My chihuahua barks at the TV

When your chihuahua barks at the TV it’s annoying for everyone. This behaviour is driven by overarousal, hypervigilance to movement, possibly frustration or anxiety. It tends to be part of a suite of stress related behaviours rather than an isolated one.

What is over arousal?

Over arousal is the state your dog is in when they are unable to settle, constantly jumping up at every sound and not able to ignore stimuli. Some high arousal is useful if you are playing a game or have a sports dog, but it’s not a state we want our dogs to be in all day or when your trying to settle in the evening. It’s bad for them mentally and physically.

What is hypervigilance?

A lot of dogs are hypervigilant to movement, for some dogs it’s hardwired into their DNA and part of their breed profile. I.e., working dogs like collies or hounds. They are designed to notice movement and be aroused by it. For smaller dogs like chihuahuas, hypervigilance is likely to be a survival instinct.

What to do when your chihuahua barks at the TV

How calm is your chi?

The first step is to examine your chihuahua’s daily lifestyle. It might seem strange to think what they are doing in the day will contribute to your chihuahua barking at the TV, but if they spend a lot of the day running about barking and sticking their noses into things that aren’t their problem it’s very tiring. Pottering about like this is very typical chihuahua!

Put in place a calmness protocol

Make sure your dog gets plenty of active rest. This is undisturbed rest that takes the decision-making process away from them so they can just sleep and not worry. Use crates, pens, or a cosy quiet side room. Both Prince and Macy get a crate nap after lunch. It’s a long busy day for little legs.

Give them appropriate calming activities, dogs like to chew, lick and scavenge it’s part of their DNA and pays into their mental health. Give them long-term natural chews, feed them in Kong’s or on lick mats and scatter feed in the garden. Chihuahuas are naturally excitable dogs and generally ready for action at a moment’s notice, so building calm and the ability to ignore stimulating events is a must. Read more about calmness protocol here.

If they are generally unsettled of an evening put them on an indoor harness and lightweight training line. Once you take away the option of charging about, they tend to settle. This may sound like a punishment but it’s not. Don’t assume they want to run about like this, they are probably tired but just can’t disengage. Your chihuahua will be pleased you’ve taken charge of the situation.

Rehearsal

A dog becomes what they do. Look at how much your dog is rehearsing this type of behaviour. If your chihuahua barks at the TV every day, then think about how to put some management in place when the TV is on so they can’t just repeat the same behaviour pattern. Look at other areas they are rehearsing unwanted behaviour, are they barking out the window constantly? This type of activity will pay into over arousal, anxiety, and hyper-vigilance. It’s all linked.

How do you react to your chihuahua barking at the TV?

Look at what you are doing when the dog is barking at the TV. Are you inadvertently making it worse rewarding the behaviour by trying to distract them with food? You could be setting up a behaviour chain that makes the dog think this is what you want them to do. Or, are you adding in adding excitement by shouting, telling the dog ‘No’ or trying to correct the behaviour using punishment-based methods. This could be things like squirting water at them or cans of coins. This is common advice but all it does is inject more stress and worry into the situation or make your dog believe you are worried about the situation as well and make them more excited.

Consider what you want your chihuahua to do

People often focus on what they don’t want their dog to do and rarely think about what they do want. If they are barking at the TV, getting themselves in a stress and being a nuisance then I bet you would rather they lay calmly in their bed or on a mat. Rather than focus on stopping what they are doing focus on what you do want and put your energy into growing this. So, grow value in lying in the bed.

Work for the situation, not in it

Whenever you’re training a dog it’s important to do the work before it’s needed. Once your dog is reacting it’s difficult to get them to listen and they won’t be able to learn. so don’t try and train out this behaviour of an evening when your trying to watch TV and your dog is excited and barking.

Tips to stop your chihuahua barking at the TV

Make sure you dog is getting plenty of rest in the day so they are not overwrought of an evening. Read how to grow calmness here.
Put some management in place to stop them rehearsing the behaviour, this could be an indoor harness and longline to reduce jumping about.
Teach them to settle down on a mat with long-term chew. Not an easy-to-eat treat but something to nag on, like a bone or hoof.
Don’t add more excitement into the behaviour with loud noises, or nasty gadgets that create anxiety.
Have the TV on low for a few moments in the day and play games with your chi, like catch or food flicks on the floor.
Consider it’s maybe your chi chi’s bed time and they are overtired and need to go to bed.
Teach your chihuahua a calming cue (we show you how to do this in Chihuahua School) and use this when they hear noises that create anxiety.