I have a 1 year old westie and for the last couple of months his barking has got steadily worse reaching a peak the last few weeks. He now barks at everything that moves and makes a noise. Outside it is the usual things like bicycles, joggers, motorbikes, cats, if I see them coming I can usually control it with the "leave it" command. Indoors is more of a problem, he barks when anyone runs upstairs, sneezes, coughs, when people walk past our house (we have a footpath outside so this is quite a lot) or skateboard or bike past, when the washing machine goes into its spin cycle, the squeak of a door, something on the TV etc it has got so bad that my husband says he can't tolerate it anymore and threatens to leave home. Sometimes the bark starts with a rumble and ruff, ruff noises, sometimes then I can prevent it from escalating, but usually it is very sudden and makes us jump out of our skin! When the barking was isolated to a few things like stair climbing we used the spray water technique and this helped but it is so general now that it is difficult to react quick enough or have the spray to hand as we cant anticipate what is going to trigger him off next. All the above triggers never used to worry him. I don't think he is a nervous dog, the vet certainly doesnt think so, I have no experience of this but it feels like excitment barking.

I really need some help to overcome this problem as it is causing huge problems at home.

Is he getting enough exercise? 

Does he need to learn to chill out and not be on watch all the time.  A crate used as a Den may make him feel he has a secure place so doesn't need to be on guard ail the time.

Is his hearing normal?  Dogs that are loosing their hearing can bark a lot, as they startle easily.

Can you not distract him with a treat or send him to his bed,this is what I do with my dachsie when he lets rip,I admit he's not as bad as yours.
I also tell him it's only next door and he stops,I did the same with my cocker for years and they accept that noise is OK. All the family need to be consistant as to how they deal with his barking,not allow it sometimes and letting him do it at others,you need to nip it in the bud as soon as he starts.

Has anything changed in your dogs life to make him insecure that he needs to bark at any little noise.

Keep us informed

i've got a gobby little dog who, if permitted, would have been quite happy to bark his gobby little head clean off his shoulders by now. and while i can't honestly claim to have shut the yap up completely, i have, now he's 10 months old, got it down to manageable (albeit still being worked on) proportions. incidentally, he doesn't bark while we are out, only in and around the house. boredom is also the best way to bring on a good barking and it might be that your westie needs more to occupy himself with. 

nipper's barking kicked off when he was about 6 months old and started to listen, much more intently to background noises which would then set him off - the sound of doorbells, dogs, cats and farmyard animals on the radio were great triggers - and he also discovered the delights of telling the postman's fortune as well as that of any innocent cyclist who'd had the cheek to ride down the lane past our house. i dealt with these everyday sounds by either saying "it's on the radio, silly!" or by a simple "no need to bark" request delivered calmly but firmly and repetitively enough to get the message through. i have to say that using any sort of spray on him would simply have resulted in more barking since he'd have seen it as an exciting diversion and i've never personally found that over-excitement helps calm a dog down!

we still get episodes of unecessary barking, especially in the evening, and, if it isn't reasonable to use distraction then i deal with it by a command to stop and usually follow this (if the barking continues) by ignoring him and quite often he does just shut up! however, if the red mist has descended too far for him to listen i use a short time-out. however, since he knows this is the ultimate sanction he usually has the sense to shut up before we get to that stage.

he does bark "constructively" too though - to go out, for example - and i've learnt his repertoire of barks so i can determine whether it's pure attention seeking (a strangled yip), a norty bark (deeper but with teeth gnashing), a gobby bark (deeper but with a relentless quality) or a request (one short deep bark) and although this might sound completely barmy, it's helped me stop the unwanted barks while not discouraging the useful ones.

if your husband is fed up hearing the endless barking (and who can blame him!) his very irritation might be encouraging your dog too. only while this sounds perverse dogs are very, very quick to pick up on tensions and sometimes this can result in them doing precisely the thing everyone is getting wound up about!

To try and answer some of your queries - I think that he does get enough exercise, when I am at work a dog walker comes in the morning and my mother looks after him in the afternoons. I also walk him mornings before work and in the evenings. We go to training classes twice a week and practice at home too. When he gets an all out exhausting hike of 2hrs and falls fast asleep at home he can still suddenly wake up and bark at something. I haven't had his hearing tested but he can hear the rustle of a crisp packet from down the garden! I have tried the "no bark" command, both in soothing tones and shouting but it doesnt make any difference. However when my husband shouts at him he stops immediately, but my husband is then left wound up and angry, he admits he is not good at dealing with sudden noises. He has a crate in the kitchen which is his bed at night and when I need to contain him ie when we are eating and when the vacum cleaner is on. I could try putting him in his crate for time out when he starts barking - do you think that he would then view the crate as punishment rather than a nice place to be? Chill out time in the crate? He doesn't choose to stay in his crate anymore except at bedtime, but he does have a large cushion to lie on, and mostly cuddles up to me on the sofa in the evening. Has anything changed in his life? The only event I can pinpoint which started the increase in his barking is that someone with a dog started visiting the pub across the road from October, every evening, and leaving the dog in the back of the car. The dog barks nonstop and this started mine barking in the garden but we can't hear it in the house. He doesnt bark when he is on his own unless someone knocks on the back door. I also can tell the difference with barks, 2 short barks is "let me in the house". I also dont mind if he barks when the door bell rings, husband agrees he could tolerate this if the barking at every other thing moving and breathing would stop. Boredom might be an issue although I dont notice a difference whether he is fully occupied at that moment or slobbing out in front of the TV with me, he will break off what he is or isnt doing to bark.

I really do feel at the end of my tether about this and need some specific behavioural techniques to try.

