Help... Love our yorkie but don't know what to do anymore

[Faiythe]

Some background information.

I have a jackrat terrier that we have had since a pup, we have trained him using our voice to not bark, speak, sit etc. We saved our yorkie Prince when our previous neighbor was going to give him to a shelter. not even taking him to the humane society, the shelter! we live in a small town and the shelter is scary here. so we took him in, we got him kenneled trained, and potty trained, and he doesn't bark when hes not suppose to inside the house. My problem is that its when hes in the backyard. we have separate houses connected to ours and only a chain link fence separating everyone. Out side he barks at people who are trying to sit on their porch, he barks at the other dog 3 times his size next door, lord save us if some one is mowing their yard. its non stop. He knows that commands inside the house but its like when hes outside his brain goes to mush, but when he sees me he shuts up. I've started to get complaints by one of the neighbors and i'm waiting for the others. I can't be outside every time he is, if there something i can do besides building a privacy fence around our yard so he can't see anything. I don't want to sell him, but if he continues and I can't get him to stop. I might be forced too.

[kimp5]

The only things I can think of is
A. keep a water bottle outside and spray his face when he does it with a firm "no barking" It doesn't hurt them but they don't like it. Eventually you will just have to pick up the bottle and show it to him when it when he barks.
B. the other thing you can do is pick him up when he barks and tell him a firm "no barking" and put him in a time out room inside where he can see no one. Make sure he is quiet of barking for 10 minutes before you let him out. He does it again repeat it. It may take a lot of repetition but eventually it clicks..

[yorkietalkjilly]

He's going to need a long period of reshaping his behavior so that he learns to look to you and respect your authority, watch you for leadership, control his own impulses and learn to automatically do what you say.

Here are some thoughts to use if you want.

With a dog like this, you need a lot of time working with and training him, over time slowly and positively reshaping his behavior. He will have to learn to totally rely on you to pay him for the hard job of learning to control his strong genetic impulses. And you will have to be willing to keep him from reinforcing this barking behavior over and over at first by going outside and bringing him inside or going out to train him and reward him every single time he starts it until you have remade this dog - shaping him into the dog you want. It could take a year. If you're really good, far less time.

I would start with the Nothing In Life Is Free method, learned from free sites on the internet. Strictly keep him on that and keep it fun, positive as you teach him to look to you for everything from water to a potty session to a ball to chase. Nothing in his life is free - he needs to do something for you first to get it. This will teach him to look to you solely for all in life. It's a good start.

Start him on any good obedience training program outlined on many sites on the Internet. He'll need 3 - 5 minute sessions about 3 times a day, but no less than 2. That's 15 minutes a day. Use juicy treats he loves and will want to work for, keep it upbeat and fun and always reward him with praise, big smiles and a treat when he does each command correctly. After each training session, reward him with a good roughhouse play session and a run outside to work off the tensions. Laugh now a lot. Keep adding to the repertoire of commands you teach to keep him learning and responding to you. Dogs absolutely LOVE to learn from a responsive and fun trainer.

Teach him the down stay command so that he is completely reliable and will stay down in place for up to 2 minutes and then his praise and reward. Teach him the sit stay in the same manner. You've taught him to bark and quieten on command but keep reinforcing that.

Learn how and teach him the "Watch me". Teach it well until that dog will lock and focus on your eyes - not your hands no matter what they are doing - for a couple of minutes. Walk around as he watches you. Turn sideways and squat and move a lot but teach him to lock on and fixate on your eyes and a lovely treat when he holds them a while. If he looks away, breaks focus say "uh oh", frown and turn your back to him. When he focus on him and hold it, you'll then "release" him with that word, a huge smile and poke chicken right in his mouth that instant. Not 8 seconds later - instantly. Extend the time he must focus on your eyes before you release and treat so that he learns to watch you closely. He'll work hard for that release and treat.

In a few months, begin to work your dog on obedience outside. Outside is now where he needs to continue his ability to respect and look to you for leadership and perform his commands. If you always have fresh boiled chicken in your treat pack, he will ALWAYS want please and work for you. Keep it upbeat, fun, use a squeaky cute voice to get his attention at first if lots is going on next door. Work with him diligently outside, keeping his attention on you, squatting, turning, bobbing, weaving, whatever to keep him interested in you and what you are about to command him to do. Turn him around often to keep him off guard and wondering. And then rewarding him for getting his commands right. Lots of play and laughing with the training is over and a good walk afterward. Gosh he'll love it. You will too!

Should he lose focus and begin to bark, immediately put him in the sit/stay or down/stay, whichever works better for you. Stand before him and lock eyes with him, tell him to "Watch me" and focus on you as you place your hand on the treat bag where he knows the chicken is kept but keep his eyes locked on you. Keep him focused on you and learn what it takes for him to do that. Work that.

Keep these sessions short at first so that the temptation to bark is controlled for a little while and he learns he can control his barking outside as long as you and your eyes and the chicken are there. It will be a big win the first time some guy is mowing, he's barking and you get him down, quiet, watching you for 10 seconds! TREAT!!! TREAT!!! TREAT!!! Not much praise here as he's already excited inside so just a kind smile and touch - some way to acknowledge he did it as you pop that treat in his mouth instantaneously. He'll love that you get that treat to him pronto for his hard work of being quiet for 10 seconds. Now, turn him around and do it again.

He's just learned he can work hard to control his barking because he's learned to focus on his pack leader and on top of that, he'll get a luscious treat when he does.
Little by little, in conjunction with working with him so much outside for praise and treats, his ability to focus on you, your commands and focus on you will in time teach him and make it in his best interests to control his wild behavior by lying still in place, quiet and focusing on you for a payday - that treat and your pleasurable and happy response. He'll want to do it. Each time will build on the last.

Keep those sessions short and if things get really wild and you see he's getting super excited, don't allow him to offend and bark. Bring him in the house and keep working with him for the duration of the time. Then the roughhouse playing and walk afterward. He'll begin to look to this training and interaction with you as better than OCD barking.

If you will use those 15 minutes a day to train your dog, inside at first and then always training him outside, he will in time learn to listen to and behave you NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HIM. It will be fun, rewarding and he'll want to please you. Basic and regular training works wonders with dogs whatever their behavior problems. It allows them to control themselves by learning how to do it slowly over time and they do it to get food and then, in time, to please you - their fun and loving and strong pack leader whom they have learned to respect. Most of all at first SMALL DOGS - they work for the food - the paycheck, then for your pleasure in them and praise is secondary and in time even more than the food, they want you pleased with them. They'll work their butts off to please you after a bond has been formed training.

Daily training and working with a dog will begin to teach him to respect you, look to you for leadership and guidance and to learn by rote to do what you request. It has a wonderful cumulative effect and in time, dogs learn your words for all your commands and words like "good boy", "easy now" "uh oh", "no" "don't do that", "stop it" and your body attitude, facial expressions when you are wanting something of them, pleased or displeased and they learn to watch for your reactions and perform or stop behavior you do or don't like, in time before you even form the words. They are not perfect and get too excited sometimes and forget, etc., but in the main, a dog well-trained in basic obedience with a loving and patient teacher who keeps the lessons refreshed and fun, interesting and very rewarding, smiles and laughs a lot, stays patient as Job, will be a dog you will LOVE having for a pet because they know you so well and want to keep you happy.

You can reshape almost any bad behavior with repetitive, positive-reinforcement training of a dog to teach it little by little simple basics in order to learn how to control itself and respond to you in every way 99% of the time. That 1% they don't is what keeps having a dog so interesting and challenging and mostly so much fun.

[dottiesyrky]

The training advice is very helpful but may take time to succeed. In the meantime, if he annoys the neighbors when outside could you limit his time there to potty and play breaks when you are with him?
So happy for him that you rescued and took care of him. Good luck, hope you can solve this issue so that you may keep him.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Amen, Dottie. In Paragraph 3 of my encyclopedia:

And you will have to be willing to keep him from reinforcing this barking behavior over and over at first by going outside and bringing him inside or going out to train him and reward him every single time he starts it until you have remade this dog - shaping him into the dog you want.

Can't keep letting him bark and bark - he'll just get worse. Interrupt and change his direction anyhow you can until he's got some training and impulse control.

[dottiesyrky]

Right, letting him bark will do nobody any good! It would annoy me as well as the neighbors. LOL!

[yorkietalkjilly]

You are so right. Spot on. It will ruin the dog and the neighbors will want to egg your house! I lived next to two awful, awful barkers for 5 years and nearly drove me crazy. I really mean that. It was harrassing. I even slept on the couch in the den for a long time to get to sleep in in the mornings since the dog was out barking early. But, they finally trained those two dogs not to bark. Changed them entirely. Sweet dogs now.