2 questions about our pom a poo..... PLEASE HELP!

[Jedi]

I have two questions that I Hope someone can help me with.

1. now that it is spring we have a lot of kids around the neighborhood and our 1 year old pomapoo just goes crazy when people are out and about. if he sees someone he just barks and runs around the house and barks and wont stop! it is driving me crazy! We tell him it is ok.... or we say no but he just continues barking non stop. he also does this with the doorbell if it is rung when someone comes to the door, as well he does this even if he hears a doorbell on the tv. ugh ugh! Please help me train him to stop barking when it is ok.... i understand he is protecting us and his territory but there has to be a way to stop him once we tell him to, but HOW????

2. my second question is about our grass. i have grown up with dogs and never have noticed the grass dying/discoloring where they go potty. my friends dog it happens with too, and now our pomapoo has our grass all dead/yellowish where he normally goes potty? WHY is this and how do I prevent the grass from dying? Is there something i can treat the grass with or is it something wrong with my dog??

THANKS for any input you can give on thes topics! thanks! Tanya

[Shineillusion]

I have a dachshund puppy I'm training not to bark excessively right now. This is how we do it.

First, teach your dog to speak. Sounds kind of counterproductive, but there's a method to the madness. That being, if you want to control a behavior, control both ends of it; when we can do it, when we cannot do it.

Once the dog has learned to bark when you say speak, have him bark, then tell him "Enough", and praise him for not speaking.

With my pup, we allow him two barks when he sees or hears something, then we tell him "Good boy!" followed by "Enough", and then stick something edible in his mouth. He has to shut up to eat it, lol. Then we ask him to speak, followed by Enough!

If he continues to bark at the neighbors, I lightly pinch the back of his neck and tell him "ENOUGH!" followed by a treat. After he eats the treat, I again tell him "Enough" and wait a few seconds. If he remains quiet, I praise the dickens out of him and give him the treat.

Now, if he continues to bark, I put a leash on him and put him on a sit/stay. If your dog doesn't know sit and stay, now's the time to teach him. I use the leash to correct him if he barks...but to be honest, I've only had to do that once, outside, when someone startled him.

Now, for your second question. The yellow, dead grass is caused by the nitrogen content in your dog's urine. Nitrogen is a byproduct of protien metabolism and is filtered out by the kidneys.

Some dogs seem to have a higher nitrogen content in their urine than others, and it's completely normal. It may be that his metabolism is higher because he's small, combined with a high protien diet and not drinking a lot of water. If you can get him to drink more water...good luck.

One of the simplest solutions to the problem is to designate one area of your lawn for him to eliminate in, and train him to use it. The other solution is to dilute the urine after he pees by hosing the spot down with plenty of water.