Dogs Barking At Each Other When We're Not Home

[Christina]

Muttaburra:

Since the noise seems to derive from a habit of a certain game, where one barks at the other when it has a toy or something, separation and housing indoors certainly would be worth a try. Not rocket science eh? Each could be given (also already suggested on this thread) a Kong with frozen treats to keep them occupied.

So you'd be happy to see 4 month old pups kept inside alone for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week? Sorry but I fail to see how an active pup is expected to achieve any form of toilet training or any sort of decent muscle development in such a situation. They'd have to be crated or penned in separate rooms.

A pretty sad future for an active little working terrier IMO. I'm no great fan of debarking but I think that would be kinder than life in a crate.

This all seems to be going over the top & ridiculous.

The post is about 2 puppies age 4 months old, that is still a baby age.

They have a normal thing of barking over a toy or to play & a cranky neighbour complaining.

We now have

All this breed bark.

They are not stimulated/exercised enough.

They need a behavourist.

They will always bark like this if its not stopped now.

Its better to debark them than to follow the suggestion to seperate them for a day or a few hours a day to break the habit.

They are a breed that is trouble & dumped in the pound a lot.

Having 2 pups the same age is trouble.

Overkill I reckon. Bit scary reading all this.

The habit needs stopping so seperation, done kindly or teaching the command Quiet by distraction, spray bottle or whatever works to make them understand Shut Up is done by many owners of 2 pups or more. Have had to do it myself.

[juice]

do you have a good relationship with your neighbours?

could you go round and explain they are only young, and it will get better, and find out when they bark?

some people are less tolerant than others , but you may have a cranky neighbour

if push came to shove, i would debark mine as a last resort if it got that bad, i am very aware living in suburbia, ontop of each other of keeping the peace, its not easy

[poodlefan]

Muttaburra:

Since the noise seems to derive from a habit of a certain game, where one barks at the other when it has a toy or something, separation and housing indoors certainly would be worth a try. Not rocket science eh? Each could be given (also already suggested on this thread) a Kong with frozen treats to keep them occupied.

So you'd be happy to see 4 month old pups kept inside alone for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week? Sorry but I fail to see how an active pup is expected to achieve any form of toilet training or any sort of decent muscle development in such a situation. They'd have to be crated or penned in separate rooms.

A pretty sad future for an active little working terrier IMO. I'm no great fan of debarking but I think that would be kinder than life in a crate.

This all seems to be going over the top & ridiculous.

The post is about 2 puppies age 4 months old, that is still a baby age.

They have a normal thing of barking over a toy or to play & a cranky neighbour complaining.

We now have

All this breed bark.

They are not stimulated/exercised enough.

They need a behavourist.

They will always bark like this if its not stopped now.

Its better to debark them than to follow the suggestion to seperate them for a day or a few hours a day to break the habit.

They are a breed that is trouble & dumped in the pound a lot.

Having 2 pups the same age is trouble.

Overkill I reckon. Bit scary reading all this.

The habit needs stopping so seperation, done kindly or teaching the command Quiet by distraction, spray bottle or whatever works to make them understand Shut Up is done by many owners of 2 pups or more. Have had to do it myself.

No one said every individual in the breed barks. I said they tend to be barky. Others disagree.

30-40 minutes a day isn't enough exercise? It's way too much IMO. These are babies.

How can you guarantee that a few days of separation will cure barking. It's definitely worth trying but the OP has said it can't be done outside.

How do you teach pups to be quiet when you're not home Christina? The pups aren't noisy when the OP is home.

Edited February 6, 2010 by poodlefan

[all that glitters]

Muttaburra:

Since the noise seems to derive from a habit of a certain game, where one barks at the other when it has a toy or something, separation and housing indoors certainly would be worth a try. Not rocket science eh? Each could be given (also already suggested on this thread) a Kong with frozen treats to keep them occupied.

So you'd be happy to see 4 month old pups kept inside alone for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week? Sorry but I fail to see how an active pup is expected to achieve any form of toilet training or any sort of decent muscle development in such a situation. They'd have to be crated or penned in separate rooms.

