Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:12 pm Post subject: how do you stop the barking
this is bit of a desperate plea due to neighbour complaints. since we got our puppy she has barked. she is barking for attention. its always when she is in her room behind the baby gate, we ignore it and now shut the door on her, which she then stops and goes to bed. we open it when shes quiet. but then she starts barking again.
its all the time even when shes fed played with excercised.
does anything like those citrus collars work.
getting very worried by neighbour complaints now, they are the type of people who would make us get rid of our dog
sorry dont have any advice but just sending positive vibes, mine just started barking at the dark and she is 8 months, luckily my neighbours have a lab already so we dont get complaints, but i did have a dog that barked before as a pup and the neighbours i had then did complain and i did get rid of the dog, i think it is attention seeking. im sure someone will be along soon to give some advice
I'm not experienced but have a couple of thoughts.
I appreciate that your neighbours are not your best friends but do you think they might be a bit more tolerant in the short term if you handed them a bottle of wine and an assurance that you are working on the issue?
My guess is that your pup wants to be with you and not shut away in a different room. That's obviously not always practical but maybe a crate that can be moved or that remains in a more sociable area would be an idea? Alternatively, when you need to leave her in a separate room, close the door if that calms her down. Our Molly used to hate seing us at the kitchen table and not be allowed in, so for a while we closed the door instead of just using a baby gate. (These days she's sleeping under the dining table if it's just us ). She is much better now and we can leave her in a separate room if we need to without barking but until she was a year old (or thereabouts) she hated not to be with us ALL the time!
I personally don't think the various collars are any good - they just treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Figure out why she is barking and then you can address it
Good Luck and don't worry too much about the neighbours - it would have to be pretty much constant barking and very loud for complaints to be taken seriously!
Why is she in the room behind the babygate? And how often is she in the room alone? How old is she?
Puppies like to have company and like to be where the action is, much like young children. It is good for them to have some rest/alone time too though.
I wouldn't use or consider a citronella collar or similar on any puppy. Pups are such little sponges that there are so many other positive methods they are likely to respond to. Citronella collars need very special, careful use to have a desired effect and I think casue more problems than they solve.
Your little one could be teething and feeling in discomfort so giving her a frozen carrot or an ice cube or a wet towel frozen could distract her from barking at you. Luna used to love ripping up thick cardboard boxes as a pup, the really thick ones she would chew and bite on for hours! (I was lucky, she didn't eat the cardboard - do check your pup doesn't too!) Of course appropriate toys to rip apart or chew on are a good idea too!
Are you training little and often with your pup? Mentally stimulating them with some heel/sit/stay training for just 5/10mins a time used to leave Luna ready for a good snooze!
I used to work through a checklist in my head when Luna demanded attention (she didn't bark but used other methods!), take her for a wee, take her for a poo, do 5mins training, have a bit of a play, when did she last have a chew on something?, is she hungry? and then finally lie down here and have a snooze! You soon get trained by your pup to recognise which thing they are demanding and then you can choose whether to meet their demand (a good idea when they need a wee!) or whether to show them what they should be doing instead.
Hope I've thrown some useful experiences out to you...
I was lucky Luna didn't discover her bark until over 6 months old!
maddy is 12 weeks. she goes mental in a crate and messes and then goes even more mental. not sure if it had something to do with the breeder cuz she had an issue with baby gates when we first had her.
ive got a baby so she can always be with us and i like her out of the kitchen when were eating. i train every time im waiting for the kettle to boil when izzys asleep. i play with her in the garden when izzys asleep. we walk together with the pram for 15 mins a day.she spends all evenings in the lounge with us and comes to work with me in the day.
i just thought after 4weeks of ignoring barking it would have stopped. its def attention, i always leave her in her room with either a stuffed kong or buster cube (her fave).
i just long for abit of peace in this house
I would persevere with the crate if I were you. I think it can take some time for dogs to get used to the crate so making it a great place to be by making it cozy and give her a kong / a few treats in there to make her associate it with loveliness rather than a place where she is shut away.
I don't think ignoring the barking will work as she is asking for attention and ignoring it will probably just making her try harder. When Molly attention barks I normally give her a few seconds of attention and then send her away. Not sure if it is the best thing to do but ignoring her has never helped!
Crumbs! It sounds like you have everything covered that I could think of!
A couple of other ideas that sprung to mind!
As soon as Luna learnt to bark and started to experiment with how to use it I taught her a command word and hand signal ie everytime she barked I said 'bark' and opened my hand like a glove puppet's mouth. Luna now barks on command. I guess thinking about it doing this meant I was kind of acknowledging her barking and giving some attention but wasn't responding to it how she wanted. I think I used to do it until she'd stopped or been distracted by something else.
Does she sleep regularly through the day? Luna barks now when she is tired and hungry! When she's like this asking her to get up on the sofa for a cuddle or telling her to lie down soon has her drifting off to sleep. I wonder if your pup could be over-tired?
Luna never took to her crate in the way I'd wanted. I wanted it to be her space and den to retreat to but it never became that despite my efforts. Luna used to sleep on a sofa cushion on the floor or on the sofa or on a big cuddly toy. NOT her bed/crate/towel/blanket..... as expected!!! I didn't really care so left her to settle where she chose and then DIDN'T MOVE because the pup was asleep and I didn't want to wake her!!!!! Pups!
I was going to suggest you taught her to bark on command and so to stop on command but I am not sure how easy it is you would have to ask someone who trains or a behaviourist. She sounds like a typical pup though always after attention. I try not to encourage barking by leaving mine to do it and will if possible stop her as we are attached to the house next door and dont want to upset the neighbours.
I am trying to discourage mine from barking at the door but OH says I should encourage her as she is protecting the place but I dont like the noise
At only 12 weeks old, she is still just a baby herself and as such simply doesn't understand why you are shutting her away from the rest of you, as this really isn't a natural thing to do in a Dogs World. Yes she will eventually learn that being alone is ok and you are doing the right thing by giving her something tasty, such as a stuffed kong to keep her occupied while you aren't with her, but using something like a Citronella Collar will only make matters worse, as this will increase the pup's anxiety no end, which could result in all sorts of other behavioural problems. It's a bit like doing something really unpleasant and painful to a young child every time she needs and asks for her Mum......It'll have a knock on effect, which will probably be far worse than the original problem.
Some pups are more independent and content to be alone for some time from day one, but others have a desperate NEED to be with their people ALL the time and this seems to be especially true of many Labradors. I can only assume this is because they have been bred for generations to work closely with their owner and it is this which makes them such loyal and dependable companions. So it's a double edged sword really. You need time and patience to get past the clingy phase to end up with the most fantastically loyal and loving dog.
George (5 1/2 months) isn't too bad but when we go to my sisters he barks at her dog loads, he's just playing but it's really annoying.
Our puppy trainer said to use a squirty water bottle, squirt him when he barks and don't say anything, it does sort of work. You may as well give it a try.
We were at puppy class last Sunday and at the end we all have a cuppa and leave the dogs dotted around the field, George doesn't like it and barked the whole time, after a while the trainer said "we'll fix that next week" so I'll let you know what happens
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
). She is much better now and we can leave her in a separate room if we need to without barking but until she was a year old (or thereabouts) she hated not to be with us ALL the time!
