# Bark! Yap! Yip!



## zoey11 (Oct 26, 2010)

My 18-week old toy poodle doesn't bark, only if we are playing ball. I throw the toy, and she races after it, barking. And lemme tell ya, some people in my house are very sensitive to loud sudden noises and it drives them crazy...

I say "No!" in a firm voice whenever she barks chasing her toy, but it doesn't work, although she listens the "No" whenever doing anything else...I guess No just doesn't work in this "playing" situation.

Any ideas?


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

She's a baby....babies make lots of noise. Play in the basement or up in your bedroom.....and tell the others to wear ear plugs. I make a lot of noise when I start playing with my herd of dogs. They growl and bark and yip and they are so excited to play...that's what dogs love to do.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

How is she to know which bit of running after the ball, barking, and bringing it back, you are saying No to? If she only barks when playing, I agree with P2P - try and play where it won't disturb people! You could also try calming things down a bit - when she gets too yappy, change to a brain game - hiding a treat or a toy under one of several plastic pots, for example - until she calms down again. Barking is often a sign of frustration - "Go on, THROW it!" - so keeping the game moving fast with minimal frustration may also help.

A word of warning - both of mine went through an adolescent phase when they decided they were responsible for warning of possible danger, and barked at EVERYTHING - a leaf falling past the window, a bird walking past the door, the television next door... You may want to teach her to Speak and Hush on command before you get to that stage! And never, ever join in, no matter how annoying it gets - if you start barking too it just convinces her there really is something there to make a fuss about.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Maybe try some retrieving work with a stick, small bone or ball. At least when coming back the mouth will have something in it LOL.

I understand you have a pup BUT I would use a leash when playing and start working on correcting the barking slowly by giving a light tug on the leash (creating a distraction at the time of the bark) with your command (no, quiet, whatever you chose). At this point NO could mean multiple things. Ignoring it could also allow it to escalate and down the road can grow into a bigger problem. Always more than one way things can go.


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