A pretty sad future for an active little working terrier IMO. I'm no great fan of debarking but I think that would be kinder than life in a crate.

This all seems to be going over the top & ridiculous.

The post is about 2 puppies age 4 months old, that is still a baby age.

They have a normal thing of barking over a toy or to play & a cranky neighbour complaining.

We now have

All this breed bark.

They are not stimulated/exercised enough.

They need a behavourist.

They will always bark like this if its not stopped now.

Its better to debark them than to follow the suggestion to seperate them for a day or a few hours a day to break the habit.

They are a breed that is trouble & dumped in the pound a lot.

Having 2 pups the same age is trouble.

Overkill I reckon. Bit scary reading all this.

The habit needs stopping so seperation, done kindly or teaching the command Quiet by distraction, spray bottle or whatever works to make them understand Shut Up is done by many owners of 2 pups or more. Have had to do it myself.

No one said every individual in the breed barks. I said they tend to be barky. Others disagree.

30-40 minutes a day isn't enough exercise? It's way too much IMO. These are babies.

How can you guarantee that a few days of separation will cure barking. It's definitely worth trying but the OP has said it can't be done outside.

How do you teach pups to be quiet when you're not home Christina? The pups aren't noisy when the OP is home.

Agree with it all!

And when I think of JRT's the first thing I think of is barking too, cos a) I have lived near some in the past with proof and b) well if you google the breed most info on them say they are as well

If my dogs were a noise issue outside though and I couldn't fix the problem I would have the dog inside out of respect for the neighbors and they are safer in a secure room/area anyway, and if the dog/s are exercised very well prior to leaving for work I think most dogs sleep most of the day anyway. A walk before and after leaving dogs indoors when at work is fine, even my young shepherd is fine with this routine and sleeps the day away and gets a walk before and after to stimulate mind and body. AND if the dogs had to be indoors you can get dog walkers or minders to come play with them and break up their day. There are options to make situations better

[Cosmolo]

I wasn't going to say anymore but i have to ask- what do you think about dogs in apartments PF? I see lots of pups in apartments and apart from it being a little more difficult to toilet train, when owners exercise, train and stimulate the dogs are happy and well adjusted.

I think the OP firstly needs to determine just how much the dogs are barking- a tape recording would be a good idea.

And don't believe everything google tells you Seeing adult dogs with issues is not always a great indicator either- you don't always know whether its the breed, the owner or the environment that causes the problem. Breed generalisations are dangerous things- tendencies to be aware of, sure. I don't have a problem with saying some dogs of XYZ breed can be prone to ABC behaviour. Its the assertion "they bark at the drop of a hat" that i have issue with.

[poodlefan]

I wasn't going to say anymore but i have to ask- what do you think about dogs in apartments PF? I see lots of pups in apartments and apart from it being a little more difficult to toilet train, when owners exercise, train and stimulate the dogs are happy and well adjusted.

I think we'll be seeing more of it in future and it's fine by me PROVIDED that dogs get the exercise, training and stimulation you mention. However, Aussies don't seem to have embraced that as readily it seems as some O/S dog owners do. Dogs aren't as integrated into their owners social lives here as they appear to be in some places overseas.

Even large active breeds are apartment dwellers overseas. Big big commitment and my guess is many are walked by professionals during the day. I'm certainly no fan of dogs being crated for 8+ solid hours per day (as no doubt you've already guessed )

If owners are prepared to do right by their dogs I doubt there's any breed that couldn't live happily in an apartment. But gee some would be a serious commitment.

Problems don't arise from having a particular breed. They arise when people buy them ignorant of what they are like and are unwilling to meet the dogs needs. Australia certainly doesn't have a monopoly on dumping dogs.

We have DOLers who have apartment dogs. Gomez and LukeW spring to mind.

Its the assertion "they bark at the drop of a hat" that i have issue with

.

