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West Highland Terrier Barking?

We have a west highland terrier who insists on barking at anything that comes within 50 feet of our house, she even goes so far as to bark at the birds in the trees, she really loves to hear herself. Can anybody help?

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Des from Ireland

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Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 188 Feedbacks
March 25, 20070 found this helpful

Please check out this site, Cesar Milan works wonders with dogs. I think that your dog barking is not that he likes to hear himself but another symptom, Cesar will know!!!

channel.nationalgeographic.com/.../cesar.html

 
By Myla (Guest Post)
March 26, 20070 found this helpful

I have a three year old Westie who likes to bark a lot also. She's pretty quiet inside, but outside everything makes her bark. She barks at cars driving down the road, birds in the yard, cows in the field and stuff I can't even see. I let her bark a few minutes to get it out of her system, then I correct her by saying "Nat". That's my voice and sound I've used since she was a puppy that lets her now I am dissatisfied with her behavior.

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It took awhile, but anytime she did something wrong, I made that sound and she soon learned she was to stop what she was doing. Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, uses a sound that his mother made when he was small and needed corrected. I guess anything that you do that indicates "NO" to your pet will work if you do it in repetition. I assume this barking is part of the nature of a Westie. I love them anyhow.

 

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March 27, 20070 found this helpful

My friend raises Chihuahuas. When they bark and it's not for a good reason, she squirts them with a squirt gun. They have learned pretty fast! Hope this helps.

 

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March 27, 20071 found this helpful

Your dog is adorable.

This weekend I heard Steve Dale on his WGN radio Pet Central program say that it is important to reward the dog when his barking is appropriate, in effect teaching him to bark on command. When he barks, say bark, good dog and give him a little treat.

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Then say enough and no more attention, no more treat. This is time-consuming, but you're teaching the dog and communicating positively with him.

 
March 27, 20070 found this helpful

Hi!
The behavior modification advice from other members is correct, but if you want to save yourself the training time, buy an electric collar that gives a small shock when your Westie begins his barking session. My sister did it on her Westie and it worked. You may have to face charges of Sadism from your family and friends, but the sound activated collar works effectively and faster then having to constantly admonish your Dog. Westies are stubborn and they will ignore you half the time but with the collar, your Dog will quickly understand the situation and you can soon dispose of the infernal device. ;-)

 
March 28, 20180 found this helpful

Stubborn is the correct word for sure.

 
By Graycrab (Guest Post)
March 27, 20071 found this helpful

I have a Chihuahua and of course she is a barker. If I squirt her or scold she will look at me and bark.
Put 5-6 pennies in a rinsed out pop ( soda )can. Flip the poptop back over the opening.

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When the dog barks give a little shake. At first I shook it and if she still barked after 2 times I'd drop it or throw it ( not at her) and she'd stop and just mumble bark under her breath.
Now all I have to do is barely move the can enough to ler her know I still have it.
Since these are cheap I had them all over my house so I could be sure to use them no matter where I was when she barked.
It works and she is now pretty much a non-barker.

 
March 28, 20070 found this helpful

We had the same problem with our 3 dogs. I got small spray bottles and filled them with water. I kept one in each room so one would always be handy in case of a barking attack.

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Each time they started barking I sprayed them. It didn't take long before they knew what would happen. We now have very few barking problems

 
April 1, 20070 found this helpful

We have a pom who barks as well, but what we realized was that she felt it was her duty to notify us, the alphas, of anything "dangerous". Unfortunately, dangerous to her could be a rustling plastic bag. However, now we go, check out the whatever it is and say, "Thank you Nellie." At that point, she feels she's done her duty and shuts up.

After a bunch of repetitions of this, she will now mostly shut up if we don't check it out too.

And if she barks when she's outside, we haul her in.

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Silent means she gets to be out. Barking means her "outside time" is curtailed.

 
By belinda (Guest Post)
May 12, 20070 found this helpful

I had a beautiful westie called Heidi for 13 years and barking i found is a very common characteristic in this breed. I had to shut her in my bedroom at night because if she heard a noise she would shoot through the cat flap at any time, she wasnt fussy! I had to be quick to catch her, but if i called her name and told her to come in she was pretty good, she'd stop barking and come to me. Although barking is a small price to pay for these cute, cuddly, stubborn, bossy, tv watching, beauties with a huge personallity.

 
March 28, 20180 found this helpful

My little stinker only barks if someone knocks at the door and she doesn't watch TV like most will. I wish she would, to give her something to keep her little mind occupied when I am busy cleaning or whatever. Great little pups.

 
By De (Guest Post)
June 5, 20070 found this helpful

I also tried the zap collar. I only have to put it on occasion when he forgets and barks excessively. The first time I used it he didn't bark for three days!

 
By Steve Thrapp (Guest Post)
September 18, 20071 found this helpful

Try an airhorn! You know, those things folks blast at graduations, etc. $6 at most party stores.
A trainer at Petco suggested it, and it's been an incredibly effective training aid.
We recently acquired our son's Westie while he's in Iraq. Great little guy, but a real barker - before a couple of blasts from the horn. Nearly instant cessation of the problem.
I asked a clerk at PetSmart why they don't stock these things as training aids - she said they did have one, to "break up dogfights!"

 
March 28, 20180 found this helpful

Great idea!

 
By (Guest Post)
May 8, 20081 found this helpful

My Westie is just the same. She thinks she's just doing her job as security guard. I let her get on with it.

 
By (Guest Post)
May 8, 20080 found this helpful

My Westie is just the same. She thinks she's just doing her job as security guard. I let her get on with it.

 
By Beverly (Guest Post)
October 28, 20081 found this helpful

Our Buddy use to bark at any object he deemed needed to be barked at We put a mesh mussel on him when he went out for about a week, and then only put it on him when he barked for no good reason. It only took a few times and he reduced his barking to very little. We never left the mussel on him long at any one time. We also used the term "no Bark" when we went to put the mussel on him, and now we can just tell him "no bark" and he will quit.

 
By tina (Guest Post)
November 7, 20081 found this helpful

I have a westie; a boy called Bobby. He is 2 years old, and doesn't stop barking. I brought a collar that sprays him when he barks. It did the trick in a little bit.

 
Anonymous
November 30, 20161 found this helpful

Our WESTIE learned that if he barked continuously and turned in circles, he could use up all the spray! Obviously, it didn't work on ours!

 
March 6, 20171 found this helpful

because she is protecting her family.

 

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