# 16 mo. female V has become an obsessive barker



## kmjeffus (Feb 4, 2016)

Ok... Our 16 mo. V used to never bark and about 3 months ago, started barking at everything and also nothing at all. We live on a cul-de-sac and get a lot of walkers, runners and many with dogs. She goes ballistic. She barks at shadows, at birds, at anything that moves. Today, she stood and barked at our neighbor's trashcan for an hour and we couldn't get her to stop and come inside (including offering her a little piece of cheese- her favorite food). Yesterday she sprinted circles around our yard and barked while doing it. We have a 2/3 acre with an invisible fence, so she gets plenty of running and exercise. The worst though, is the barking at people or creatures while inside the house. Her bark is unbelievably shrill and high pitch. My husband is on edge and is threatening to send her back to the breeder. What do you do to break this habit or train her NOT to do it. A little barking is fine and normal but this incessant barking at anything and everything is not.


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## NutterButter (Mar 5, 2016)

Likely every dog is different, and Vizslas seem to be especially challenging, so all I can do is offer what worked with our Sadie to reduce her barking.

Fortunately (for our neighbors) her barking incidents are mostly inside and fade quickly once she exits the house.

What seems to work has been to train her to grab a soft toy when she starts barking and we say "quiet". At the very least, the toy (or sometimes she will grab 2 or 3) muffles her bark, but also seems to calm her down.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

What kind of mental, and physical exercise (minus running in the yard) does she get on a daily basis?


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

As a partial solution for shadows, trash cans, and stationary objects, you can teach CHECKITOUT. Go up to whatever object is causing her to freak (the trash can would have been a perfect opportunity), walk up to it, touch it multiple times with your hand saying checkitout. Turn to her, put out your hand inviting her to come closer. Turn back to the trashcan and touch it saying checkitout. As soon as she sniffs in the general direction, give LOTS of praise. She doesn't need to come really close. She doesn't need to touch it. All she's doing is exploring it.

The command does 2 things: 1) it distracts her from barking and 2) lets her know that you are in control and whatever that thing is, it's safe.

When you first start, this command is an exercise in patience for you. As she gets better and learns to trust the command, the process goes faster.

BTW, with Christmas and Christmas decorations coming, I'd start practicing this command sooner rather than later.


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## kmjeffus (Feb 4, 2016)

Thank you for your replies! I put a couple of your suggestions to work and they have helped. Fortunately my girl is a quick learner! I have started saying "Quiet" in a serious voice and then "on your bed" and she responds. We have the most trouble with her barking at runners, the UPS man when he is outside of his truck or the meter-reader. The funny thing is... she barks like crazy but if I let her outside, she runs up to the person and rolls over for a belly rub (such a vicious girl 😂). The other night (the night of the super moon) she started going ballistic when I let her out to go potty. I looked up and I could see those spotlights (like new businesses use to announce their opening) moving across the sky. There wasn't much I could do about that except that I eventually lured her back inside and she calmed down. It's funny the things a dog notices...


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## cuddlebuglove (Apr 27, 2014)

Maybe they were really a squad of UFOS unless you're outside of the United States- irksome times here!
I can't see a postal carrier or UPS driver lodging a complaint about barking charging Vizsla demands belly rubs lol.

Well ONLY if those workers get lured away from work- then you.would have to decide if they're worthy enough to learn about your breeder ;D


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