I said they tend to do it. Maybe I've been unlucky but that's my experience. The whole point of developing purebred dogs was to make some characteristics more common in a breed than others. A breed developed to have lightening fast reflexes, courage and tenacity and to use its voice and its teeth to hunt is going to retain those characteristics to a fair degree. It never ceases to amaze me that people obtain JRTs having no knowledge of their past or their characters. As you suggest, perhaps few are obtained from responsible breeders. You cannot fault a dog for what it was bred to be - but many people seem ignorant of the working past of this breed.

Few breeds developed to hunt out of sight of their handlers are quiet. If you want to know where your hunting dog is, you'll select one with a voice.

And no, I don't think JRTs are the worst barkers I've met. I reserve that title for the Finnish Spitz. Read how the breed is hunted and it rapidly becomes obvious why.

Edited February 6, 2010 by poodlefan

[NZVizsla]

The pups need to learn to live without each other. Although they're only babes, what will happen if something happens to other one? do you want needy dogs who can't cope with some form of isolation?

My three dogs ALL spend time without each other for company. They don't care one way or another now.

Can you put them in outdoor pens? so they can see each other, but not interact? it might be frustrating at first for the barker, but if your there initially to tell him off, it may stop the barking when the other guards/has a toy, as it can't do anything about it, so might be less frustrated and more accepting of the situation?

[Zug Zug]

Not an easy thing to deal with. I too have a cranky neighbour who is home all day and doesn't like it when my dog barks. And I know she does bark when we're out, because when I was home for a month after a hospital stay last year it annoyed me too. We manage it as much as we can, but it is very difficult when you're out. We certainly don't let them bark when we are here and can do something about it.

I'm also reluctant to crate my dogs all day. But if it got really desperate, I would try that. But I don't think it's a good solution for a 4mo puppy. I've also never tried a barking collar, but again if things got desperate we would try that. But my dogs are older.

Firstly, work out how often they actually bark. I agree stay home and try to be as inconspicuous as possible and keep your own diary. I would be surprised if all the barking were associated with the same game - it is likely there are a number of things that make your dog/s bark. Understanding what they are might help work out what to do. If they are barking at people walking past the house, restricting them to a part of the yard that is away from the gate (where they can't see the street) might help. If it really is just fun barking during a puppy game, they may well grow out of that as they mature.

I also agree that the Council will not take your dogs away as long as they can see that you are cooperating and trying to resolve the problem. So polish your halo and stay calm - I know it's stressful but you need to be presenting yourself as reasonable and responsible when dealing with Council staff.

So your real issue is with trying to restore peace with your neighbour. Some neighbours (like mine) will always complain about something. The tree is hanging over the fence, the fence is ugly, the kids are too loud, the house needs to be painted, the tradesman made too much noise, the dog barks.... so the list goes on. I figure so long as I am being reasonable and calm, there is very little she can do to us except complain, and that won't kill me.

Having said that, I am strongly in favour of LOTS of training and mental stimulation - especially for smart JRT pups. When our neighbour started getting uppity, I signed up to obedience classes and put titles on my dogs. I figure if the Council ever does come knocking, that's gotta work in our favour.

[Zug Zug]

Oh and try and talk to your other neighbours to see how they are finding things.

If they are also stressed about the barking, then that confirms you have a problem. But if not (in our case, the other neighbours are fine - no concerns), it might help put your mind at ease and it also gives you a chance to tell them what you're doing about the problem before it starts to irritate them.

[Jed]

JRTs tend to bark at the drop of a hat.

And you know this how?

JRT are working terriers. They vocalise. It's a breed thing. Every reputable breeder knows this. Some lines/dogs bark more than others. It is the nature of the beast. Thats how they were bred for generations, that's how they are. They can be trained out of it, but not in the short term

Two pups with one toy are going to bark. Most breeds are going to bark in that situation. It's a baby thing. Working terriers are going to bark more.

Fact of life.

Crating them all day will not be very good for them, and I suspect they will jump or climb out of the puppy pen. Maybe fence off an area of the yard, and put each of them on one side of the fence, so they have company, but not competition. No matter if you give them 2 of everything, they will both want the same one. I think separation when you are out is the go. They are babes and that's how babes are, training and maturity will help.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Jed