My 2 dogs bark non stop when I go out.

gettingready

Watto30 wrote: »

Cesar Milan has a lot of helpful videos on youtube too

Sorry but CM and "helpful" is a contradiction in terms as far as dogs are concerned..

z.n

Not had the barking problem but my GSD would climb over the fence to follow me. If I had the children with me that was the absolute worst-she would run down the road chasing the car. If she couldn't come with us then something would get destroyed (and the more handled by a family member the better-purses, tv remotes, books, phones.) We could not make the fence high enough. We tried all sorts- higher fences, tying her up, shutting her in etc. Then we really thought about the cause rather than the result.

Basically we decided that because I was home so much she was super-bonded to me over and above other family members. She saw it as her job to keep me safe as I am less stable than DH. So she was attached to me by a piece of invisible elastic! Flattering for me but not so good for her as her nature is to protect and keep safe so I set all her alarms ringing. The solution in the end was quite simple- to reduce the bond a bit. So for a few days I ignored her, let other family members feed her etc. I stopped letting her follow me around the house. I am still careful to walk in and ignore her when I come home -ie nothing to see here, carry on as before, nothing to get excited about. Same when I leave-nothing to get concerned about. Coincidentally or otherwise, it did make a huge difference. She is much more relaxed about being left now. She seems to have accepted that I am old and wise enough to be allowed out on my own.

Might be worth a try with your chap.

IMO the baby dog is just copying the older one- it is the older one you need to focus on.

Watto30

gettingready wrote: »

Sorry but CM and "helpful" is a contradiction in terms as far as dogs are concerned..

Matter of opinion really but what I can tell you is that I have a well behaved dog who does not suffer half the problems that a lot do ie fear based aggression, dominance, separation anxiety etc to name a few and have used several of his methods ie calm assertive energy to bring a positive outcome.

As in everything you take what you need to from it and discard the bits that do not sit well

toniq

Thank you for help. The approach I'm going to try next week on baby group morning isto leave them in separate rooms, Big dog in lounge and the pup in kitchen.

Big dog will have a safe bone and telly on with all curtains shut, Little pup can't chase big dog so some barking will eliminated by that and being in kitchen nothing for him to cause trouble with, I'll leave him a kong as he is very food focused, I will leave Peppa pig on as they seem to nod off to that.

I will speak to the neighbour which might find it an issue and let her know I'm only out 90 mins twice a week and I am tackling the situation not leaving it to fester.

I have an adaptil plugin for fireworks night so will dig that out too.

Thanks

x

DaveTheMus

toniq wrote: »

At my wits end as I only go to a baby group twice a week and am gone from 9am to 10:30am, the neighbour that mentioned it was okay but I'm wary.

The older dog sets the chi pup off so they are both as bad, i usually leave them a non rawhide chewy to keep them happy but seems the older one ignores his and barks away.

They don't do this when I am at home, I have tried leaving them for a few mins and returning and praising them but it makes no difference.

I leave them in a spare bedroom as that is away from the neighbour that would have a major issue with it.

The older dog is 6 the chi pup is ear on 6 months, any tips am happy to take on board.

I cant afford to put them in kennels for that short time and again getting a dog sitter my husband wouldn't have stranger in our house.

It will soon mean I can't take baby out to her baby group if this continues, I usually shop etc after my oldest is in from school so the dogs aren't alone.

That's your mistake and a mistake I made as well.

My dog had something similar and I always greeted him as soon as I returned home. After some reading I discovered that this can reinforce bad behavior in a dog.

Ignore the dogs when you arrive home, pretend they are not there. Take your jacket and shoes off then sit on the couch and relax, only when the dogs calm down should you even acknowledge them.

Try it and it will work.

Watto30

toniq wrote: »

Thank you for help. The approach I'm going to try next week on baby group morning isto leave them in separate rooms, Big dog in lounge and the pup in kitchen.

Big dog will have a safe bone and telly on with all curtains shut, Little pup can't chase big dog so some barking will eliminated by that and being in kitchen nothing for him to cause trouble with, I'll leave him a kong as he is very food focused, I will leave Peppa pig on as they seem to nod off to that.

I will speak to the neighbour which might find it an issue and let her know I'm only out 90 mins twice a week and I am tackling the situation not leaving it to fester.

I have an adaptil plugin for fireworks night so will dig that out too.

Thanks

x

Just wanted to say good luck for next week and hope all goes well and that you come home to them both being a bit calmer, might take a bit of time but it certainly sounds like all the above may help and probably good that they will be separated.

Am sure your neighbour will be more understanding if you say that you are taking steps to resolve the barking and that its only twice per week.

I used to live next to a barking poodle that used to go beserk whenever the owner left so have been on that side of the fence but hopefully all the little steps you plan to put in place will make for calmer dogs that can learn to relax whilst you are out.

Person_one

Watto30 wrote: »

Matter of opinion really but what I can tell you is that I have a well behaved dog who does not suffer half the problems that a lot do ie fear based aggression, dominance, separation anxiety etc to name a few and have used several of his methods ie calm assertive energy to bring a positive outcome.

As in everything you take what you need to from it and discard the bits that do not sit well

Not everything he does is terrible, but there's some really bad stuff in there and inexperiencd owners aren't going to be able to tell which is good to follow and which is dangerous.

If you're looking for advice on the telly, Victoria Stilwell is better, and the programme mentioned earlier called 'dogs, their secret lives' is great too and really explains the reasons behind behaviours.

krlyr

Spotted this link shared elsewhere this evening, it's a good short read
https://positively.com/dog-behavior/behavior-problems/separation-anxiety/

Indie_Kid

Following this with interest. We have a dog who does this and one of the others has started to do the same. But it's not every single time. He always does it if dad goes out, always if everyone goes out and sometimes with the rest of us.

To make it worse, the youngest dog then decides to be a pain about this.

Mojisola

toniq wrote: »

I have tried leaving them for a few mins and returning and praising them but it makes no difference.

DaveTheMus wrote: »

That's your mistake and a mistake I made as well.

Ignore the dogs when you arrive home, pretend they are not there. Take your jacket and shoes off then sit on the couch and relax, only when the dogs calm down should you even acknowledge them.

I agree with this - don't make an issue of it - no big fuss before going out and none when you return.

As it's been going on for a while, I think I would get professional advice from someone who can see your dogs and their particular behaviour.