Barking

[bex1984]

Any ideas for reducing barking in a terrier?! He is small but very loud.

I work from home and need to take serious, confidential phone calls two days a week and need him to be quiet. I can shut him away in the kitchen but can still hear him.

Obviously when I'm on phone for work I can't go and tell him off/distract him/calm him down - and he knows it

He mostly barks at any hint of next door's dog.

 

[JulesRules]

We previously had a serial barker and my OH works from home too often on conference calls. He barked to go out, to come in, for attention, to be fed, when people walked past, etc etc and always at the wrong moment

We used a citronella collar. It's not ideal, but we found after a few goes it didn't even need to be switched on, we just had to put it on him and he would stop

 

[bex1984]

That's interesting - I'd wondered about something like that. I don't like the idea of it really but I've really got to do something.

He gets a real thrill from barking which is definitely a big part of the problem.

 

[Dobiegirl]

A friend of mine got one of these collars and it terrified her dog, she binned it, I often have this dog to stay when she goes away and never have a problem with her barking unless there was a good reason.

My last foster dog was a terrible barker in the garden not the house, I used a water pistol and the word quiet and after 2 goes she stopped on command, its worked in her new home as well as they only have to say quiet to her and she shuts up.

 

[JulesRules]

I do know how you feel. I hated putting the collar on him but we had tried other things with no joy. I only put it on him when he absolutely needed it and had to be strict with OH who would have put it on him at the drop of a hat.

 

[planete]

After trying most methods to stop our terrier barking at everything and nothing, we decided to just chill and call him over for a treat every time he started. Yes, I know, it looks as if we are rewarding him for barking but he stops when he sees the treat and is quiet for it and then gets lots of praise and cuddles. He is now much more relaxed and hardly barks at all. It was a steep learning curve for us as he did drive us round the bend with it, and staying calm and relaxed did not come naturally.
It is now obvious that the more relaxed he is, the less he barks.