unless your are super agile - you cannot catch them ...and they certainly do not stay put. Would I ever own another small breed just based on the trials and tribulations of discipline and correction...never. In saying this I would not trade her for the world, but I have to say that these little ones are more of a challenge then any dog that I have had to train, foster or otherwise. They certainly have character!
Oh I hear you BenMax!! I would only own large breeds now - not because they're better by any means, just because I personally feel more comfortable working with them. The little guys are so adorable, there is much more of a tendancy to 'baby' them, isn't there? lol
There was a 12 week old yorkie at our dogpark the other day and I soooo wanted to put him in my pocket!
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Old March 24th, 2009, 11:57 AM
ddianam ddianam is offline
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BenMax, I am really not sure about the whole squirtting in the facething or how I would approach this stituation, thats why I am asking for everyone's opinion. Some ppl I have talked to say that the water thing is a good idea and others say it's not. I doubt I will go out and buy the citronella collar, just too mean. I guess I will try the redirection approach and give him a toy or distract him when he barks.
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Old March 24th, 2009, 12:24 PM
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BenMax, I am really not sure about the whole squirtting in the facething or how I would approach this stituation, thats why I am asking for everyone's opinion. Some ppl I have talked to say that the water thing is a good idea and others say it's not. I doubt I will go out and buy the citronella collar, just too mean. I guess I will try the redirection approach and give him a toy or distract him when he barks.
Try to redirect the behaviour. The squirting in the face actually is rather insulting to them and will only instill dislike and sometimes fear in the dog. Please try the toy approach. Give it a few days. When I get home, this whole barking would start. Now I get to the door and tell her to go get her baby. She eagerly goes to the toy box and grabs the toy. I do not acknowledge her until she calms down. The barking ceased and I am much happier coming home now, knowing I will not be aggreviated with that high pitched bark.
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Old March 26th, 2009, 05:15 AM
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Sorry black dog i have to say i agree and dont agree with you re water squirting, I find it does work for me.. when i have had puppies and by that i mean 6 month olds and above not baby puppies... and they just about pull the door out of the hinges to get my attention just for the sake of being with me Or to see where i am i have only had to do it 3 times and they learn to stop.. that is for dogs that are borderline uncontrollable.. but since i have taken up learning and being trained to train my dogs now i spent time as you said above.. and use treats to teach them not to jump on the door sometimes they still dont obey and i wont open the door... but when they sit and wait i open the door and also give them a command and treat.

I have to say for a quick fix i have used the water splashing technique with a hard NO command and it's worked.. so i'm sort of in two minds of that.. if it works for you then use it but if not then try something else. All dogs are different and do respond differently to different people. Mine find me very dominating and will do funny techniques to get my attention... however no matter how strong i am i am mainly voice and if they push me too far i will pull them on their side and hold them down until the stop carrying on like pork chops.

Insteresting read on the different views.. but i just wanted to say that i have found the water technique with a command works, some times that is! ;D

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Last edited by cuko; March 26th, 2009 at 05:16 AM. Reason: edited typos
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Old March 26th, 2009, 11:17 AM
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Cuko, I'm a bit confused as to what you're talking about here. First of all, are you splashing PUPPIES in the face with water? You said something about how they're "trying to get your attention" and therefore wrecking your house.

Are you at home when this happens? And if so, puppies wrecking your house has absolutley nothing to do with gaining your attention (persay). Puppies are naturally curious, mischevious, and if left to their own devices unsupervised they will certainly 'wreck things'.
Why are these puppies not crated or in a safe pen when you're not around or able to give them your full attention?

The reason I personally do not agree with the water squirting technique, is because a dog always communicates to it's owner what it needs/wants before carrying out an action. A dogs body language is like an open book - they tell us all sorts of things as to why they are behaving a certain way; and a dog has a difficult time associating being splashed with water, with it's wrong behavior. It's simply annoying to the dog - and while you may 'curb' a certain behavior once or twice; it's not FIXING the problem.

You mentioned Cuko that you are being 'trained to be a trainer'? I highly reccomend that you find a proffesional that will be able to teach you about dog behavior and language - so that you will be able to see these quick fixes make the problems worse, and are often quite unneccessary.
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Old March 26th, 2009, 11:27 AM
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I have to (once again...) agree with Baily (gosh I sound like a complete suck up...but I am not if I disagree).

