Barking dog next door

Raggs_2

Ellie2758 wrote: »

Can you explain HOW you train your dog not to bark when left alone? My mind is boggling.....

Earplugs are brilliant - I use the silicone ones for swimmers from Boots.

Thankfully it's not that mind boggling. I'm smarter than my dog. I leave the flat, but then, cunningly, stay by the door (make noises that I've gone down the stairs, or go down the stairs and sneak back). Then when he started to bark (rarely on the first bark, that seemed too much like instant gratification to me), I'd open the door, march in, tell him sternly "No!" whilst wagging my finger at his face. Then swiftly about turn, and march straight out, once again feigning that I'd actually left. Repeated that until I could stand outside for 10 minutes or so with no barking.

Did the same thing later on in the day, he stopped far sooner. Then the same thing the next day.

The dog needs to think that you may not really be gone, and it needs to be a swift action, no time petting, saying hello etc, just a simple negative reaction to the barking.

I don't guarantee it'll work on every dog, and I accept that some peoples dogs watch them walk up the garden path and into the car (take some more in depth fakery to convince the dog you have left). Equally I also accept that there's people here who believe that you shouldn't use negative enforcement at any time (some of the arguments they use are very true, but those arguments don't apply to every situation in my mind).

Plus my dog is pretty relaxed without too many distractions to see. But I suspect that after a week had gone by, it had just become his nature not to bark.

This technique may mean you dog will no longer bark at strangers when they approach (it might not), may be less useful as a guard dog, etc etc, there are many issues that could be compounded (true of any training), however, my dog would make a useless guard dog anyway, and I had no intention of him ever having to fulfill that role.

~Chameleon~

To all those suggesting the OP wear ear plugs, I'd just like to say that under no circumstances would I wear ear plugs whilst sleeping at night. The ability to hear things, and yes, we do still hear things in our sleep, is one of our defence mechanisms against something untoward happening, such as an intruder, prowler, fire, etc. Taking away one of our defence mechanisms leaves us very vulnerable.

And before you all say "well deaf people cope" the majority of deaf people will have some sort of mechanism to alert them to danger, be it a hearing dog, a partner/relative with sound hearing, alarms etc.

NoAngel

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

To all those suggesting the OP wear ear plugs, I'd just like to say that under no circumstances would I wear ear plugs whilst sleeping at night. The ability to hear things, and yes, we do still hear things in our sleep, is one of our defence mechanisms against something untoward happening, such as an intruder, prowler, fire, etc. Taking away one of our defence mechanisms leaves us very vulnerable.

And before you all say "well deaf people cope" the majority of deaf people will have some sort of mechanism to alert them to danger, be it a hearing dog, a partner/relative with sound hearing, alarms etc.

Again- earplugs shouldn't take your hearing to a level where you wouldn't hear these things- earplugs that are designed for sleeping in are specificaly made so that they do not exclude all of the noise. Unlessyou already have a hearing loss, earplugs should be ok. (Audiology student and i've looked into this as I had noisy neighbours).

jamespir

heres a idea in the middle of the night move the dogs in to your garden then see how they like it

PinkPeach

NoAngel wrote: »

What's the need? Why be so rude?

Thank you No Angel, that original post by Woody now seems to have gone. Shame there's always one idiot who decides to make a scathing remark when someone asks for advice on this site.

formaldehyde_perfume

NoAngel wrote: »

What's the need? Why be so rude?



Earplugs probably wouldn't stop you hearing your alarm if you have normal hearing anyway- they don't exclude all the noise. If it was something that were an issue (i.e. you really had to wear earplugs because of an annoying noise but could never hear alarm clock) you could look into a vibrating alarm clock, like those that deaf/hard of hearing people use.

I have a vibrating alarm clock that can be worn on the wrist or put under the pillow. I'm not deaf, I just have a severe problem with waking up, I can have 3 or 4 different alarm clocks or radios set to go off quite loud and I'll still be none-the-wiser; personally it's not garenteed to wake me up but I'm pretty sure that's just me! Mine was a present but I think it was only £15 or so.

vroombroom

Just after a bit of advice really...

We live in a row of small miners cottages, each of which have a yard at the back.

Our neighbour has a lovely young 8 month old Sharpei. They have a habit of leaving her outside in the yard when they go out during the day. On weekdays its normally between 8am-9:30 and 3pm-5pm while they do the school run/drop off at work etc. Weekends it varies but it has never been later than 8pm.

She has a kennel, food, water and toys to play with but she barks, barks, barks, barks none stop for the entire time they go out. At first it never bothered me - I have two dogs, who luckily don't react to it - but now as we are due to have a baby any day its really really annoying. Today she has been out there since 2:45pm and I've chucked some chews over for her, she scoffed them, and has been barking since.

Can anyone suggest how we broach this with the neighbours? They are really lovely and we get on well, so I don't want to p*ss them off but its got to stop. Its not fair! x

Tropez

If you get on well it shouldn't be too daunting.

I would simply broach the subject of potential separation anxiety in their dog, as this is the most likely cause for the non-stop barking. Perhaps suggest that they ask the vet about local classes that deal with tackling this issue, or maybe guide them towards some websites. If they're good people, and I have no reason to believe that they are not, then they will probably be concerned if their dog is getting worked up while they're out and want to help tackle it. Assuming there is no excessive barking when they're around, they probably just don't realise that the dog is upset in their absence.

It would be best to ensure that they know that this is perfectly common and natural. A dog wants to be with its "pack".

vroombroom

thanks Tropez, thats the logical thing to do....I'll get OH to speak to them cos I was going to shove a typed note through their door!

x

elsien

Bear in mind as well that chucking chews over is likely to reinforce the behaviour, as doggy will probably very quickly learn that barking gets a tasty reward.:)