Barking

[Ledg]

hi all,

I am writting this in an attempt to get help about my barking puppy. She is 7months old and apparently barks from the moment we leave for work in the morning to the moment we get home. There is always one person home with her most days but she is by herself 2 - 3 days per week. She has had obeidience training and hasnt always barked, this is only started to happen in the last month or so. She has plenty of toys and bones to play with and keep her occupied. Its only if she is not in the house does she bark. I wouldnt mind so much, as dogs are dogs and they bark right, but our neighbours are not nice people and i feel that they may do something to her when we arnt there. We have gone so far as to get a bark collar, which i am against, but that hasnt worked either. Please help!!!!

Rashelle

[BrunoBella]

Dogs bark less if they are in an enclosed space. Is she outside/inside? How much room does she have to guard?

[Pawprints]

When you say she has heaps of toys, what sort of toys?

Some dogs need toys that keep them interested and they have to work them out like stuffed kongs, treat balls etc. Also its good to have a large selection of toys and rotate them so they don't get used to the same old boring toys out with them every day.

Hide things in the garden for them to find, hide pigs ears, other food etc that they have to sniff around and find. It all adds to keeping them occupied.

Does she bark outside if you are home and she is outside for a while?

[LilyW]

My girl is starting to discover her bark, so this has been something i have been worried about. There is a dog behind us that just barks and barks and barks but she doesn't really seem to respond to that, so hopefully it won't be so bad. No idea what she does when we are at work though.. but no complaints.

Wouldn't your obidence school have some answers on this?

[Nellie]

We find walking our dogs before work to tire them out really effective in stopping them barking. It's a pain to get up earlier, but it's better than neighbours complaining.

If your neighbours really are the type to do something to your puppy while you are out, perhaps you should think of a dog door or keeping your puppy inside while you are out?

[SparkyTansy]

I had this problem... although it didn't last long as we got my boy a companion and now he is quiet during the day...

Also, when some people say he barks from the moment you leave the to minute you get home could be exaggerating... i think some peoples idea of a constantly barking dog differs from others... I set up a tape recorder with a long tape and recorded when i left in the mornings. Well, ok so he barked a bit but it was not constant like the neighbors said... I still did something about it, but it worried me less when i heard it for myself.

Sorry i don't have any other advice except walking them in the morning is great...like Nellie said

[Ledg]

Dogs bark less if they are in an enclosed space. Is she outside/inside? How much room does she have to guard?

she has about 150m2 to gaurd. And she also has a big deck to lie on with her bed and under that aswell. She only barks when outside.

[Ledg]

When you say she has heaps of toys, what sort of toys?

Some dogs need toys that keep them interested and they have to work them out like stuffed kongs, treat balls etc. Also its good to have a large selection of toys and rotate them so they don't get used to the same old boring toys out with them every day.

Hide things in the garden for them to find, hide pigs ears, other food etc that they have to sniff around and find. It all adds to keeping them occupied.

Does she bark outside if you are home and she is outside for a while?

Yes she does bark when we are home and she is outside. i think that to avoid the neighbours complaining we gave her attention when she started it, so we only really have ourselves to blame. We give her bones every morning too. I will try and get her some more toys and rotate them. i didnt really think of that actually. Also i just went and bought some pigs ears so i will hide them around the yard tomorrow to see if that helps.

[Ledg]

thanks for all your replies it has already helped with the ideas process. We are actually talking with our dog trainer tommorrow to see what she can reccommend also. We were thinking that another dog will also help keep her occupied and happy. I just dont think its fair her to be by herself when we have to work. I will be getting up early from now on to take her for walks too. Anything that will help.

We cant put a doggy door in as we have french doors on our back veranda and she isnt allowed out the front yard. Our neighbours i am sure exaggerate. We had her 2 days and they put a letter in our mail box about her crying at night. So we already knew that they would be difficult. We have had our car egged and a complaint put into the council about my car being parked on the wrong side of the road. So i just dont want to take any chances.

thanks again for all your suggestions at this stage i am open to anything.

[BrunoBella]

Dogs bark less if they are in an enclosed space. Is she outside/inside? How much room does she have to guard?

she has about 150m2 to gaurd. And she also has a big deck to lie on with her bed and under that aswell. She only barks when outside.

