Excessive Barking
 

Has anyone had experience with their dog barking excessively? How did you prevent it or correct the problem?

Get a water bottle or a water gun. Seriously. When the dog barks, spray it. That's what trainers, handlers, breeders, etc. use to curb excess barking.

Re: Excessive Barking
 

Hey, are you my neighbor? ;)

Someone in the neighborhood has a LITTLE. YAPPY. DOG. Okay, I love animals, but I HATE LITTLE YAPPY DOGS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LET THEM STAY OUTSIDE YIP YIP YIPPING ALL DAY.

Sorry.

Lol, we do have a little yippy dog. We moved into a new apartment last week and I think that she's having trouble adjusting. We received notice today that somebody complained that she barked all day. Though I think part of it might have to do with the fact that the cable guy showed up and knocked while we weren't there.

Re: Re: Excessive Barking
 

Guess we live in the same complex as well.

The trashy neighbors that moved in a month ago pay their dog no attention and leave him on the patio all day with nothing to do. its two doors down and makes it impossible to work.... which sucks because I work from home.

I really dont know what to do. They are so white trash. If they dont care about their dog, they arent going to care that its bothering people. This is gonna end up with me abducting the dog and taking it to a no-kill shelter, or signing a lease for officespace across town.

Are there dog barking ordinances?

They make these collars that deliver an electric shock when the dog barks... Pretty painful for the dog though -- but they do teach them quickly.

Bark collars work, to a certain extent. After you have trained them with it on (it actually keeps them from barking) but when they don't have it on, they remember that, and then they bark. When they do have it on, they can bark so much they wear down their battery, or just get used to the shock. But, overall, I'd say it works (works on my wifes three tiny yappy dogs)

The shock isn't as bad as you think. You can put it on your hand and have it go off - it doesn't hurt so much, but it rather is 'shocking' ...if you know what I mean? It can't be too bad, afterall, my brother shocks himself all the time with it when we get to drinking.

Late.

I agree with the bark collar recommendation. I used to train dogs and excessive barking behaviors are usually hard to stop because it happens when the owner is not around most of the time. A friend used one on her Lab and he stopped barking after just a couple days of wearing it. Some other corrective measures work if you are home a lot, but if you're gone all day then I think the bark collar is the best option.

Well, that's the problem. She only barks when we're not there, so a lot of the recommendations we've received (the water-squirt thing, shaking a can with pennies in it) won't help.

One thing I found on Google was a collar that emits a spray that is unpleasant for the animal (I think they said it was citronella) when she barks.

I'll admit it -- I'm quite resistant to the idea of putting a shock collar on my little doggie!

I called our vet and she gave us the number to their trainer, so I'm going to contact her and see what she says. Also, she did recommend possibly turning on a radio or the tv to drown out the noises she may be hearing which are causing her to bark.

ETA: We've thought about locking her in our bedroom (usually we let her roam around the apt.) while we're gone, as it's on the far side of the apt. and maybe people won't hear her as much, but Mr. AXiD670 thinks that confining her to that room will make her bark more.

I actually am dealing with same problem now with my new puppy. I was very very resistant about getting her a bark collar but since I am not at home all day and she is getting on my neighbors nerve's becuase she barks/howls all day long (she is a beagle and she is lonely). She has only had it on for a day and it already seems to be working a little and I know it will take a little longer than one day but it is progress.

Get a bark collar - $50 and a week later, problem fixed.

If you go the trainer route, be prepared to spend a lot of money and time to 'maybe' fix the problem.

Bark collars aren't always the answer. My friend's dog has learned how to do these low, grunting barks that don't set off the trigger in the collar. The bark isn't loud so your neighbors won't heat it but you'll have to hear these deep "wooooooof, woooooof" and I sometimes feel like those are more irritating.

Great point. Our dogs actually whine a lot more now when they normally would be barking (more of a concerned-who-is-at-the-door-whine than a I'm-sad-whine). Annoying? Yes, but it's easier to deal with than the barking was...

