9 replies to this topic

[meghanblock7]

Hello all! I'm new to this forum and hoping you can help me! Charlie (named after the Charles River in Boston!) is 7 months old now and has developed into QUITE the barker. It's getting a little rediculous actually. We live in an apartment community and I'm pretty sure he's known as the annoying dog on the block - how awful is that? We've tried everything -- the spray bottle, positive reinforcement, yelling QUIET, etc. He barks whenever he hears a new sound.. if he hears a neighbor come home, hears a dog walking by outside, or hears someone enjoying their evening on their porch.

What can I do? He's such a great little guy otherwise!

[kjwarnold]

Have you tried a bark can? It's worked for us quite well. Take an empty soda (or beer) can and put some pennies in it; a few will do. Tape the top closed with some duck tape and you've got a great noise maker. When Charlie barks, tell him "No" and toss the bark can near him. The rattle is usually enough to startle them a lot and many dogs don't like it. Keep it up and if it's working for you, just the sight of the can or the "No" should be enough to deter him from barking. That being said, it doesn't work for all dogs, just like the spray bottle didn't work for us.

Good luck!

[sanford]

Welcome to the forum... Charlie is a very cute name for a cairn!

There is a basic list of things to try re barking. You didn't mention using an electronic collar. When triggered by a bark, some collars emit a sound that we can't hear, but dogs hate. Other collars spray citronella in the dog's face and others give the dog a small electronic jolt, but this last one is controversial and I personally would not want to use it.

Another method is to throw a (soft) shoe or cap, or whatever, at the dog to startle it, while yelling "no bark!". Some folks on this site have used a can filled with pennies or pebbles. They shake it or toss it in the direction of the dog, (but don't hit it!).

My Ruffy is also a barker, so I know what you are dealing with. Charlie, like Ruffy, really loves to bark and will be relentless and persistent in order to do it, even in the face of your disapproval. As others have said here, you have to be more stubborn and persistent than your cairn. If you find some method that seems to work at all, stick with it and don't give up!

I hope you find a solution for Charlie. He sounds like a really tough case! Let us know how things work out.

Edited by sanford, 17 January 2012 - 03:50 PM.

[DemiSheep]

You said you tried the spray bottle - did you try it using the "stream" mode instead of "mist"? My wife and i started doing this just a couple of days ago and have seen a huge decrease in Attila's barking. Obviously with stream mode, spray at their body, not the face. This is working for us so far...

Edited by DemiSheep, 18 January 2012 - 08:14 AM.

[jo_]

This is going to sound like an odd suggestion, but we found with Jagger telling her "Quiet" or "No Bark" in a stern but softer voice worked better than yelling or loud voices. She wouldn't stop immediately but the volume would lesson. We'd repeat "Quiet" with an even softer volume followed by "Good Girl". I'd also raise my pointer finger to my mouth in "Shhhh..." motion to teach her the non-verbal command. It was as if she'd match the volume of her bark to our voice level. A few months ago she seemed to have learned that "Good girl" was praise and enjoyed receiving it. It got to the point where she'd bark, I'd softly say quiet or even just a stern look and the "Shhh" finger motion and she'd usually quiet down.

You'll notice I wrote all of that in past tense. The last couple of weeks Jagger seems to have forgotten all of this and goes into a barking frenzy at the sight of every squirrel. *SIGH*...back to the drawing board.

Edited by jo_, 18 January 2012 - 08:23 AM.

[Islander]

I have taught Gus the same "Shhh" and finger to lips signal. I use it when I'm throwing the ball for him. I won't throw it until he has been quiet for a count of 10. So he definitely knows the signal but he needs some motivation to obey it!!

[lindasue]

I also used the coke can w/pennies when Pegi was a pup. She didn't like it at all. However, my husband found that waving a baseball cap at her works well too.

But if we are walking and there's a squirrel around, all bets are off.

[Meggie]

Another odd suggestion:

We taught Hub to speak on command, focusing on his warbling noise. This took a few days and some very awkward vocalizations my part to get him to imitate me

After a month or so, when I would get him to speak on command easily, I would then say "quiet" softly, put a "shhh" finger to my mouth and then (because he was still warbling) put my finger to his. If he stopped vocalizing, he was rewarded and praised and I only repeated "quiet" in the same tone, as I pet him and he ate his treat.

We worked backwards, but it seemed to get the job done. He still barks if the doorbell rings (in real life or on tv) but calmly saying quiet has cut the length of time the barking spells last more than in half.

Hope you figure out what method will work for you and Charlie!

[cairnfan]

Another poster mentioned using a spray bottle in the stream mode. This worked for us too. It got to the point where I would just pick the bottle up and Bear would stop barking. He is 1 year now and the barking has really mellowed. At 7 months, he was triggered very easily. Hang in there for a couple months and with maturity may come some peace and quiet.

[Idaho Cairns]

Seven months is late to be starting on correcting this habit but it can be done if you stay dedicated to the task and are willing to make the physical effort that it will take to stop the behavior. At this point your little guy probably doesn't know or respond to the command "No!" so that might be a great place to start--teaching that "No!" means "Stop what you are doing!".
Once that is learned, you can use essentially the same procedure you would use to correct biting behavior by lightly grasping the dogs snout, forcing eye contact, and firmly saying (not shouting) "No Bark!" everytime he barks. If you are persistent you will cure 90% of the unnecessary barking--some situations are just impossible, a knock on the door, the doorbell, a dog outside the window, etc.
I also use objects to decrease the distance--a tossed ball cap with the command works so well for me that now all I have to say is "no" and reach for the cap and the barking stops. The object thrown at the dog is merely a way of breaking the dog's focus on whatever it is yapping at enough to get it to pay attention to your command--even if it also scares the dickens out of some dogs. Once you have the Cairn's attention, then you can tell it what you want it to do. I have never tried the water bottle routine but I don't know why it wouldn't work since it serves the same purpose.
If you dedicate yourself to the task, allow no exceptions, then eventually he will get the idea. It is really fun once they learn that barking isn't allowed--now mine will utter a huff or a half bark and then look directly at me to see how I am going to react--it is sort of a "test bark" to see what, if anything, they think they can get away with. Of course they then get a stern look, a pointed finger, or a reach for the cap brim--which reduces the huff to a chuff and then a tiny woof. After all these are Cairns we are talking about and they don't go easy into the night--I let them have their "last word" so long as it isn't a loud one.
Have fun, you'll be surprised with how quickly they can and will bend to your need for quiet.
How you deal with an unattended Cairn barking in an apartment building is an entirely different matter--no suggestions.