Need help stopping terretory barking

sweetyjenj

My Chihuahua Papillon mix (almost 2yrs) was not a barker until we moved into an apartment...now he barks whenever he hears people, and often will bark when people walk by or approach us outside.  He doesn't bark consistantly, it's usually just once or twice, but it's enough to get people to walk around us, and it's irritating for us.  The other annoying part of this, is he "growls". He doesn't growl in a scary way, he doesn't bare his teeth or show any aggression, and if the person he's warning us against comes near and pets him still, he does nothing, but I want to stop this.  But even when a person is walking by, if he doesn't bark, instead he'll growl almost like a cat purs..it's just like an irritated warning he gives. He's not aggressive, and never has been, to people or other dogs, but he does this and especially if he's caught off guard.  It's not EVERY time either, otherwise it'd be easier to catch.  One minute he'll be fine with people, then someone will come into his line of vision and he'll bark at them (again, just a few barks, not consistent barking). 

Initially my attempts to solve this was a tap on the nose (gentle but just irritating) because I heard that works, but it didn't, then I tried scolding him or just removing him, but that didn't help and all that almost made it worse.  Then I asked a trainer and she said to not allow him to see what he's barking at unless he isn't barking, but that doesn't work because he barks at sounds or even just knowing the person is there without seeing/hearing he will do this irritated growl or let out one bark.  So I thought maybe he's doing it more to ward people off because when they come near us he gets punished for "protecting me," so I've started giving him lots of love and attention BEFORE he notices the people if I anticipate it to be a time that he'll respond to, and he's been better.  If I hear people walking down the hall I give him love, if I notice people walking outside by us, I'll get his attention and distract him.  This is working, but it's not going away..............I'm trying to be consistent, but so far all his life we've lived in Minnesota where there aren't ALWAYS people around, and now we're in Santa Monica, CA, and there's people EVERYWHERE.  It wasn't a problem until now, and I think it's because he didn't have a reason to protect his territory.  BTW, his "territory" extends to wherever we are, not only at home. 

Any and all advice/tips in this will be helpful!

TIA! Sorry so long.

sweetyjenj

I forgot to mention, he's 2yrs old and we had a house before moving here just a month ago.

RedheadBaker

You need to find a trainer who uses positive reinforcement. Using physical punishment is never a good idea. As you've seen, it makes the problem worse.

Look for someone who has a CPDT or APDT certification.

LuckyAngel07

Ditto, RAB. You've noticed his behavior improving with your positive reinforcement. That's the key.

Distraction and praise work wonders, but it takes time to fully stop a behavior like this. Keep it up. And try really hard not to backslide and reinforce his "territorial" behaviors; even a little attention given to the wrong behavior will totally set him back.

Teach a "look"/"watch me" command so you can quickly get his attention away from whatever he might start barking/growling at. And removing him when he acts that way is actually a really good move, you just need to do it every single time. If that means you turn about face and walk back the way you came when he notices something and starts to grumble, then that's what you do. He'll learn that that behavior makes him lose his forward momentum/he doesn't get to go where he was headed.