Heidi & Princess are getting muzzles!!!!

[Michelle]

:mad: OHHHHH, I am so so mad at Heidi and Princess, they have been such very very bad girls lately when it comes to barking outside at the tree and the @#*#&$ squirrels in the backyard!!.

I have had it and I am going to Petsmart tonight to get them some of those soft nylon/mesh muzzles to put over those cute but loud doxie snouts of theirs and keep them hushed up in the early AM when I let them out to potty.

I don't mind when everyone else in the neigbhorhood is awake, but when i let them out at 6am and 6:30 am, my neighbors are still sleeping and those two ninnys are out there barking at the tree, very loudly and they will not stop for anything!!!,

I am very concerned about my neighbors and don't want the dogs constantly waking them up every morning cause I know they can hear it, they are so loud.

They have become crazed lately with this squirrel and tree issue, when I let them out in the morning the very first thing they do is make a bee-line for that tree in the middle of the yard and then the two of them just circle the darn tree and bark their little old heads off at the top of their lungs..

I think cause they are getting older now, and not pups anymore their hunting instict is really kicking in.

I stand at the door like a fool screaming and yelling ,and begging and pleading for them to stop it!!, I even shake the bag of Lamb treats and it still does not get their attention.

Those sonic collars are just too expensive for me to be getting two of them, so I saw how my friend has a nylon muzzle for her dog, cause she goes crazy licking people when they first come into their house, so she muzzles the dog until the excitement is over, and I noticed that the dog is not able to open up their mouth at all, so there for no barkies either!!!!,

This is a much cheaper way I think to curtail the barking in the early AM than getting the collar. I just can't afford to pop for 2 sonic collars now,,

OOhhh, I am so mad at them right now, they have been doing this non-stop for the past 2 weeks and my patience for it has broken down!!!

[Bella's Mom]

I can relate! Bella is 10 months old now and the barking has come out full force. She sees a leaf - bark, a plastic bag blowing in the wind - bark, a person, another dog, a squirrel, basically anything that moves - bark, bark, bark. I know it's just their natural instinct and that's what dogs go, especially dachsies. Sometimes it's like nails on a chalkboard and other times I just want to burst out laughing cause she's protecting me from that menacing leaf that is 20 feet away! :rotfl:

Our puppers try our nerves but you know in the end they are our babies. :hearts:

[quavec]

My mother has come close to refusing to babysit Cricket due to his constant, loud, random barking. I can relate.

:bigrayz: :bigrayz: anti barking, hope the muzzle works rayz!

[Jacqueline]

Mark Mark, Mark Mark, Mark Mark, gef uf furl, Mark Mark.......oh, you guys are in trouble now....:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Lisa]

I even shake the bag of Lamb treats and it still does not get their attention. I thought I was the only one to do that..."ooooohooooohooooooh, what's mommy got?", some days it works, but for a squirrel forget about it...nothing works. But, I haven't tried a muzzle yet, so please let us know how it works.

[HotDogMama]

Same here, She will be 1 in April and I take her out as soon as I get home around 7:30 am every morning and she just barks cause shes outside I think, there is NObody around except for those stoopid cows, and if she sees them there is no turning back, and no potty either, makes me so :mad: But it is hilarious at the same time, she hates those stupid cows, and when they see her they sneak up on her, I'm gonna try taking the water bottle out with me, have you ever tried that? Thank got she's never seen a squirrel

[Irminsul]

How about taking them for a walk instead of letting them run in the yard?

Of course you realize all dachsies do this ... Rieke screams at the top of her lungs when she sees squirrels. I have had people open doors to see if she got hit by a car!

Your two have made this a ritual. You yelling is just joining them. They just don't know why you aren't at the tree with them! k

I wouldn't muzzle dogs for barking. They will probably just stop and claw at the muzzles instead of going potty anyway...

Good luck..

[Michelle]

How about taking them for a walk instead of letting them run in the yard?
Good luck..

I wish I could muster up the time and energy to do this, I am to darn lazy though since we have a fully fenced in backyard to just open the door and let them out. Also I am always rushing in the morning to get in the shower and out of the house on time to catch my train, I just switched my hours at work from 7:30am start to an 8:15am start time, cause I just cannot seem to wake up early enough and get going.

I have certainly been spoiled though by having the fenced in yard so I don't have to dress and take them out on the leash..

I'll try the muzzle for short time and see how things go with it, if I find they are not going potty and just trying to take it off, then I might have to end up buying the sonic collars its just that they are so expensive.

