Dog Behaviour

[UK_Dave]

Hi all

Basically im after some advice from someone who knows a bit about a dogs behaviour

I have a 2yr old Black Lab, and she is gorgeous in every way...But I do have 1 main problem, and thats an abandonment issue

Basically, ive trained her in all the ways I feel I need to for being in control of all situations, and dont have any problems, and that includes stopping her after a couple of barks when the door goes, not a problem I feel as she is doing what she feels is correct, and at 1 time her barking was alot, now its only 2 or 3 barks. But the biggest issue I have is when we leave her, all she does is bark constantly!

Ive tried leaving the radio on, different rooms, Kong, toys etc but nothing works...Once she has managed to get the treats out of the kong, she then starts barking again and im getting nothing but complaints from our neighbours as its very loud!

We cant take her everywhere with us, as we dont want to leave her outside a shop for 1/2 hour or so at a time, as she could be the sort of dog that gets nicked! Plus even then she wines and barks alot!

Has anyone got any ideas to try that I may of not tried yet (and we have tried many) to try keep her quiet before we end up getting in trouble because of her? We have already had contact from our council dog warden to do with her, and had a visit due to her barking...And I would rather try anything I can before we either have to get rid of her, or get evicted

Just to add, ive tried the collar that sprays under her chin....what a waste of £60!! Didnt work

Thanks

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Ouch! yes... it is a very complex situation you have. IMO, (if you have not tried it yet) you will have to isolate the dog from visual contact, even when you are at home...for instance, if you close the back door and leave the dog outside.

If at any stage the dog starts to "complain", show yourself casually, without a fuss by merely walking out the back door, (do not even look in his direction), walk around the house and enter again at the front door....

Gradually, (hopefully) the periods between "complaining" will extend. If so, leave one person at home when you go out to buy bread (or will be away for short periods)... Once again, if any barking starts... the person at home casually walks out the backdoor (ignoring the dog) and into the front door. When you return from this short "drive"... do not announce your return... merely walk into the house.

I think this is going to be a hard habit to break, but may be possible.

 

[UK_Dave]

Thanks for the info...Although there is a slight problem, im at work most of the time during the week, and my other half is the housewife, as our youngest is 3 and just starting school, and my other half is pregnant.

Due to this, she is the 1 who goes out shopping, pays bills etc, so we dont have anyone at home for maybe 2 hours or so a day and she cant take our Poppy with her as she will end up leaving her outside shops alot.

We have tried other things trying to get her to start while we hide, but she isnt stupid! She knows we are around....Hence, she is quiet!

But about 5 mins after we leave, she starts the barking, but as soon as we try to quietly open the door, she stops! And by the time we get to her, she acts like nothing has happened!

 

[Haych]

is she crate trained?

crates are veru good for keeping a dog feeling "safe"

do you molly coddle her when you get home? or when she cries?

 

[UK_Dave]

is she crate trained?

crates are veru good for keeping a dog feeling "safe"

do you molly coddle her when you get home? or when she cries?

Yeah she is, she has a large one she sleeps in or goes into when we leave the house, she happily gets in there herself.

And as for the molly coddle, not really. She rarely makes any unhappy sounds when we are with her, and we give her attention on our rules. If she tries to demand it, we ignore her, and we speak to her when we want to. Main reason being is we cant have her under our feet always wanting attention.

She tries the puppy dog eyes on us, but it doesnt work. Although that is hard to ignore hahaha!

When we get home, we dont give her attention till we have got in, and sorted what we need to do, like put the shopping into the kitchen or whatever, then once we are ok and sorted, then we give her the attention

 

[boeingtech]

sound's like she has seperation anxiety there are quite a few articles on the problem if you google it. There is no quick fix though might take a while but with hard work and commitment she will get better try taking her for a good run before you leave her also the crate is a good way of making them feel more secure.
Don't give up on her i am sure you will work thing's out.
You could also try going on some dog forum's i go on the bigsd forum which help's rehome german shepherd's and other dog's there are some fab people on there that will give you some good advice
Good luck

 

[UK_Dave]

Ive been doing alot more research today trying to get as much info as possible, as in no way do i want to give up! We have had her since she was just old enough to be seperated from her mum so she is a huge part of the family as she is 2 this month.

I wouldnt dream of just giving up, afterall you dont just do that with your kids because they annoy you (although im sure some people would like to lol) and she is like a child of mine.

Patience is the key so ive been told! Although its something ive never been blessed with, but its improving. Ive so far got her out of the constant barking at the door, so if I can do that, then I believe I can do this....I just hope I can before the local council step in! Thats my biggest worry

 

[bae1994]

hi heres the best way apparently (mum said so)

leave then after a few minutes go back in and say its ok and reasure them

then do this keep leaving for progressingly longer each time like leave 25 mins go in then leave for 30 next time and do this for a bit untill like aslong as you normally go out then the dog realises that

1 your not leaving for good

2 you wont always be gone for a long time

hope that helps

 

[VickiandKev]

My 8 month old pup has a bit of separation anxiety, and it sometimes manifests itself as destructive behaviour and sometimes as making a racket.

Either way, we find it works brilliantly to absolutely tire her out before leaving her. She then will usually just sleep for the entire time we are gone.

We do leave her only for short periods also (sometimes 10 mins or less) and go through the same routine before leaving that we would no matter the length of the outing.

