[ngtah00]

So Sammy starting barking when someone knocks on the door or when my boyfriend comes home. She barks and wags her tail. I know she is trying to alert me and many books have said that chihuahuas are good watch dogs.

Today, someone approached my car while we were in it and I rolled down the window and she barked at the person. Again, she's defending her territory and trying to protect me.

So I have used "shussh" and given her treats, but she ignores them and continues to bark.

Anyone else with this behavior? And how did you deal with it?

Thank you!

 

[Cooper]

Is she barking constantly or just one or two barks in those situations? One of the other threads on barking said to hide and make a loud noise and startle the dog whenever they bark so they'd think their barking caused it.

Cooper doesn't bark at all, so I'm no expert on this ... I'm not an expert on anything, really.

Chis make great guard dogs though; when I was a kid, we had our chi, Poco ... he barked constantly, even when there was nothing to bark at. One night, we had a burglar come in our house through the garage door. Unbeknowngst to him, he walked right into Poco's "bedroom" and Poco attacked. He growled and barked at the guy and when the police got to the house, Poco had the guy cornered. Poco was on the floor, barking, and the burglar was on top of the washing machine, begging for his life.

It always amuses me when I think of that because it wasn't like Poco was a doberman.... one good kick and Poco wouldn't have been a problem anymore. Silly burglar.

 

[Alisha]

What I would do to have seen that :lol: I have a Poco too but he does that to other dogs not people.My stepdaughter is here for the week and Bella barks at her everytime she comes downstairs, when she tries to pet her she growls.

Is she barking constantly or just one or two barks in those situations? One of the other threads on barking said to hide and make a loud noise and startle the dog whenever they bark so they'd think their barking caused it.

Cooper doesn't bark at all, so I'm no expert on this ... I'm not an expert on anything, really.

Chis make great guard dogs though; when I was a kid, we had our chi, Poco ... he barked constantly, even when there was nothing to bark at. One night, we had a burglar come in our house through the garage door. Unbeknowngst to him, he walked right into Poco's "bedroom" and Poco attacked. He growled and barked at the guy and when the police got to the house, Poco had the guy cornered. Poco was on the floor, barking, and the burglar was on top of the washing machine, begging for his life.

It always amuses me when I think of that because it wasn't like Poco was a doberman.... one good kick and Poco wouldn't have been a problem anymore. Silly burglar.

 

[Cooper]

What I would do to have seen that :lol: I have a Poco too but he does that to other dogs not people.My stepdaughter is here for the week and Bella barks at her everytime she comes downstairs, when she tries to pet her she growls.

Poco had plenty of fun times with his barking "problem". When we lived in New Jersey, we had been in the new house for about a week and there was about 2 - 3 feet of snow on the ground.

The UPS man showed up at the front door one day to deliver a package. He was a large black man, about 6'6", very intimidating physical appearance. He was wearing thigh-high leather boots because of the snow and was dressed in a parka and other cold-weather gear.

Mom opened the front door, Poco saw the man (Poco was also a racist - he only liked white people) and he took out the door after the guy, barking and making a lot of noise.

The UPS man saw Poco coming and SCREAMED, dropped the package and started running back to his truck. Because the snow was so high though, he had to high-step through it. Poco went straight into the snow, creating a tunnel underneath ... the guy wouldn't come out of his truck to get his clipboard back.

My mom asked him, "You do realize he's just a chihuahua and you're wearing thigh-high leather boots, don't you?" The guy just said he was scared of dogs or something like that... Poco was pretty proud of himself.

 

[ngtah00]

What I would do to have seen that :lol: I have a Poco too but he does that to other dogs not people.My stepdaughter is here for the week and Bella barks at her everytime she comes downstairs, when she tries to pet her she growls.

Poco had plenty of fun times with his barking "problem". When we lived in New Jersey, we had been in the new house for about a week and there was about 2 - 3 feet of snow on the ground.

