Excessive barkers

For those people who do want to train their dogs not to bark - I use Emily's links a lot so that my students can watch again, and get what they might have missed during class:

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DOGS THAT BARK AT SCARY THINGS

• Barking at noises http://www.howcast.com/videos/190120-Dog-Training-How-To-Train-Your-Dog-Not-To-Bark-Episode-1
• Go check it out!  http://www.howcast.com/videos/271628-How-To-Train-Your-Dog-Not-To-Bark-Episode-2-Scary-Objects
• Barking on a Walk http://www.howcast.com/videos/296935-Barking-Episode-3-Barking-on-a-Walk-dog-Training

Also, think about using BAT training to give the dog "life rewards" for choosing correct behavior.  Grisha Stewart (Ahimsa Dog Training) is conducting seminars around the country now, but she has a video out, too.  

I have no idea why that gibberish is showing up in my post, so pls disregard

Liesje

I don't generally have people over just to spend all that time training the dogs that guests = relaxation. 

That ok if you dont, but most likely this owner actually has the 20 seconds needed to spare. I'm being generous with 20 seconds, if you watch the videos i provided the exercise only last 10 seconds at the most

No need to argue, i dont think the OP will use corrections whatsoever anyway

Think twice if your post to the thread contributes anything other than self-service face-saving or ego-feeding.

I concur w/the posts to separate the two dogs and remove them from the situation.  Sometimes it really is about taking the energy out of the situation, to gain an "advantage" to redirect into acceptable behaviors.  Otherwise, it's often far more self-rewarding to keep barking and ignoring the attempts at training in the heat of the moment.

When guests come to my house, they all have a cue to go into another room and they stay in there until the guests are settled and I decide if and when I wish to let them interact. They only bark a couple of times to alert me to somebody at the door, and then settle in for a nap in bed. In fact as I say this I have company over now that does not really like dogs that much, so they are staying in bed and they have been silent the whole time. It's quite possible, and easy to do, to teach them that they can relax in another room while company is over.  They do not sit and bark mercilessly from another room, and I do this because I have a dog that does not like strangers, and I am not going to force her to make a decision about strangers entering the house. As her guardian it is my responsibility to keep her safe and stable, and this does that for her.

Once guests are settled, if I decide to let them out to interact (most times yes, but sometimes, like during a house party, they will stay in bed) I will let them out one at a time, so that the three are not competing with each other.

These dogs are not able to control themselves. They physically and emotionally cannot do it. For their own benefit they should be worked one on one, and kept out of the room whe you are not actively working with them. They should not be allowed to interact together in the beginning, that is later training and you are setting yourself up for stress and frustration, not to mention adding more stress to the dogs by forcing them to make decisions, and then punishing them for something they cannot control anyhow is downright unfair to the dogs. You are dealing with a long-established habit that will take one-on-one work to fix.

Some info on littermate syndrome (certainly not something which can be stopped in 20second or all together gone in 2 weeks):

http://www.doglistener.co.uk/choosing/siblings.shtml

http://www.caninedevelopment.com/Sibling.htm

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=158&A=942&S=0