Barking Help!

[Anatresia]

Rigby is driving me crazy. Anybody want a red smoothie? She won't SHUT UP now because we have the windows open in the house. It's the two week period of "Autumn" that Buffalo actually gets, between air conditioning and the furnace, and I can't take it anymore.

She barks at EVERYTHING. If we spray her with the water bottle she shuts up, but as soon as something else out in the world makes noise, she tries again.

Also, we have a doggie door in our screen that I pretty much cannot leave open anymore, which is a shame because it's nice for Mr. Butters to be able to come and go as he pleases for potty (he never leaves my side for anything else, so it's not like I have to worry about him being out alone!) She will go in and out all evening, barking her fool head off. The other day, I heard a neighbor yell, "Shut up!" at her. (Which is BUSH, because the yappy thing two doors down barks CONSTANTLY and I keep my two under control and inside other than potty time.)

Any suggestions? Everytime she starts, I say, "NO!" forcefully and make her sit with me, but once she gets going, she's a maniac to stop.

[Frzframe]

Citronella collar! Works wonders for Mitzi and I only have to put it on her a few times a month. :)

[Anatresia]

We tried that and she thought the collar was bad and would still bark if the collar happened to NOT be on her.

See, she's evil but SMART, too. It sucks.

[Jen]

What about that electronic, plug in, ultra sonic thing that Lisa and some other people mentioned. It was from Petsmart I think...

[K2]

I second the ultrasonic thing they have at PetCo/Petsmart. I used it on Pippit when we first moved to the apartment and it helped!

[Frzframe]

Oh I'll have to looking that too. Cause Dudley is scared to death of the collar. When I put it on Mitzi he runs and hides. :duh:

[Tex]

Oh man, no great advice here....but sending some big anti-barking :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: your direction.

[JanUet]

I second the ultrasonic thing they have at PetCo/Petsmart. I used it on Pippit when we first moved to the apartment and it helped!

Can you tell us more about this ultrasonic thing?
Does it plug into an outlet? Does our pupper need to wear a collar or what?
How does it work?

I am interested!

[alfina]

I have one of those ultrasonic things. Seb still barks with citronella collar on, so I bought this device to try. It runs on a 9v battery and you put it on a counter or some place near the dogs. I think it has to be within 20 feet of the dogs to be effective.

It seemed to have worked at first and now I think they just ignore it. I thought maybe the battery went bad and replaced it. But still nothing. Some people say it worked for their dogs. I think it depends on the dog.

[Otto'sMom]

Dolly is my incessant barker, and even clicker training didn't work. The trainer gave up on her quickly when all we could do was train her to bark louder. Sometimes, I just put on my MP3 player and let her bark. I tell her "zip it", "put a sock in it" "shut up" and finally "STFU" and that usually does the trick. I have to scare her into stopping when she's barking over nothing. Dolly has a lot to say about everything, and I'm still learning what each individual bark means. I can't get her to stop when it's walk time, until we're out the door. I've just learned to put up with it as her special gift.

[phoria2]

Some :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for ya!
Wish I had some stellar advice....Does she do it in front of you? Will she stop in your presence? Have you tried putting her in a cradle position till she's completely calm?

Every few days Abby will just go on a barking jag but the second I come out to see what she's doing......... she stops immediatley.
I call it, "If Ma doesn't see me it's not bad to Bark" mode!

[Anatresia]

She barks and when she sees me, she looks me in the eye and BARKS. Such a bold diva. But if she sees me with the spray bottle, she doesn't dare bark at all.