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Pooch barks alot! especially when hes jealous

19 11:31:17

Question
I adopted Pooch(5yr old pomeranian), from a friend of a friend(he was 2yrs old at the time.) Pooch has been the best dog I've ever known. He's very friendly, playful, happy-go-lucky, and completely non-aggressive(I have never heard him growl.) Just a joy to have around. Within the last 2yrs I met my fiancee and moved myself, Pooch, and my cat Kitty across the country. My fiancee and Pooch hit it off extremely well. They are the best of friends and I'm often ignored. The problem you ask? Well, Pooch gets very excited and likes to talk a lot, LOUDLY!. I know it's common for a dog to bark when I leave or come home, Pooch definetly suffers from seperation anxiety. He won't bark throught the time we are gone, just when we leave or come, but he barks excessivley if caged at the groomers or vets. OK, here's the uncommon part: whenever my fiancee and I show each other any kind of affection, Pooch barks at ME. Not my fiancee, ME! We tell him to stop barking but he just yells and yells. If we include him in the hug or cuddle he is happy as can be but he can't stand to be left out. He shows no aggression while barking, he may even be smiling. Weird huh? Why does he do that?
Like I said before, he's very talkative. I've tried using a citronella collar but he really doesn't care. He licks the spray and goes on with his barking. I refuse to get a shocking collar or anything that will hurt his ears. Is there a way to get him to just listen? And really, what's up with the jealousy?

Answer
The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm