Hi,

My 15 week old pup is apparently barking constantly when he is left alone (we have just received a letter of complaint from a neighbour!). He is only left approx 3x a week for anywhere between 2-4 hrs and has a dog flap so he can go in and out of the house, we thought it was working really well until we received this complaint letter stating that he barks constantly in the garden. Several of my neighbours are retired and I understand that it must be very annoying for them! what can I do? I have thought about restricting him to the house but then i'm sure I would come home to a mess, i've also heard about bark collars, anyone used these, do they work? he is not generally a barky dog around the house so i'm at a loss of what to do, obviously I intend to have a word with the neighbours and apologise but I have a feeling they won't be very understanding! any advice would be really appreciated!

thanks

Hi, i'd take a bunch of flower's round, and say your doing your best to sort it, my oh's jrt was like it we stopped him going out when we were out

have you tried crating him?

i'm not in favour of catflaps as you never know who can get into a garden and pinch the dog.

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love me love the dogs

Id say keep him in the house!
My SBT is very quiet normally, rarely barks but if he does its because hes in the yard! In the yard/garden the dog can smell, hear so many different things, birds, cats, people etc that he needs to "ward" off or otherwise greet
Also, in the house, its best if the dog, when left alone, cannot see whats happening in the street as that may start him off as well!
Otherwise if he still barks even when restricted to the house try to give him a good run, tire him real well before you leave him alone so that he only sleeps whilst waiting for you!

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies, with regards to crating him, he is crated at night but I don't really want to do this during the day. We do always take him for a long walk before leaving him and I assumed he was just sleeping when we were out, obviously not!

Hi. The more space a dog has to move around, the more excitement it creates - therefore the more noise they make. I would never be able to let my dogs have access to outside, as the barking would be awful!

I don't even think you need to go so far as to crate him. Simply restrict him to a couple of rooms, with his crate door left open. I'm sure he will be much better. x

Dogs are better behaved if given a smaller zone to be left in. In their wild state they would have dwelt in caves. If you pup is small then an open carrier with a blanket inside can be left in a room so the pup has his own comfort area to retreat to. Letting him have access to outside and a large area will create anxiety and he will be less happy than in a smaller domain. Any dog that is going to be left needs to be conditioned slowly by leaving the dog for short periods of time then increasing this through time. Just leaving him straight away for 2/3 hours is not a good start. Having a good walk in the morning is always a good start for any dog.

yes as everyone says you must keep them in a small room, or if you are going to crate train him, maybe put a kong or some fun toy in there that can keep him busy while you are away.

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My two babies. Separated for a while but now both reunited on Rainbow Bridge, running in a field of daises. Gone but not forgotten. Love you always and forever



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Hello,
Right first things first
You could go round to neighbours with a pack of choccies to apologise about the barking and let them know you are working on it and to bear with you.

It sounds like your pup could be developing Separation Anxiety but as he is only 15 weeks old you've got the advantage that he is young and therefore should be easier to "train" out of it.

Many people have already advised a crate and I agree. One thing to bear in mind though is if you did get one, it's not as simple as getting it and then sticking pup in it when you go out. When you are at home with your pup you need to make lots of positive associations with the crate as a good, safe place to go for a rest or whatever. Best way to do this is to get yourself some puppy kongs (or regular ones)- you may already have these.
Fill up your kong with lots on nice yummy stuff (peanut butter, cream cheese, nature diet puppy food, wet food, wet food with biscuits mixed in etc...). Then encourage the pup to go in his crate and eat his kong in there.
Continue doing this every day or every few days and your puppy will see the crate as a really positive place to go and plus somewhere where he settles down. Also encourage your pup to sleep in there at night.
The next stage is building up the amount of time that he is left. Leave him in his crate with a stuffed kong and walk out of the house for 5/10 minutes. Only go back in when he is not barking. Gradually build up this time period over weeks and months until he is happy being left for a few hours without getting distressed and barking.

Here is a link to a crate training video you might find helpful:
Crate Training a Puppy or Dog Video

Hope this helps

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