barking

[bethmorgan]

my yorkie barks constantly she barks if she is excited, she barks if she needs to go potty, she barks when I enter or leave a room, help I have tried ignoring her, using a loud noise or a loud pretend bark but nothing seems to help

[KOPsarah]

Hi bethmorgan,
Barking can be difficult to deal with because it is often hard to work out exactly what is motivating it. Consequently it can take a bit of trial an error to eliminate. It sounds like in your dogs case the barking is partly an attention seeking activity and partly habit. First of all I would try increasing her exercise level. Small dogs actually have a lot of energy and it can be easy to underestimate the amount of exercise they can have. Secondly keep up her obedience training and alpha dog training. Not only will this channel some of her energy and keep her mentally stimulated but it is a great way to encourage good behavior. Finally when she barks (and it is not to go out to the toilet) immediately and calmly remove her from the area and put her somewhere else for example in another room and ignore her. As soon as she quietens down let her back into the area and praise her quietly so as not to overexcite her again. Every time she is calm and well behaved praise her and give her attention every time she misbehaves take that attention away.

Let me know how you and your dog get on and if you are still having problems we can modify the approach as necessary.