We have got all the doors open today - it is such a beautiful day but my dog keeps spoiling it by woofing.  She sits and watches for cats.  My son lives next door and they have 2 little cats which always run away from Meg.  When they are out in the garden the cats naturally follow them around.  Meg starts barking as soon as she sees them.  At the moment our garden is completely bare - new plot and I have to get up to stop her  which means clambering over unfinished steps and rough garden to get to her.  I have tried distractions - squeaky toy and calling her.  She is wise to that one now and it is much more rewarding to try to get at the cats.  Quiet is just so difficult to teach.  I have taught her 'speak' but quiet is just beyond her I think. 
I have now hung a piece of material over the part of fence where she sits the most.  We can't afford to replace the fence with a solid one.  Anyway that would not stop her barking at the birds that tease her - barking at dogs going past on the road - all the other things that set her off.  She is such an excitable little dog.  This afternoon the rest of the family will be visiting next door and I will have no choice but to shut her in the house - therefore shutting the doors!  She just naturally wants to be with the children next door.  Still the heat has quietened her down for now.  Just wish I could.  Any ideas please?

If you find an answer I'd love to know! I've got one that will bark at anything and then sets another 2 off. It's only the Goldies that can't be bothered to bark! You have my sympathy!

LOL!  All quiet at the moment - they have gone out next door.  I am just waiting for our nearest neighbours to complain.  Not a very nice person but there are two plots to be built on in between so he won't be our immediate neighbour for very long.  Anyway he was stood outside on his Juliet balcony in the altogether this morning - I nearly choked over my cup of tea - not a pretty sight.  So he better not complain to me about the dog :-)

No I am afraid same problem with my little one as per other thread.  atm she is chewing a large bone that seems to work for a bit otherwise I have opened all the windows and shut doors at least as far as others are concerned it muffles it abit.

Lol, tell me when you find the secret! Ripley who I got recently is living up to the barky sheltie stereotype, she loves a good yap :)

My GSD only gives one woof and that is enough to set my terrier and spaniel off for about 20 minutes. It's almost that she does it for sheer devilment because she knows they will react, and she sits back and watches the bedlam go on with a smug look on her face, knowing that if anyone gets told off it won't be her !!! That one bark is for absolutely no reason, so it must be on purpose to get them going. Any ideas on a quiet life would be gratefully received.

yes any advise would be good, i have 2 barkers and dread trying to have doors open! my bedroom curtains are always shut too or they bark when anyone walks by. 7 and 6 years old and just getting worse each year

I have been teaching "Be quiet" with the clicker. So now we have a good woof and run around then whizz like mad to me as I shout "Be quiet" looking for a yummy. Today I wasn't quick enough with the verbal command so they came running quietly by themselves whilst I was about to call them. Hoping it will speed up in next few days so a little less barking beforehand

> Anyway he was stood outside on his Juliet balcony in the altogether this morning - I nearly choked over my cup of tea

ROFLMAO!!!   Sorry for your shock, but I couldn't stop laughing over your cup of tea!!    :-)

A colleague has just moved house (last Thursday).
Already the two barking dogs of a new neighbour are getting her down.........not them BUT the continual shouting of the owner for them to shut up. :(

Karen

> continual shouting of the owner

I know!  I am so aware of that - that is why I have to clamber up the bank to stand in front of her and say quietly - 'in'.  I have warned my husband about 'barking' louder than the dog.   I have tried squeaking toys but she ignores that now.  I can go and clatter the lid of her treat bin - can work sometimes.  Best one is to ring the doorbell.  However I need to train her not trick her! :-)

I say' quiet' if they dont then I say 'in' keep them in for ten minutes then let them out again and repeat when they bark again.. they soon get the message.
My hubby works shifts and so does my neighbour so I have to control the barking . the less you say the more you do usually works for me!!

Does Meg enjoy being in the garden?

You could use a long line and use it to pop her back inside every time she barked, that might work. Youd have to be consistent at first though, and also work out a fair criteria - for example, if she barks when you are not with her, does she have to go indoors or not?

