Barking...

[Jen01]

Hi there. I am mommy to an 18-month old male Chihuahua x Jack Russell called Benji. He barks incessantly whenever someone comes to the door and won't stop until he sees that the car has left. He will not listen if I try and call him away. He also barks when we leave the house (jumps up and bites the door handles). When my husband goes for a shower he is even more aggressive; barking and biting the door handles. This does not happen if my step-daughter or myself shower/bath. My husband is not a dog lover and does not interact with Benji. I am at my wits end with the constant barking. Can anyone please advise on how I can train him to not bark so much and to be less "aggressive". I have no other problems with him. He is healthy, gets lots of exercise, is loving, loves cuddles, loves his toys, etc. Thanks

 

[Mad Murphy]

Im sure there are lots of training methods that you can use including clicker training but the fact is you have a mix of two dogs renowned for barking .

 

[JoanneF]

With the barking I think you would need o tackle it in three stages.

First teach him to bark on cue (I know it sounds like the opposite of what you are trying to do). That allows you to take the second step which is to quiet on cue. If you look up Kikopup on YouTube you will find short videos that show you how.

The third stage, once the above are reliably trained, is to enlist the help of a friend to ring the doorbell so you can cue and reward the quiet. In any training I use the rule of five. Do it five times in succession then take a break.

The aggressive behaviour with the door handles is a little harder because it's unclear why he is doing it, especially with your husband in the shower but not you or your daughter. You could keep him in another room while your husband showers but that will just stop the behaviour rather than actually resolve it.