The UPS man showed up at the front door one day to deliver a package. He was a large black man, about 6'6", very intimidating physical appearance. He was wearing thigh-high leather boots because of the snow and was dressed in a parka and other cold-weather gear.

Mom opened the front door, Poco saw the man (Poco was also a racist - he only liked white people) and he took out the door after the guy, barking and making a lot of noise.

The UPS man saw Poco coming and SCREAMED, dropped the package and started running back to his truck. Because the snow was so high though, he had to high-step through it. Poco went straight into the snow, creating a tunnel underneath ... the guy wouldn't come out of his truck to get his clipboard back.

My mom asked him, "You do realize he's just a chihuahua and you're wearing thigh-high leather boots, don't you?" The guy just said he was scared of dogs or something like that... Poco was pretty proud of himself.

Cooper, your stories about Poco are hilarious. While they are funny, I hope that Sammy doesn't turn out that way. Hopefully moving back to NC and into a new place will make her less protective of her territory.

 

[Cooper]

Cooper, your stories about Poco are hilarious. While they are funny, I hope that Sammy doesn't turn out that way. Hopefully moving back to NC and into a new place will make her less protective of her territory.

Poco wasn't socialized in the least. Since I was a baby when he was brought home, my mother was "in charge" of training him and he was NEVER trained to do anything. It was 1970 and there just wasn't much information available outside of training school. I'm sure he would have been a wonderful dog outside the house (and inside - he peed on everything) if he had just received proper socialization and training.

One thing's for sure, he kept us entertained with his antics. He tried to pee on the Declaration of Independence when we took him to see it. Thank goodness, my mother shoved him back in her coat. (They don't allow dogs in Independence Hall.) But Poco DID pee on every Civil War memorial in the Washington DC area.

 

[jbeany]

lol, lola was barking when people were knocking at the door, too. so i mess with her because i think the barking is funny, and i'll knock on stuff just to make noise. it broke her of it...my friend came over the other day and she didn't bark...she did, however get excited, and ran in circles. rofl. they have the best little personalities, don't they?

 

[NaliaLee]

So Sammy starting barking when someone knocks on the door or when my boyfriend comes home. She barks and wags her tail. I know she is trying to alert me and many books have said that chihuahuas are good watch dogs.

Today, someone approached my car while we were in it and I rolled down the window and she barked at the person. Again, she's defending her territory and trying to protect me.

So I have used "shussh" and given her treats, but she ignores them and continues to bark.

Anyone else with this behavior? And how did you deal with it?

Thank you!

Totally off topic, but i just had to say that Sammy is sooo cute. Looks like a teddy bear!

 

[xx-nathalie-xx]

when my dogs bark in the car ...i use the horn works as a charm :lol:

kisses nat

 

[chimommy]

Oh yes... Angel does that a lot. Barks when people knock on the door. Barks when people ring a door bell on tv. Barks at things she sees out of the corner of her eye and can't quite tell what it was. Barks at people and animals she sees outside. Barks at people she hears talking outside. Barks at the sound of the door closing in the apartment next to ours. Barks at people and animals on the tv. And barks at the lights and shadows on the wall caused by car headlights. Funny thing is, she never used to bark at all.

For us... I just tell her "enough". I don't want to discourage her being a good watch dog so she never gets scolded for it but I do want her to know that she doesn't need to bark forever about something. Enough is enough. It did take time for her to get the hang of that though and she is still working on it but we are getting better.

 

[ngtah00]

thank you for all your responses. I know Sammy has the watchdog traits and you're right that I don't want to discourage it. I should try saying enough.

She's barking one minute and then she'll be wagging her tail. She has such quirky behavior!

 

[ngtah00]

Totally off topic, but i just had to say that Sammy is sooo cute. Looks like a teddy bear!

Thanks NaliaLee, your baby is a cutie as well.

 

[chimom]

I really don't discourage Jazzy from barking - she doesn't bark a lot, so that helps. :lol:

I live alone, and I want her to bark to alert me if she thinks something isn't right. She knows when a car is in my driveway or if someone is outside my door before they even knock. She's my security alarm....