Excessive barking

[mysherry]

I have a 1.5 year old shih-tzu that I got 6 months ago from a puppy mill. He has lots of behavior problems and nobody can touch him except me. One of the issues we have is his excessive barking when anyone comes to our house. It doesn’t matter to him if I’m home too or not, he will still bark constantly.
When I leave him alone in the house he’s ok, but if I leave and lock him in a room (he's still house training) he barks a lot and scratches the door.

When we leave him home and have our baby-sitter staying with the kids he won’t stop barking the whole time! I tried having him in a room in the basement and I tried leaving him free in the house with the kids and the baby-sitter. He just doesn’t stop his barking even for 5 minutes!! (He also poops in the house when she the baby-sitter is here).

We feel like prisoners in the house, since we can’t go out and leave the kids with the baby-sitter because he barks so much that the kids (who are still young) can’t fall asleep. Every time we went out we were forced to come back early only so they can have some quiet and go to sleep. I felt bad for the baby sitter the last time. She stayed in on of the kids rooms for over an hour hoping that if the dog won’t see her, he will be quiet, but it didn’t work.

How can we get him to stop his barking???

Thanks!

[Shaykeija]

Extreme separation anxiety..he has bonded with his mommy....Have you taken him to the vet? Have you thought of using a GOOD trainer? I rescue Shih Tzu and this little fellow needs some help. Quincy, my boy has bonded so hard to me that he growls at my husband. If Quincy is at home alone with my husband he sticks to his side. But when I come home, he attaches himself to me. We worked on this and it is a lot better. Perhaps the vet may give you ideas on what is going on inside his head. Poor little boy. More exercise may help, socializing is a must. Is he a biter or a growler? Does he hide, attack, posture or run around and bark? Is there any treats he likes? Perhaps get your baby sitter to sit on the floor and feed him his favorite treats. This little one, is still a baby, who is a mill survivor. Please have patience and seek some help. ( oh yes and post Mr Yappy's picture)

[mysherry]

I had a trainer coming over shortly after I got him, and she addressed many of the problems. So far we see little improvement.
He is a growler although he bit 2 dog groomers on 2 different occasions (Pet Smart told me not to bring him there again). When he's in the house and we have a guest, he barks and looks scared but in the same time if the guest moves around he will follow him while barking at him. He is ok with the family and even when I'm out and he stays with them, he's ok.

He is totally attached to me - can't move a step without him behind me.
In the spring I plan on take him to some socialization classes. I hope they will accept him since he snaps at other dogs (but not to cats).

There has to be a way to stop this barking

[Shaykeija]

Sounds mean, but maybe a spray bottle with water in it? Missie barks her silly little face off when we have company. We finally figured it out, she hates anyone standing over me. When we have company, we get them seated quickly and Missie says hello to everyone and not a peep, until they stand up. Just one of her quirks.... You might want to contact Furbaby rescue and talk to Eleni. She might have some good info for you. She runs a Shih Tzu rescue out of Washington.

[mummummum]

Originally Posted by mysherry

I had a trainer coming over shortly after I got him, and she addressed many of the problems. So far we see little improvement.

Your dog bites, barks constantly, can't be touched by anyone by you, is overly attached to you, has separation anxiety, exhibits challenging behaviour to guests, isn't house-trained... it's hard to see exactly how your trainer has addressed anything.

I would be looking at a new trainer/ behaviour specialist myself.