Their barks have gotten so much louder now that they are not puppies anymore,,

[lotsadox]

Mine like to do that, too. After all, they are dogs and barking is what they do. I just bring them in the shut them in the bedroom with me if they bark too much early in the a.m. Then I let them out a little later. I keep hoping that they will get the hint that if they bark they have to come in, but it doesn't seem to be working.

[Michelle]

The Problem is I can't get them back inside the house, when I call them to come in they just ignore me and keep barking, but I am in no position to go outside cause I have my jammies on and have not even gotten in the shower and it is freezing outside..

Oh, this sucks big time,,, I usually get up and let them outside ASAP so they can potty, then when they are in the house I jump in the shower and quickly get ready for work. I guess I will just have to see how the muzzle works for the early Am potty times

[JanUet]

Please let us know If the muzzles work. Mine don't bark first thing in the am since Hubby takes them out for a walk. But they sure bark up a storm when I just let them out to do their business! But, I am with them and they KNOW Mommy isn't happy with the barking.

I just had Sophie at the VET to remove her stitches from the dew claw removal she had done Feb 20th. I cautioned the vet assistant (as I always do ) that Sophie is a snapper. She got a soft muzzle and put it on her. I was shocked :shocked: I had never seen one before!!!! It just looks like a piece of cloth that surrounds her whole mouth and is attached like a collar. I was amazed. While she was taking out the stitches.....Sophie was trying to get the muzzle off. I have got to get one! If not for the barking but for the Snapper!

[Helen]

Can you put them on a leash and walk them around the backyard? That way you don't have to get all dressed, but they won't be free to run straight for the tree. Just a suggestion.

[Anatresia]

Miss Rigby is my BARK BARK BARKER. It drives us insane. Butters only barks when someone is truly at the door. He doesn't bark at his "prey"-usually birds- he loves birds, but he is nice to them because two babies landed in the yard before and he just kissed and sniffed them. Princess Killer, on the other hand, is sure to let the neighborhood know that the squirrels better stay the heck out of her yard.

[jennie_c_d]

Emma has her own muzzle. I kiss her face. When we go to the vet, I don't want their nasty muzzles on her face (sick dog spit, HELLO!). I wouldn't use it for barking, though. If they can't open their mouths, they can't breathe with ease. Muzzles are only supposed to be used for 20 minutes at a time, and only suprivised. If you use a basket muzzle, so they can pant, they can bark too....

[Michelle]

WEll, We got the muzzles last night and they fit well but of course they don't really like them at all, trying to paw them off etc.. but I put them on for a minute or two then took them off, just to get them used to the idea.

This morning I quickly put them on, then let them run out the door, they ran straight for the tree and started circling around it looking up, but of course could not bark, they tried for a minute to get the muzzles off, then Heidi went and peed, good girl!, Princess would not pee, so I let both of them back in, and took off the muzzles, kept Heidi inside and let Princess back out by herself to see if she would pee, she just stood by the door of course waiting for Heidi to come out too, so I brought PRincess back inside and put them both in the crate, jumped in the shower, then let them both back outside, this time it was already 7am. so I let them out w/o the muzzles and they did just a tiny bit of barking and I left them out for a while to roll around and wrestle with each other.

They definately don't like the muzzles, but since the winter will be over soon and spring is coming, I will not hesitate to go outside with them in the yard with a leash on and see if they will do their business on a leash, they are kind of spoiled now that they have a fenced in yard, I have not tried to have them go potty with a leash on since they were tiny pups.

I told my husband not to use the muzzles at all when I am not home, and they are only for the very early AM potty breaks.

However, since I changed my hours at work now, I am getting up a bit later,

Also I will try going outside on the leash with them and have a squirt bottle filled with vinegar water mix and try the squirting them in the face when they start the barking.

I am just a baby when it comes to the cold AM mornings and don't want to trod out into the yard at 6am in the freezing cold, but when spring comes that is a different story..

The muzzles were cheap only $6.00 each and I will only use them sparingly cause I don't really like to do that, but maybe after a few times they will get the hint to stop the barking.

While at Petsmart, we happened to be there during one of their dog training sessions and there was a lady there with a smooth mini doxie in the training ring and she was there specifically for the doxies barking problems, she had her squirt bottle in hand for the training and we talked for a while after the training was over,, Boy does her little guy Burrito have a very high pitched bark OMG!!!! She said his barking has been a major problem for the past few months, after he turned 1yr in November.