I wondered if you kept a line on his collar so that you could physically interrupt any barking might make him take your commands more seriously.

I do have a breed that likes to bark and is very alert and really I have found being consistent with commands, and being able to enforce them, and minimising the opportunities to be disturbed by outside stimulus is the most important thing in keeping barking to a minimum.

Does he bark in every location in the house or just at the Window and doors etc.

I think he can bark in any location in the house where a noise might set it off but the usual places are the living room and dining room which both face the footpath and the bottom of the stairs where he barks and grabs peoples ankles as they run up the stairs. All my family run up the stairs except me, if only they would walk he wouldnt do it! The garden is a nightmare because it also runs alongside the footpath, he reacts to the birds flying about and noises from the pub across the road. The quietest place is the kitchen/utility room unless someone knocks on the back door or the washing machine starts knocking which sets him off. But I dont want to keep him in the kitchen isolated from us all the time and this would increase boredom. We have always lived in this house so I dont know why it is a problem now when it didnt bother him when he was younger. I agree a consistent approach is needed - just trying to work out what! I could certainly try a line on his collar, I guess it would just need to be a short one so he is not trailing it around, he usually has an extendable lead. I like the time out idea but dont want to put him off his crate as a nice place.

Hi only just found this forum, spent hours looking through it all.  The barking issue is very similar to the problem I have with my 3yo Weim, who just gets so overexcited at the most trivial things. Classic case of 'thought I heard something, well I'll bark anyway just in case'.  Someting I found very useful is giving them something to carry round.  Can't bark and carry something at the same time.  I don't give it to him as a reward for barking, I make him go and find it which also distracts him.:rolleyes:

I meant a line that would be long and trailing so you could grab it even when he thought he was at a safe distance from you to let rip.

I would also consistently evict him from the room when eh barks.  He wants to be in the centre of things he has to keep quiet.

I wouldn't let him have access to the hall and stairs.  Is there any reason he needs to be there when people are going up and down stairs?

My Jozi used to think it fun to race upstairs if she could get past the door if someone didn't shut it and then bite your trousers on the way down.

I keep the living room door firmly shut.

Thanks for your advice. Eviction will definately be tried! He does tend to run off if we try to catch him so thats where the long lead comes in I suppose. The staircase is in the middle of the house between the lounge and dining room. The dining room leads to the kitchen where his water bowl is and way out to garden. If people remember to shut the doors that works but he doesnt like being shut in a room on his own, he whines and scratches the door, he follows me everywhere like my shadow, even if he is asleep he will be up as soon as I move! I am considering the long line, however as the rooms in my house are small and cramped with furniture the lead may snag on something or trip someone up perhaps I could use it as a lasso to catch the little devil.

June,

Westies tend to be barkers, unfortunately.  I have Cairns and they are not exactly quiet dogs either.  One of mine is very laid back, but she will bark at passing trucks, bicycle, people walking on the street.  I live on a quiet street, so it's not a problem.   My other dog is not a problem barker either - but he barks at different things - big birds in the garden, medium-sized birds in the garden, small birds in the garden .. squirrels ... helicopters, planes, etc.  :-)    Net result - lots of barking!!! 

The best way to extinguish barking is to reward a dog for being quiet.  When you know your Westie is about to bark, but before he gets the chance say "quiet" and reward him with a treat.  If he barks, but still looks at you for the treat, he only gets it when he's quiet for a few seconds .. and then as you continue training he needs to be quiet for longer periods of time.  Use this only for the things you do not want him to bark at - like a door shutting or a passing car or a distant barking dog, or something similar. (You may have to have someone set the training situations up with you.

What about attaching the leash to your waist so that he has to go where you go and is right there when he starts barking but still leaves your hands free to go about your chores. [I have known of folk doing this whilst Toilet Training so the pup can't leave your side.] You may then be able to pre empt him barking and distract him with either a treat or toy.

I send my dog to his bed when he barks but it doesn't stop him lying in his bed if he wants a nap.

i think you've got to train the humans as well as the dog, to be honest! Because if they want him to calm down then they'll all have to play their part and if that means not running up and downstairs then it's a small price to pay. and, with respect, the dog sounds as if he's been allowed to dictate what he will and won't do - won't be caught, won't be left alone, for example - and some kind but consistent training in this respect wouldn't do him any harm either! small breeds can often try and get away with murder by playing the cute factor - my dog could get an oscar for this trick too! - but terriers can be very wilful if given half a chance!

I have a breed known as 'barking beardies' as they bark when working  it is how they get the cattle /sheep to move.

They dont bark constantly but exitement will set them off . I taught them not to bark easier said than done I might add...I was deterined that I would not allow the barking and needed to control it.

Basically the barking would be when we were about to do something ie: open a door to garden or put on leads to go out , chasing the cats .....
I would turn my back on them when they barked when they were quiet just for a second I would turn back and say 'quiet' and point my finger each time I reached for the door handle or lead and they barked I would once again turn my back this seemed to confuse them slightly so they would shut up I would then say 'quiet' and point my finger  I continued this until I could just give the command 'quiet'  and it works they soon realised that Unless they shut up the door wouldnt ever open ...the lead would'nt go on etc...now it is pure heaven ...well nearly !...LOL

It takes a litttle while but if you do it consistently and the rest of the family follow suit it becomes the norm.

Thanks a lot, I will try your idea's, you are absolutly right that all the family has to cooperate, my husband always says "its your dog, you sort it" but I think he is now realising that he has to play his part as I am not always around. And yes he does play the cute factor, the kids thought he was funny when he grabbed their ankles when they went up the stairs but now they are paying for it!! I'm getting tough!!