I allow my dog to bark in the living room at the front windows, but never at the back doors.
She can bark anywhere, including the back doors, if we are not with her.

When she used to bark, I marked it at once with  "ah" said calmly, (not as punishment) and took her out (no nagging, all very calm). Allowed back in room in a few seconds. Repeated, quite a lot at first, but took about 3 days overall for a vast improvement. This worked beautifully.

Now have a dog who rarely if ever barks at patio doors, but does bark at the front. It's really important you are totally consistent and the rules are understandable, or it won't work.

She is probably stressed due to the cats - mine was, very, and it showed in her behaviour in and out of the house :)
Showing her what i wanted really calmed her.

I also ensure I praise when she chooses NOT to bark (also treat, play game as reward). Very important, as important as the other.

A lot depends on your set up and what motivates her and if she likes being in the garden/with you/ etc.

Hope some of that may be of some help.

Thanks Lindsay and Starryeyes.
I try to be consistent but there are two of us doing this.  Our new garden is on a slope so is tiered.  From the back fence there is a sloping bank dropping onto what will be the flat lawn.  At the moment Meg is kept off this - and will be until next spring probably.  Then there are steps down to a patio area and then steps down again to the backyard and kitchen area. Long line would be rather dangerous.

Meg loves the garden but especially spends her time at the top of the garden overlooking next door.  So a long way to go up from the kitchen to get her in - not so bad if I am on the first floor - have a bridge out onto the garden there.   We always send her in unless she stops when I tell her - I will not let her continue with barking.  I shut her in for a while and then let her out again - the length of time she is back in the house depends on what I am doing - or if we are just plain fed up of walking back and forward we leave her shut in.  I want her to bark to alert me to anyone coming to the house.  I usually check what she is barking at and then tell her 'enough' and quiet.  If she gets me down at night and it is only because an owl is screeching or something I tell her to go to her 'box' and settle down.  I find telling her good girl for doing that is more likely to get her up and barking again as soon as I have gone back to bed. 

She woke me up at 2.30am a few weeks ago and alerted me to some drunk idiot vandalising my flower pots and things in the front of the house.  I could tell by her barking that it was more than an owl. 

It's not easy to picture exactly the layout of your garden, but it sounds like you have different sections that could be restricted. If she is going to the top of the garden to bark, I wonder if restricting her to a smaller area nearer the house until she has learned to be quiet there, then gradually allowing her more space, til she learns to be quiet in all areas, would work?

We did block off the steps and restrict her to the back yard to begin with but we want to work out in the garden and it would not be fair to keep her shut in there.  It is either out in the garden or in the house now.  The trouble is because the whole garden needs so much work I am busy - gardening not training. To be fair to her most of the time she is dozing in some corner in the shade - the worst time is when they are in the garden next door and the cats follow them around.  When everyone is at work the cats are about their business somewhere. 

> Meg loves the garden but especially spends her time at the top of the garden overlooking next door.  So a long way to go up from the kitchen to get her in

This is why it is a good idea to have the dogs confined to an area closets to the house where it is easy to reach them quickly.

This is why the first 20 feet of mine is fenced across to stop my first dog (not present breed) from running screaming along the  fence.

When they are that close to you physically commands and consequences (getting sent/brought in) are not possible to be ignored.

they can come into rest of garden under control or supervision, in practise they don't go in the back much as it is easier to poop scoop a smaller area.

same here brainless fenced off and flagged closest to the house with a gate into to the rest of the garden , it is mainly shaded too .You can keep it clean easier, no muddy feet in the winter and the grass doesnt get ruined . Of course they are allowed up the  garden to play and for some free running but once they start mooching its back behind the gate!!

what annoys me,is ,theres me shouting"jess!in!"when she barks,but no one else seems to bother!loads of dogs near me are allowedto bark endlessly,including my neighbour,whos dog regularly barked and howled till one am!theyve now gotanother,a pup,so the older one has shut up.but the pup is also shut out the back,whenever they go out,and has also learned to bark non stop.how do they get away with it!