[Dianne]

Ok, roommate conveniently not home right now to take care of his 3 dogs (one of which is Jake the puppy that needs a new home). For the better part of the past 2 hours these animals have done nothing but bark, all 3 of them.

I have tried everything. Put them outside, they bark. Go outside to see if they have legitimate reason to be barking, nothing there. Bring one, two or all of them inside, they bark. Seperate them (say one inside, two out), and you guessed it.. they bark.

This is going to drive me absolutely insane! My 7 year old daughter went to bed over and hour ago and she is still not asleep, and why you might ask? Because the &*$%ing dogs wont shut the hell up.

Short of duct-taping their muzzles closed or beating the snot out of them what on earth can I do to get these dogs to stop?! They have got to run out of barking energy at some point, dont they?

[RandyO]

Joe probably just wants something to snack on.... like your arm

[Dianne]

Hahahaha. Joe has never nipped me... its your arm hes got a hankering for.

[Dianne]

I gave 'em doggy biscuits and that shut them up for all of about 2.3 seconds then a few minutes later they all just laid down on living room floor and passed out. Apparently a night of annoying me wore them out.

[StumpyNB]

Usually a good firm NO! will work... at least for awhile. Sometimes you need to establish your dominance over them. (Pin them to the ground, on them on their back) You might not want to try that if any of those dogs are agreesive.

And of course your probably not going to do this if its not YOUR dog, but a shock collar usually gets the point across well. Although I know of at least 1 bull terrier that doesn't even notice.

[phreak]

shotgun always works.

[TheIglu]

Smear peanut butter inside a rawhide chew so it's tough to get at. Make sure there is plenty of water for them to drink, and let them work at it for HOURS.

[02SuperHawkRdr]

Originally posted by TheIglu
Smear peanut butter inside a rawhide chew so it's tough to get at. Make sure there is plenty of water for them to drink, and let them work at it for HOURS.

Yeah, I've packed the insider of a sterilized thigh bone with peanut butter; it keeps my dog pretty busy for a long time. Of course in the 3 years I've had my dog I think I've seen him bark twice. My wife gets upset because he never cares who comes in the house....but I'll take my non-barking dog (a rescued Greyhound, btw).

[Stoneman]

The simplist, non agressive way to break a dog from unwanted barking is to gently (but firmly) hold his mouth closed the moment the barking gets outta control. While doing this, otherwise ignore him. Don't squeeze too hard, but don't let go. He WILL try to shake loose. Hang onto him for just a minute or so, literally. If he starts up again, do it again. Do it over & over if need be. He'll eventually get really tired of this and SHOULD stop. Be patient! It may take a hundred times of doing this before he fully understands that you're doing this to stop him from unwanted barking...

The most important part of this is to try to understand WHY he's barking when you don't want him to. Dogs bark to communicate to other canines as well as their human counterparts. They bark to warn of territory incroachments. They bark for attention. They bark to 'fit in'. The list goes on & on...

The WORST thing you can do is get overly agressive with him when he barks uncontrollably...

[twrayinma]

to add to jay's excellent post, also try to teach the dog when it's okay to bark.
teach him to respond to "speak" with a bark... then barking is a fun game that YOU control.

[Dianne]

There is no way I could be overly aggressive with these dogs, the largest of the bunch, a full grown male Saint Bernard, who weighs about 170-180 pounds, I would never be able to do anything to this dog that would actually phase him in the slightest. I posted this a while ago, before Jake found a new home and since he has been gone the other 2 remaining dogs (his parents) have mellowed out quite a bit and the barking is no longer a problem.

[sahd03]

Kudos to Stoneman! Dead nuts right about unwanted barking - not an issue with mine, but with my sister's - and we do just what he said - and at just over a year, it's starting to work. It takes tiiiiiiiiiiime.

Not to change the subject, but I thought Jake found a home - so why is he still at your place?

[Dianne]

Jake did find a home, I started this thread before he found a home, when there were a total of 3 dogs at home (Jake and his mommy and daddy). Stoneman picked up this thread today after I thought it was already dead.

[stoinkythepig]

Dogs hate to be squirted with water (even water dogs). I was very successful using a water gun on my labs when they barked incessantly. Really gets their attention and after 10 or so incidents, you can just show them the gun and they shut right up. If you combine this with a stern reprimand, before long the reprimand will be sufficient.

Another trick is a tin can with coins in it. Shake it hard and it seems to bother them enough to get your point accross. Don't know why.