It is important to note that during the puppy stage this is the most important learning period. I bet that if this practice is continued, you will have puppies that will not be very well adjusted, and will dodge certain movements.

Just my for what it's worth. Sorry.
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Old March 26th, 2009, 12:32 PM
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I have to (once again...) agree with Baily (gosh I sound like a complete suck up...but I am not if I disagree).
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Old March 26th, 2009, 11:18 PM
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I dont live in an apratment so my dog definitely doesnt hear my neighbours. I know that my dog does hear noises very clearly from outside, as a dogs hearing is very sharp, this barking I can understand and tolerate, it's the barking for no apparent reason that frustrates me. When he looks at me and barks, I do assume it is for attention and he wants to play, so I do play with him, but I really can't play with him every time he barks. It's not like I dont give him enough attention, I play with him regardless of barking or not.

I am still a bit unsure about the citronella collar and I would NEVER EVER use a shock collar. Maybe I should just stick with squirting him with water everytime he barks.
You can use a spray bottle and squirt him on the side of the body. Or a can of pennies. Just make sure you squirt or shake immediately as he starts barking or even when you know he'll start barking. You can redirect his attention and then reward him for paying attention to you.

You can also teach him to hush.It will take patience. Reward him when he is quiet. If he's barking, wait until he stops for a few seconds and then reward him. eventually, you can say the command "hush' to associate with being quiet. You can also randomly treat him when he's being quiet and calm. Sometimes, you will have to wait a long time for him to start barking. Depending on what triggers the barking, you may need help from a friend to recreate the triggering situations.

One thing I findthat works with my dog in situations where she's barking at another dog across the street is I get in front of her, between her and the other dog. Then I yawn with exaggeration and walk away. She looks at me as if to say, "what? You don't think that's exciting?" and stops. Then I reward her. It's weird but dogs apparently can pick up on such cues. I learned this from another forum and didn't believe it until I tried it.

You may also want to try and play some games with your dog on top of walking him more. I have a wire basket and put my dog's toy under it and tell her to find it. Or I will play hide and seek with her. Or play fetch with her inside. Or I will train her... as stubborn as she is and as much as she knows I'm manipulating her into doing some stupid trick like play dead, this keeps her mind going and increases your bond with your dog.

IMO, citronella collars are cruel because the citronella burns your dog's nasal passages for a time after the spray occurs. Using a shock collar may seem cruel but it's quick and the dog learns immediately not tobark. However, I would NOT use any type of collar on a puppy. Try the other methods first while he'syoung. Also, you can contact a behaviourist or a trainer to help you.
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Old May 15th, 2009, 10:43 AM
ddianam ddianam is offline
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bark control

Hi,
I am still having some issues with my Yorkie barking. He doesn't bark as much as he did when I first posted on here, but he does still bark a lot when he is in the backyard.

I just came across a product called PetSafe Outdoor Bark Control. This product is to be mounted outside somewhere in your yard and it lets out a high pitch noise when your dog barks and apparently only our dog can hear. The noise is supposed to deter your dog from barking.

Has anyone ever heard or used this product before? I am considering buying it, but I would like some input from you guys before I do.
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Old May 15th, 2009, 04:39 PM
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King King is offline
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Posts: 111
I have a yorkie/poo King Shih stzu he barely barks when he does its quit funny so cute he only barks when he hears noises outside the door (we live in an apartment) I don't discourage him from barking I do when we are in bed I watch dog whisperer and use his tap on the side and say shhhh doesn't always work however it will distract him and he stops. As far as that loud noise thing I don't anything about however I wouldn't use it especially on my small dog there are other ways to deal with it. I would take the advice of the many people who responded.
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  #30  
Old September 16th, 2009, 06:07 PM
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Marcha Marcha is offline
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Location: Greater Victoria, BC, Canada
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Thanks everyone, this was a useful discussion for me. Our Bodhi (almost 17 weeks) is starting to bark to get attention - she's not (much of) a barker outside. I'll give the redirect and hush suggestions a go.
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