I am in a very sticky situation right now. Loppi has ALWAYS been a barker and because I used to live in my own house, there was never a problem because nobody else but the family and I could hear her bark and we'd ignore it until she stopped. However, I have moved and live in a duplex with 3 other families surrounding me and this barking issue is going to get us in a lot of trouble one day.
Loppi is generally a VERY excited dog. She barks whenever she hears a noise outside, thinking that someone's coming home, she barks when she hears people talking outside, she barks when she sees someone walk by, and she ESPECIALLY barks when a stranger enters the house. She barks if I'm just playing around with my boyfriend and I'm asking for a piggy back ride or something - she just can't stand the fact that she's not the one getting all the attention. She'll bark non-stop if someone enters the house and isn't holding her and petting her the whole time.
Living in a duplex, there are a lot of other people in the house that are capable of making strange sounds that she's not used to and she'll end up barking and it's very hard to stop her. I've tried so many things before to no avail and now I really need help. I just learnt that the people upstairs have told my landlord they've been woken up a few times early in the morn when Loppi heard something and got all riled up.
I've tried positive reinforcement - you know, telling her NO BARK and then when she's quiet, giving her a treat but she'll only stay quiet enough to grab the treat before running off and doing her noisy thing again. I've tried ignoring her, I've tried just about everything. I've used a jar full of pennies, I've even used the water bottle method when desperate measures were needed, but none of that fazes her AT ALL.
Can anyone please help me? It took me 2 months to find a pet friendly place in this un-petfriendly city and if I get evicted because of her barking, I'll have nowhere else to go.
Worse yet, she's teaching my newer dog to bark at every little thing as well.
Thanks in advance.
Loppi is generally a VERY excited dog. She barks whenever she hears a noise outside, thinking that someone's coming home, she barks when she hears people talking outside, she barks when she sees someone walk by, and she ESPECIALLY barks when a stranger enters the house. She barks if I'm just playing around with my boyfriend and I'm asking for a piggy back ride or something - she just can't stand the fact that she's not the one getting all the attention. She'll bark non-stop if someone enters the house and isn't holding her and petting her the whole time.
Living in a duplex, there are a lot of other people in the house that are capable of making strange sounds that she's not used to and she'll end up barking and it's very hard to stop her. I've tried so many things before to no avail and now I really need help. I just learnt that the people upstairs have told my landlord they've been woken up a few times early in the morn when Loppi heard something and got all riled up.
I've tried positive reinforcement - you know, telling her NO BARK and then when she's quiet, giving her a treat but she'll only stay quiet enough to grab the treat before running off and doing her noisy thing again. I've tried ignoring her, I've tried just about everything. I've used a jar full of pennies, I've even used the water bottle method when desperate measures were needed, but none of that fazes her AT ALL.
Can anyone please help me? It took me 2 months to find a pet friendly place in this un-petfriendly city and if I get evicted because of her barking, I'll have nowhere else to go.
Worse yet, she's teaching my newer dog to bark at every little thing as well.
Thanks in advance.