Yappy Dog

It could be indeed that she's on squirrel patrol. Or it could be she's bored. My dogs have done this very same thing. My cats do it even more often.

Try this (it frequently works for me): when she starts barking to go out, don't just go to the door to let her out next time - grab a tennis ball (or another of her favorite toys) and go out with her for two minutes. Toss the toy for her to chase, if she's a chaser, and give her a lot of attention and praise. Then go on back in. You haven't lost too much time from what you've been doing, and your dog has had your full attention for a while. Dogs are by nature social creatures, and they need attention.

If she were my dog, every time she did it, I'd put her outside. If she yaps at the door, she goes out.

She'll realize that if she doesn't want out, she needs to hush up.

She is bored. She knows she gets your attention when she does these things. Take her for walks, jog with her, play with her.

Our dog does this as well. With our dog, it usually means she wants us to go outside with her for some reason. She likes to be outside but gets lonely and is looking for someone to hang out with her, or play with her, etc. Also, sometimes it means she got spooked by something (usually a loud sound that she's not familiar with, etc.) and she's a little scared to go out by herself. Once we step outside with her for a few minutes she relaxes and is OK to stay outside by herself. The other day, she wanted to go out desperately but wouldn't step out of the doorway until I went with her . . . then she promptly threw up. It was like she needed a comforting presence because she wasn't feeling well. Just like my kids when they aren't feeling well . . .

Generally, though, our dog is fairly relaxed during the day because we make sure she goes for a nice walk for about an hour each evening after dinner. I think it helps a lot! And in the mornings I usually take her in the car (which she loves!) when I drop my daughter off at school. Our dog likes to be engaged and only gets "ansy" when she has too much energy. Dogs can self-entertain to an extent (chew toys, etc.) but they are also social creatures so they like to interact with their humans as well. And if they don't get enough interaction . . . you wind up with a restless, "yappy" dog.

Squirrel!
(Didn't you guys see the movie, "UP" ?)

By the way, when my dog does this (and she is not a yappy dog, she is a big dog) if I actually go stand on the porch, I usually find that there are dogs barking in the distance or I can hear muted voiced from a neighboring street somewhere that I wasn't able to hear from inside. My dog doesn't go nuts barking about it, but does give a little bark or irritated noise to let me know she hears something. Usually, there is nothing to SEE, but if I listen, I can hear something that is not "normal"...

And that's why I love out pet door! She lets herself in and out. But, I can keep her either in or out with the door cover, if needed.