Hi there. I have a two year old lhasa apso/bichon cross named Squiggles (my
kids named him). He is just little - 12 lbs. Lovely little dog, he's
wonderful with my kids, great with my greyhound and my cat - both of whom
are very old. I have absolutely no complaints, except his out of control
barking. If someone is anywhere near the house, or if one of us makes a
noise he starts. If someone rings the doorbell it's insane.

Now on the one hand, I do like being warned when someone is around, but he
goes absolutely crazy and nothing seems to work. He's my first little dog
and my greyhound doesn't even lift his head off his pillow if the doorbell
rings so I'm not sure how to handle it. It does seem to be getting worse as
he ages. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Gwen

"Gwen" wrote in message
news:BULkd.186643$Pl.7510@pd7tw1no...
Hi there. I have a two year old lhasa apso/bichon cross named Squiggles
(my kids named him). He is just little - 12 lbs. Lovely little dog, he's
wonderful with my kids, great with my greyhound and my cat - both of whom
are very old. I have absolutely no complaints, except his out of control
barking. If someone is anywhere near the house, or if one of us makes a
noise he starts. If someone rings the doorbell it's insane.

Now on the one hand, I do like being warned when someone is around, but he
goes absolutely crazy and nothing seems to work. He's my first little dog
and my greyhound doesn't even lift his head off his pillow if the doorbell
rings so I'm not sure how to handle it. It does seem to be getting worse
as he ages. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Gwen

Oh, and sorry - but if someone is in the house he doesn't stop the whole
time - I usually have to crate him and then talk over the din. It's very
embarrassing.

"Gwen" wrote:
Now on the one hand, I do like being warned when someone is around, but he
goes absolutely crazy and nothing seems to work.

What have you tried?

Here's what I would try first. When he's "alarm barking" - that is, telling
you "Mom, mom, there's an intruder outside!" - acknowledge it. Walk up to the
window, look out, thank him for telling you, and then distract him away to
focus on something else, such as asking for sits and downs. Reward him
lavishly (use treats, praise, petting) for refocusing. Often this is enough to
reassure a barking dog that the situation is being handled and teach them that
they don't have to go on and on.

Keep doing this, and he may start seeing the trigger of "someone outside, must
bark" as "someone outside, bark and run to mom for treats."

Canine Action Dog Trainer
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"Gwen" wrote:
Oh, and sorry - but if someone is in the house he doesn't stop the whole
time - I usually have to crate him and then talk over the din. It's very
embarrassing.

Barking is a hard habit to break.

When he's in his crate and he barks, do you ever give him any attention? I
mean any at all - even yelling at him to stop?

If so, you want to train him that barking in the crate = invisible dog, and
quiet in the crate = attention and rewards.

I predict you're going to face a stubborn period of extinction burst. What
this means is that the behavior will get worse before it gets better. If he's
used to getting your attention - even negative attention - by keeping up the
barking, then he will keep trying to get the same reaction from the same
behavior. He'll bark longer, louder, more frantically, whatever it takes to
GET that reaction he expects. If you ever give in - just once - you will
reinforce his belief that barking gets him what he wants.

In the "invisible dog" stage, don't even look at him. Even eye contact is
attention.

Canine Action Dog Trainer
http://www.canineaction.com
My Kids, My Students, My Life:
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums