I live in an apartment block and plan to take a yorkshire terrier puppy ino my home in January.
My question is, how can I make sure (or decrease the probability) of my puppy barking when I am out at work?
One friend suggested getting the runt of the litter. Are runts any less inclined to be barkers?
And secondly, is there any difference between the barking tendancies of boys or girls?
I really do not want to upset my neighbours!!

Thanks for any help or advice!!

Hi,
Can you not take pup into work with you? That would be the surest way. I don't know of any difference in the barking propensity of dogs to bitches, nor any reason why a runt would be better.

How long will you be at work? Dogs bark - that's one of the reasons why some people have them........ Toy breeds are less likely to bark, but a Yorkie is not a toy - it's a terrier! Any behaviour that's rewarded - and for a dog alone it can be barking because it hears somebody outside - the dog barks, and the noise goes away, therefore the dog is rewarded - and there's not a lot you can do about eliminating the reward because you aren't there....

Some measures you can take are a) prevent boredom by leaving plenty of interesting things for your pup to do. b) Make sure the pup is used to being on it's own for short periods of time from day one, and only rewarded (by you returning) when it's being quiet. c) Eliminate the possiblility of the dog being alerted to outside noises by leaving a radio on (although some dogs can see this as a que that you are about to leave if you don't have it on all the time, and if they are stressed by you going out, this adds to their stress as it's not something you normally do)

HTH

Toy breeds are less likely to bark? Not my experience - I had 2 Cavaliers who were horrendously noisy - it was impossible to have a conversation with anyone one met on a walk, and if the car should have the temerity to stop e.g. at traffic lights, perhaps, they kicked up the most tremendous racket until it set off again. They also barked a lot in the house. I have noticed that many smaller dogs tend to be very noisy - good if you want a watch dog, but not so good if you have neighbours in close proximity.
Cathy.:) :) :)