Went through this problem four years ago when we were living in a temporary appartment while our house was being built. My dog seemed to have a very difficult time adjusting to the new surroundings. We tried the bark collar (against my wishes), but A.J. then just constantly whimpered which seemed to be more annoying. We took the dog to the vet who (hold on to your hats!) said the dog was probably suffering from depression. We then tried "puppy Prozac," but it didn't help either. It then finally came to the point where my husband took the dog with him to work every day. We were very fortunate that this was an option since my husband works in his family business. I definitely would not recommend this to others though because A.J. had a difficult time adjusting to being left at home once our house was finished. However, our house is on 3/4 acre so at least he wasn't disturbing any neighbors. He finally stopped barking after about a week.

Have you checked that he's just hungry? I've noticed that when dogs bark excessively theh have no food in their tummys :)

Or...get him a Kong Treat Ball....that'll keep him busy for HOURS!

The colar I got my dog was $80 but it is supposed to have 6 different setting because the man at Petco said that Beagles are smart and sometimes they will try and trick the collar by trying to grumble lower than a normal bark. It seems to be working but I only put it on her when I am gone at work.

We went to PetSmart last night and looked at what all they had. They had a scent-releasing collar (which is what I prefer), but it was $120! :eek: The display also had a sonic collar, which I was very interested in, but they were out of stock.

The sales lady recommended this pheromone thing -- it's like a Glade Plug-In -- that releases pheromones that are supposed to be something her mom has naturally, so it's supposed to calm her to prevent her from barking. We're going to try that, in combination with shutting her in our bedroom, for a few days.

AXiD670 let me know if that works because I would much rather do something like that than to use the collar that is on her now. I feel so bad using it and I worry about her all day.

Either take Drugs or shoot them!:mad:

Sad to say, but there are people who dont give a S--T.

God Do I hate Them. No, I dont Hate Them, I hate the ass wholes who turn them loose.

Roaming Dogs are no good, they get wild and hard to bring into Homes!

How old is the dog? Could it be he/she is going through their adolecent stage? I hear puppys get very bad during this time!

My puppy used to not bark AT ALL. She would even sleep through the night without a peep. After she was a few months old (I think she started doing it at around 4 mos) she would bark for EVERYTHING. She would bark for HOURS at night even though I would get up to see if she had to go potty.

She mainly barked when she was in her crate and I was in another room. She HATED it. I think she just didn't like not being included in stuff giong on or she was scared. Recently though, she has gotten over it and will sit or lay nicely in her crate until she is let out. One thing I did was put her in the crate, and if she was a good puppy, I would give her a treat and let her play. I did that several times (mainly on the weekends) and now she will happily sit in her crate until I let her out. Now if she wants out she will whimper to let me know she's still waiting to be let out :)

My neighbors downstairs have a dog too, and I noticed sometimes they would bark to each other (at least it sounded that way... one would bark, and then a few moments later the other one would bark), so if there are other dogs around, maybe your dog is talking to them?

I couldn't bear the thought of putting a shock collar on my dog :(

I also second the Kong Treat balls!!! My dog LOVES hers and it will keep her busy forever.
PetStages also has a little treat-holder I have for my dog. Basically it is a green soft plastic "cage" that you can put big treats in. I love them b/c they keep my dog busy and my dog likes them b/c she spends a long time trying to figure out how she is going to get the treats out :)

Update!
 

Well, we've started shutting her in our bedroom during the day. We're keeping the bedroom in the TV and across the apartment in the living room turned on. We put her "blanket" that she used to curl up with on the living room couch on our bed, and we put some toys and a chewy in there, along with water.

When we've been getting home, she hasn't been barking. I called the office to ask if there had been further complaints, and they said there had not been.

We've still got an appointment with a trainer next week, but we'll see what happens.

Keep your fingers crossed that this is working!