Barking

[Rustyh]

My female Manchester terrier is 8 months.
She is most definitly a barker as are all mannies. What can I do?

[KOPcaroline]

Hey Rusty,


There are a few basic things you can start with to hopefully cut down on barking.

If there are specific triggers for the barking (something walking in front of the house, going by the window, a noise, etc), identify the trigger and then either eliminate it, or desensitize your pup to it by continuous exposure to it, with praise for not reacting to it and scolding for barking/reacting. Remove her from the situation and put her in a time out area by herself until she quiets down, then let her out.

Train her to "speak" and "be quiet". Training dogs to bark on command often helps cut down on unecessary barking because they learn that they are rewarded for doing it when asked, and scolded for doing it other times. Dogs like to please

There are anti-bark collars you can look into, such as citronella collars which spray citronella into the dogs face when they bark, acts as a deterrent without hurting the dog. There are also anti-anxiety and stress pheromones that come in plug ins and sprays for the house, and these can help some dogs decrease unwanted behaviour.

I think the best thing to do is to train her to speak and be quiet, while simultaneously working on telling her "no" and putting her into a timeout room when she barks, not letting her out til she calms down. Hope this helps!