We’ve got two small, white, yappy dogs, Charlie and Snickers. Charlie is a bit older, maybe 10 years old, and is a beautifully behaved pet, if slightly anxious and nervous, like most small dogs. Snickers is insanely protective of his yard, scared of anything that moves, and responds by barking aggressively whenever he senses something.
When outside, Snickers often parades along the fence, and when hearing something, barks uncontrollably at a high pitch, for an extended period of time. As you can imagine, it quite annoys the neighbours. Despite a significant time spent training him, he rarely comes when called, and we often end up outside to shoo him back inside.
However, I recently discovered something. If I call for Snickers to come home, and then tell Charlie what a good boy he is (loud enough for Snickers to hear), Snickers will stop barking, and head straight back inside. The Power of Positive Feedback!
I’ll have to see if this works with 15 year olds as well.