Our dog knows the 'quiet' command - we have spent some time having her crated in another room or even in the house (with a window open) while we go outside. At the first bark or whine we can loudly give her the 'quiet' command, and then quietly wait a few minutes (gradually getting longer each time you do the exercise) before going back to her and giving her lots and lots of praise.

I also find, with an insecure dog, it's best to not make a fuss about leaving at all. Don't even say 'goodbye' as it's extra interaction you wouldn't do if you weren't leaving, but if, when you arrive back, she is quiet, then praise her highly.

We've always given Skye lots of fuss on returning home, but none on going out and this has worked well. Bearing in mind the only time we have issues leaving Skye is if it's longer than a 6 hour period. Unfortunately, we're temporarily in a situation that's less than ideal in that we're doing 4 hours travelling and sometimes have a 4 hour day when we get to Uni so currently Skye is left for periods longer than we would like.

Best of luck in helping your dog get over this behaviour.

 

[Floyds mum]

Ouch! yes... it is a very complex situation you have. IMO, (if you have not tried it yet) you will have to isolate the dog from visual contact, even when you are at home...for instance, if you close the back door and leave the dog outside.

If at any stage the dog starts to "complain", show yourself casually, without a fuss by merely walking out the back door, (do not even look in his direction), walk around the house and enter again at the front door....

Gradually, (hopefully) the periods between "complaining" will extend. If so, leave one person at home when you go out to buy bread (or will be away for short periods)... Once again, if any barking starts... the person at home casually walks out the backdoor (ignoring the dog) and into the front door. When you return from this short "drive"... do not announce your return... merely walk into the house.

I think this is going to be a hard habit to break, but may be possible.

If she has abandonment issues then shoving her outside wont cure it it will reinforce her fear, it IS avery complex issue.
Alot of professional dog trainers say leave them with different toys for short periods of time, mb a few mins or 10-15 mins, then make no fuss when you get back in untill she has calmed down then slowly up the times your leaving her OR go to a professional trainer for advice.
The fact that there is noone ther for 2 hours wont help matters but it is obviously distressing for you.

Also as others have said get her into a routine, routine is VERY important for dogs.

 

[soph_betta]

Instead of the kong toys have you tried rawhide chews as my 4 older dogs love them and will spend hours and hours amused by chewing them!! they are also great for their teeth!!
P.s. two of them are labridors!!!

 

[divegirl]

Ok....here's my 2 pence worth! This has worked for me and is not my advice, but advice I was given by a behaviourist.

Seperation anxiety is not what most people think. You assume that if your dog cries when you leave it it is because he/she is upset at your leaving...well you'd be almost right but for the wrong reason!!! The dog IS upset with you going, but not because it is scared and lonely, it is infact the total opposite. What your dogs is infact saying is....[ready for this] ''YOU ARE MINE...HOW DARE YOU LEAVE MY PACK.....GET YOUR #16##### BACK HERE NOW!!!!!!!!''.

So....how to cure your 'baby with attitude'? Easy....and done in a day or two. Choose a time when you can spend a day repeating this exercise.
Get yourself a large bunch of keys/training discs/rattle can just something that makes a lot of noise [imo keys are the best], now make to leave the house, go outside and stand out of veiw, but leave your door on the latch, because you are going to need to get back in really quickly. As soon as he/she starts to bark or whine go back into the house [assertively] throw down the keys and give the command 'QUIET' and immediatly leave again......and repeat.........and repeat..........................and repeat.....Get the picture?

What you are essentially telling your dog is ''YOU ARE MINE....THIS IS MY PACK....I CAN LEAVE AS AND WHEN I LIKE....AND YOU WILL WAIT UNTIL I RETURN''

Sound harsh? Not as harsh as re-homing! It really does work....I promise, I used this on my rescue Dane and felt like a complete biatch doing it....but I now have a happy boy.....who ignores me when I return home

Lisa x

ps....I have 5 doglets atm......and know a hell of a lot more about dogs than I do about fish

 

[Saracirce]

Is she still excited when you start giving her attention after you've come home and sorted everything? Make sure she is relaxed and submissive when giving her attention (laying down with her head on her paws, sitting calmly, not watching your every movement, etc.). Give her attention calmly and correct her if she starts to get excited after getting attention. Then wait until she's calm submissive again before giving more attention. Also, if she's putting her paws on you or resting her chin on top of your arm or anything, that's being dominant and very bad.

Our dog tries to dominate us by putting her paw on my leg when I have food. I have to correct her every time she does it because she does have the tendency to be food aggressive.

 

[UK_Dave]

thanks for all the replies peeps

I had been told about this little device thats helpfull, so I gave it a try out of interest and must say, its worked!

Its a little plastic device that when the dog barks, it lets of a high pitch sound that stops the dogs barking, and although its not the best way, it was the easiest way as we wanted to try stop her barking at her own shadow when we are around too, as literally she is a bit of a yap some days, but other days she was fine (doesnt help when you have a very noisey neighbour)

The main reason we needed to calm her barking down aswell is due to having another child on the way in the next 4 months

Anyway, I tried it and its amazing! She has stopped barking when we leave, and calmed down in general with the barking....Now we dont use the device at all! Only used it a week, and its done the job!

I know some may think it was the easiest way of doing it, but it was quick, easy, and painless! And this way it helps us all out in a quick way and gets the other non-noisey neighbours and council off our backs

 

[Haych]

sounds humane enough to me

glad it worked, and like you said, the council cant make you get rid of her now