Sounds like you'll have it worked out soon. She might be happier in a portion of the yard (away from the other neighbours) or inside. Dogs do bark more if there are people around, other dogs barking, burglars to defend from (this is where a smaller section of the yard will help). My dogs bark a bit more occasionally and I just lock them inside for a few days and they settle again

With getting another dog, this could help in the long term but will make life much harder in the short term. It takes time for the dogs to learn to get on and I think it could confuse the issue at the moment - particularly if its another puppy. It took my dogs 4 weeks before they could play nicely together and be trusted not to hurt each other. A second dog is not an instant solution .

Good luck

[Gretel]

Oh dear your neighbours don't sound friendly at all Good luck. Can you leave a radio on near the door that she can hear? It might give her a bit of comfort.

[CavsRcute]

Maybe have a look at the "Pig in Mud" doggy doors.

[Pawprints]

thanks for all your replies it has already helped with the ideas process. We are actually talking with our dog trainer tommorrow to see what she can reccommend also. We were thinking that another dog will also help keep her occupied and happy. I just dont think its fair her to be by herself when we have to work. I will be getting up early from now on to take her for walks too. Anything that will help.

We cant put a doggy door in as we have french doors on our back veranda and she isnt allowed out the front yard. Our neighbours i am sure exaggerate. We had her 2 days and they put a letter in our mail box about her crying at night. So we already knew that they would be difficult. We have had our car egged and a complaint put into the council about my car being parked on the wrong side of the road. So i just dont want to take any chances.

thanks again for all your suggestions at this stage i am open to anything.

What sh$##y neighbours! God some people are so intolerant!

As the others said, I wouldn't recommend another dog right now.

Glad some of the ideas have worked a bit.

We have gotten Tealc loads of toys, they don't have to be dear ones either because he has so many, who cares if he chews them and wrecks them. I get them from a pet warehouse near us and they range from $2-$5.

He has his absolute favourites that go out with him, but the others are rotated between outdoors and indoors.

I have those cheap black plastic plant pots and I hide a pigs ear in one of those, I stand at the back door when he isn't looking before he goes out and throw a handful of kibble all over the lawn.

He has 4 stuffed kongs hidden in various parts of the yard. He also has half a clam shell pool and the other half with sand to dig in.

He has destroyed some plants which is normal, but my neighbour tells me that he doesn't bark hardly at all, only when someone walks past the gate, which I think is his duty

[ILFC]

I have has exactly the same problem and our dogs was diagnosed by a behavioural specialist vet with separation anxiety. (Not saying your dog has that) was also linked to not wanting to upset horrible neighbours which has extended the problem. My trainer said to do almost controlled barking (like controlled crying) and he only comes in when he is quiet and laying down outside the back doors. We have a simillar bark yard to yours. In the house we have to ignore the attention seeking e.g. wanting pats etc. and his reward is coming inside. He is verbally rewarded for settling down on his bed. We also have to leave enrichment actvities outside (like for animals at the zoo). She also said feed him in kongs so he has to work for his food. I feel your pain- some neighbours suck and it makes you feel very stressed- our neighbours actually came in our backyard to "sort" him out! Luckily the son felt like he could only play with him- gate is now locked!

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Dogs bark less if they are in an enclosed space. Is she outside/inside? How much room does she have to guard?

She only barks when outside.

So the answer to your problem is simple: put her inside when you're not home.

[macnme]

hi all,

I am writting this in an attempt to get help about my barking puppy. She is 7months old and apparently barks from the moment we leave for work in the morning to the moment we get home. There is always one person home with her most days but she is by herself 2 - 3 days per week. She has had obeidience training and hasnt always barked, this is only started to happen in the last month or so. She has plenty of toys and bones to play with and keep her occupied. Its only if she is not in the house does she bark. I wouldnt mind so much, as dogs are dogs and they bark right, but our neighbours are not nice people and i feel that they may do something to her when we arnt there. We have gone so far as to get a bark collar, which i am against, but that hasnt worked either. Please help!!!!

Rashelle

Anything change in the last month or so that you know of? If so, perhaps you could work from there?