Yapping

I know we’ve covered this topic some, but my two little dogs are driving me crazy with their barking. They yap when my kids walk in from school, when someone comes to the door, when my husband gets home, if my husband laughs loud, if a doorbell rings on the television. It’s very annoying. What would the dog whisperer do.

There are times when I wish I could channel Cesar in my head. I think he would tell me I had to be my dog’s leader, and then probably say to make that shhshh noise and do that two fingered press on the neck to mimic momma dog’s correction. Personally, for me the only thing that really works on the girls is to give them a firm no to get their attention, and then lock eyes with them until they back down. It reminds them ‘‘I’m’’ the big dog in the house. I’m sure some people would criticize my method, but it makes the dogs stop and I never have to lay a finger on them.

I will try the eye contact thing, Kelly. I do the “shhh” method, but they just seem to think it means to bark more. LOL I have also thought about buying one of the humane bark collars on the market that emit the high beeps when they yap. I am wondering if these would help if I combined it with a “no bark” or something along those lines. I will let you know if I have any success.

Hi Lori,

I think you may want to try Kelly’s suggestion before you go with the collar because it may work with your dogs. She’s right about the eye contact and the sharp “no”- it lets them know you mean business. I do the same thing, but I don’t say “shhh”. Like you, when I do, my girls seem to think I’m playing, or encouraging “talk”- in fact, it makes my big own howl and “speak” (although it does stop the barking :-)

What works for me is I say “stop it”, I then pause, and if they don’t stop, I say “now” in a very firm tone. Then, I snap my fingers and tell them “out”. They then leave the room, and the barking stops. The finger snap works well with them because they know that’s the end of the “conversation” :-) Maybe something like that might work?