I have a 2yr old male chihuahua and he has some serious anxiety/alarm/territorial barking. He is barking all day long every 3-5 minutes at any sound he can hear. He will bark for a while, come lay down (with his ears still pricked up), growls at nothing, and then a few minutes pass by and he is jumping up barking like crazy again at any noise (a lot of the time it's something I can't even hear).
What I have tried: Closing blinds doesn't work since it's the sounds that trigger him. I tried brown noise, calming dog music, white noise - he can still hear noises through it and barks all the same.
Making him sit/lie down in his bed and rewarding him when he settles down doesn't really work. He is barking so frequently that by the time he settles down, he just jumps back up again immediately and starts barking again. And I can't intervene every few minutes throughout the entire day.
I have tried making him sit and then I make a knocking noise on the wall. He goes crazy. So I make the sound lighter or fainter until he doesn't bark at it, and then try to raise the intensity as he improves. But while he may eventually do okay during the training session, it doesn't translate to all the other random noises he seems to hear that set him off that are unpredictable and I can't even hear.
Giving him a bone to chew on or puzzle toy can occupy him a little bit, but that's temporary and doesn't solve the problem or relax him much.
I take him on several walks per day and he plays/wrestles with my other dog. I do training sessions with him as well. I need a new gate for my backyard to be able to let him roam outside, so that will be getting fixed soon.
He is also territorial outside. He scrapes up the ground with his back paws and growls with his hackles raised, even if nothing is there. But he isn't "aggressive" in that when he sees a dog, he does pull towards it but he doesn't bark or growl. He also barks at people, but will sniff them and doesn't bite.
I also have another dog, and when she barks it triggers him to bark. She doesn't bark much, but they can definitely trigger each other to bark. I don't want her to start getting bad about it like he is.
I have a behavioral appointment for him at the vet today, so I will see what they recommend. If they prescribe a medication, hopefully it helps that baseline hyper-alertness, but if they want me to see a special trainer... I don't have that kind of money. So I'm hoping by asking here someone can recommend some alternatives to what I have already tried that I can add onto whatever the vet may say or prescribe. I've been joking he's a psych patient just like me!
But his barking is affecting my ability to focus and work on things at home. I already have ADHD, and the constant distraction is not helping. If you have any ideas, please let me know. Otherwise, he is a sweet perfect boy.