My dog is barking everytime i open any door, how can i stop this?

Question

Okay, so my dog barks about every time i open a door (eg. when i want to open the door to go to the hall to go upstairs) and also when i climb the stairs to go upstairs. It is really really annoying and i want him to stop barking every time, how can i stop this?

Oh, it's a chihuahua so its a very sharp bark. It's very annoying!

Answer 1

Teach him a "quiet" command. Each time he barks, tell him a firm "no", if you are close to him or have him on a leash give a short, quick snap on the leash, and tell him to be "quiet". As soon as he's quiet, praise him verbally and if close by, a hand pet.

If he is not responsive to the command/collar tug, then there are 2 other options you can try:

Have a squirt bottle filled with water near by. If he does not respond to the No command, spray a small stream of water, so that it will be at the top of his head - be careful not to get near his eyes. Don't let him know where the water is from, it just comes out of nowhere when he is noisy. Typically the water will stop his barking, to where you can praise him for being quiet. Key thing, don't let him know you have the water gun - it needs to come from nowhere. and, depending on the dog and the breed, some dogs, like retrievers, like water, and will think it's a game. Make sure it is having the result you want.

If the water does not work, you can have either a bean bag or an empty soda can, rinsed out and filled with a handful of pennies or pebbles. As the give the "no" command, throw the bag/can near the dog, but not to where it will hit them. Again, this should distract the dog to where you can praise them.


Other times, when the dog is quiet, tell them that's a "good quiet". Use a soft tone, and hand praise. This will also teach them what the word "quiet" really means, and they may respond better to the command when they are barking.

Answer 2

File a nuisances report with the local police dept. You can also call the humane society about the dog being left on its own for so long. You have done all that you can, as far as approaching the owners. Now you can file the nuisance report, and ask the police to get involved. There might not be much they can do about the day time barking, but in most cities there is a noise curfew. Good luck. The dog is suffering with separation anxiety..he needs someone to pay attention to him. Perhaps you could toss him a healthy dog bone from the store every now and then, to help him be less bored. Also, it wouldn't hurt to toss him some chew toys. It will mean the world to the animal and help you get some peace

Answer 3

Stop opening doors.

Sorry I couldn't resist. you can keep the dog with you on a leash whenever you go to the door and open it, if he starts barking, correct him by giving a little jerk on the leash and say NO. If he doesn't bark, then praise him and say Good dog. Hopefully after enough repetition, it should stop, but you have to be committed to doing it.

Answer 4

1

Answer 5

I know how annoying a Chihuahua's bark is, my mom has one. If you have ever seen the dog whisperer, Caesar Milan has a bite motion that he does at the dogs neck when they do something inappropriate. It isn't a hard mean thing, you just do it with your hand on the dogs neck(supposed to represent you being the dominant dog biting his neck). When you do this, make a stern kind of high pitched noise to get the dogs attention and to let him know that the particular behavior he is bad. So, whenever your dog barks when it is not appropriate, do this and he will eventually learn who the "pack leader" is. It is important to get your dog to stop barking so much as soon as possible because my moms dog is almost 4 and now he thinks that this behavior is acceptable because he was never taught right from wrong.

Answer 6

Get a beeper with an annoying sound, or one of those whistles that he can hear and you can't. Every time you go through a door and he starts yapping, make the sound. It hurts his ears to listen to that. Maybe it will stop him.

I have to tell you though, that I've seen some dogs that were absolutely impossible to train in the realm of barking. Yorkies, poodles. Maybe if I had them when they were young, but training them when they were adults did not work.

TX Mom

Answer 7

Yikes. I thought my dog was bad! ( He barks his head off at anyone who comes through the front or back door to the house and only stops if it's a family member...if it's a stranger...he'll bark til they leave! ) Honestly, I'd try writing to Cesar Millan...your story might catch his attention because that's a pretty strange case! Your dog may be trying to tell you something with his barking so you could try to figure out if there's something he needs or wants. Or maybe he had a bad experience with a door or something when he was young and it just scares him. Man, I really don't know! This may sounds stupid as hell but I know there are things called "Pet Psychologists"....you may want to look into it!

Answer 8

If it's a small dog take him with you... if he's a large dog, put him on a leash and take him with you... when he barks give him a correction.

Answer 9

Dog bark because they get so excited that you're arriving home... a good way to stop this is to give an energetic word to him such as "quiet!" then, pat him if he stays quiet... if this doesn't work you can either pay for professional training or buy this "no-bark" collars... hope this helps!

Answer 10

theres a thing called a barking collar. put it on him, and the first time he barks it beeps, the second time it zaps softly, third, fourth, fifth, etc. it zaps harder. it takes about 2 days for them to finally get to stop barking
dont worry its completely humane.
and it doesnt hurt em.