Barking Dogs

I don't know if you have had this thread before but here goes!
My Millie is wonderful, she is however a JRT, and I know that barking goes with the territory. She barks at the slightest sound and if anyone comes to the door she goes crazy and sounds vicious, but she isn't. As soon as she gets near whoever it is, she starts licking them. It is worries me that people are initially afraid of her and she is really so gentle.
I am hoping that she will settle when we have her spayed. Believe me she is loved to bits and we do not punish her, just try to calm her down. But she barks off and on so much each day, I worry about her a bit. Any advice would be good. I am not berating her we love her no matter what.
Anne W.

Hi there Millie may be barking for a number of reasons, excitement, warning of strangers and protecting being some of them. Try not to speak to her when she barks otherwise you are rewarding unwanted behaviour. There are various training methods to use to deter barking, with a JRT who is usually toy orientated I would first try using a squeaky toy and distraction. Don't let her see the toy or you squeaking it but squeak it when she barks and she should stop barking and come to look for it, by the time she has searched and not found it she should have forgotten what was causing her to bark. If that does not work there are other methods you can use .

Thank you Mini, I will try anything. She really is so sweet and loving, and it hurts when people 'Neighbours' are angry with her for being noisy. Will try your suggestions.
Many Thanks.
Anne W.
P.S. I printed your story off, for my Grandchildren to read. They (and us Grown ups) were really thrilled to read it. Another Thank You

I have one that barks at anything and i know how trying it can feel ......I have tried most things with Bonnie but sorry to say she is just vocal .....

Just a thought, have you tried to teach it to bark on command and stop on command too?
I know of some where it has helped....

Oh i can sympathize fully with this one , Pyr's are barkers too and nothing has ever worked to make Akira be quiet i have tried teaching her to speak hoping she would eventually learn the quiet command , nope that did'nt work , she will bark in the house and i am sure she just likes the sound of her own voice , i have learned the only way with her is to totally ignore her and turn my back , thats fine in the house and she does not bark much outside on walks etc

Storm was barking his head off when anybody came into my house but i have quickly learned with him to just get people to totally ignore him until the second he is quiet and then fuss him . This does seem to be working well as he quietens down a lot more quickly now .

Due to a silly man shouting accross the road at me one night while he stood right outside my house struggling to hold 2 Akitas bawling at me "my dogs dont like other dogs and they are fighting dogs you know etc etc " Storm went ballistic and barked his head off and for a couple of days after that any time anyone spoke to me he would go nuts , due to the sheer size of him i knew i had to nip that in the bud , I know i was angry and i know Storm must have sensed that and decided he should react as well , So i took him up to our local reail park and walked him around the busy shops with my daughter and Akira , i stopped men in the street just to ask them if they would mind speaking to me oops my daughter pointed out they might think i was trying to pick them up lol , but it worked well with storm and now he does not react when people speak to me thankfully .

I think i would try ignoring Millie when she barks and ask your visitors to not even acknowledge her until the second she is quiet , then ask them to keep saying quiet good girl or words like that until she realizes that being quiet gets her attention but barking just does not get her any attention at all , dont even ask her to be quiet just ignore her totally and then make loads of fuss of her as soon as she is quiet .

Hope that makes sense , my dogs are not toy orientated or i might have tried the toy trick too

Fiona xx

Hi,
i two own a JRT, and Polly is the original ankle biting barker, she yaps at the door, whne people walk past the house, the post man etc....
How we stopped her was, we moved her bed and toys into the lounge,away from the front door, stopped her going near it for a while, put her in the garden, or in the kitchen as people came in the house.
And when she did bark, we had an old tomato can, full of coppers, with a lid on, that we shook, or dropped on the floor, to shock her.
Hope this hepls
best wishes

well i will give it a go ....LOL
she is a perfect dog in every way apart from the gob ...although as she is getting older it has settled down

Thank You Fiona and Lu. I have some pretty good suggestions which will give me something to work on. I think with such big ears she can hear more than she should. I am sure (sort of) that she will calm down a little one day. Fingers crossed.
Thanks Everyone.
Anne W.