Hi, we have a new cocker spaniel pup who just loves the sound of his own voice and barks a lot! I don’t even think he realises he is doing it half the time, he just yaps and yaps endlessly. My plan was to teach him to bark on command and then teach him to shhhh but I am not getting far with it. Any suggestions?

Our other dog doesn’t bark much, just the odd woof when someone comes to the door.  I am trying not to shout at him so he doesn’t think I am barking along with him, haven’t used aversive methods and have been trying to disrupt the barking by distracting him. He is quite demanding so barks for attention from people if we are out and about, barks while playing, barks at training classes, barks just because he can the rest of the time.  I don’t want this to be a habit that is hard to break so want to get control of it now.  Thanks for any tips.

For me, you may have your work cut out re yap,yap.   I was considering switching from my original Breed to a Cocker (I love the blue roans) until I noted a woman round the corner at the time, with 5, which, when she walked past the house, made an atrocious racket.   And I have since seen others when excited doing the same.   I settled for my Whippet ----- WHO DOES THE SAME!!

One thing I'd not do is encourage a puppy to bark to order.   It's okay to bark a warning, but again, for me I want mine to STOP when I says stop!   Which my Whippet doesn't.   I'm currently giving a blast on my dog whistle, bought to get her recall sorted out years ago.   At least it takes her attention back to me better than me saying shut up does!   She's coming up to 10 now btw    I'm not used to yapping - howling yes, but that's all.   And my Basset just looks at me when she starts off, not making a sound, but clearly knowing she's going to get it with her nonsense.

Hopefully others will have better ideas about how to correct what's going on because I've tried all I can ..... without success. 

> One thing I'd not do is encourage a puppy to bark to order.

I have to disagree on this - having read several accounts of lost dogs which were tangled in wire or brambles, or otherwise immobilised, the ability to have them bark on command could save their lives.  Also useful to call for help if the owner has an accident (if still conscious).

I taught Zuma this but had a bit of confusion to begin with
Every time I began to say 'Speak' he picked up on the 'S' and promptly Sat  .......  ah bless! Changed the word to Talk
He now barks on the word and also on a hand signal. I used a slice of carrot - his favourite treat - to get him to make a noise of any sort then just refined from there. I held the carrot up near my face so now the hand signal is a fist near my chin.

Thanks tatty-ead, that is helpful. I can’t bear the thought of 15years of yapping so will need to do something! I thought that if he associated a word with the barking it would be easier to flip that and get him to stop doing it but maybe not.

Mamabas 10 years so far - you deserve a medal.

With Zuma once he barked once I stretched it to several barks then rewarded him when I said 'enough', he had to shut up with a lump of carrot in his mouth - he did carry on barking a few times and dropped it so I stuck my foot on the piece of carrot before he could pick it up again,- quick learner - enough is now his off switch !
I now reward him occasionally with a small piece of kibble if we are 'practicing' the start and stop.
I will say that he is not really a barky dog unless someone is at the door or a car stops at the end of the drive etc.

Very true Merrypaws, I taught my boy to bark whist training him as a Search and Rescue dog.

> I taught my boy to bark whist training him as a Search and Rescue dog.

That's different!   And good.   What I worry about with actually teaching them to bark, is not being able to teach them to SWITCH OFF again

Wow Tatty-ead I'm going to have to try that with my Keeshond! He's been taught to bark on command and quiet but will only do "quiet" in training when there's food involved, not when I really need him to!
We've also done time-out so if he's barking and not shutting up, he goes behind the baby gate in the kitchen for a few minutes till he's quietened down then he usually comes back in grovelling. The spitz aren't as bad but I swear, they start the Keeshond off on purpose!

One thing I found with Zuma is with him barking at door or post type triggers, I got in the habit of saying ' yes, thank you' and he 'usually' shuts up - not so quick if there is actually someone waiting on doorstep. It seems to be that once I acknowledge the alert then it's MY problem and not his.

At one time we had a GSD, a Xbreed and a Rott, the Rott never barked unless the others were out! Her attitude was 'Why keep a dog and bark yourself'

I thought my Basset wouldn't bark because she, Whippet does.  However, the other morning we were out back doing some gardening.  She was out with us, he in.  I heard a van door outside and expecting a delivery, went to check.  Yes, it was the delivery.  HE BARKED!!   So clearly he does let her do the work

I see some people utilize the bark collar, some feel cruel or animal abuse, but some said it is just a very light reminder and a very little shock to make the dog behave. Still the product is sold everywhere.

Still the product is sold everywhere.


Not in Wales & soon the rest of UK. Thing is once you take it off the effect ceases.

And it's hardly positive or reward based training .it  assumes  the dog even knows why it's getting a shock or a face full of a substance
Hopefully the rest of.uk will finally get the e collar banned

And you risk ending up with a dog that becomes aggressive to whatever it is that triggers the bark in the first place. So easy for the dog to learn “the child shouting outside makes my neck hurt” rather than “barking at the child shouting outside makes my neck hurt”.