My Barking, Howling Dog.......help!

Mary Alice has been howling since we got her, it's just how she is or is a result of some trauma before coming to us. (She's a five yr old rescue)

The last three nights, she has been howling and barking loudly, every hour between 1 am and 3 or 4 am!!!!!

She doesn't need to pee, I've given her water but she only drank once, she's been ignored, patted, ignored, held on my lap, ignored.....etc.

Not only are we exhausted but seeing as she howls a lot during the day, we're really concerned that a neighbour will be filing a noise complaint.

Who could blame them??

But, if I can't get her to be quiet at night, it could prove to be a disaster.

As far as I know, her health is just fine.....

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

http://www.ultimatebarkcontrol.com/index.htm
collars and devices that use high pitched sound waves. hth

I'd suggest a crate for her.She's most likely unsettled and stressed as I'm sure your entire household is.Give her a long brisk walk before bedtime,a bit of food and put her in a crate,maybe the feeling of being secure in a "den" will keep her calm.
Sins

Thankyou for the suggestions, but Mary Alice comes from a very abusive situation and has resultant hearing and head injuries (bones have healed).

So, the high pitch would probably not only terrify her but might make her howling worse.

We did try to crate her when we first got her and she went crazy!!
She will rock the crate over, drool and pant heavily, so that's out....she totally panics.

We are the fourth home this lovely pup has had, she's been here for 1 1/2 yrs. and has settled down a lot.

Both she and Rosie don't seem to want to be outside in this lovely weather, they want their snow back!!

When I put/take them out, Mary Alice just sits down and howls at the top of her voice.

She's a bit quirky....she and Rosie would play in the snow for nearly an hour and demand to go back outside after warming up!

Rosie is happy to play & chew sticks but not MA.

Think I'll give my vet a call and see what he suggests before the weekend. Thanks again.

Hope it goes ok for you and she settles down it must be very stressful and upsetting for you.

Will she sleep on the end of your bed?
Sins

Thanks Pippa, no I'm just super tired...lol

I feel very bad for Mary Alice, she can't help it and we knew that she was "very needy" when we let her adopt us.

My concern is about the noise control during the night....so that we don't have neighbour problems or City ordinance folks at the door!

Sins, She used to be on the bed, right in the centre, lol, but I've recently had surgery, cannot move/lift her and she does hog the bed.
Due to her background, if you tell her to "move", she simply rolls on her back and acts as if she's expecting to be smacked.

We set up an Xpen, in January, with beds for both pups. So, she has had a few months of sleeping beside Rosie and it was going well.

She can walk around the Xpen, it's right outside the bedroom door so that they can hear us, etc.

The vet suggested we sedate her for a couple of nights and then see if she goes back to sleeping through....not a permanent solution, but it might work. :xfngr:

We love her to bits, she's beautiful. :lotsaluv:

Willow, rescued from a puppy mill, freaked out all night long when we first got her. Despite her previous ability to sleep in a crate at night at the foster's, when she got to us she would not settle with any arrangement we tried EXCEPT letting her sleep in bed with us. It wasn't ideal, but we eventually caved and let her sleep with us.

After awhile, a year or so, she grew in confidence enough that she chose to sleep in her crate in the bedroom again. Her choice. (I still miss cuddling with her sometimes )

While it might be inconvenient--they DO hog the bed (Willow wants to sleep on my pillow where my head is!!)--it might be helpful to find a way to let her sleep with you.

We've got doggie stairs so the dogs can get up and down on the bed without us having to help them. My father made our steps, but you can purchase them. I saw some at Target recently for a reasonable price.

I also found with Willow (who is submissive like you described--immediately rolling on to her back) that tapping the spot on the bed where I wanted her to go and saying "come over here" in a small, high pitched voice worked to get her to move. It worked best if I leaned on the bed down low rather than standing over her. When she moved appropriately we gave her a little treat, like a cherrio or charlie bear. (She moves easily now with just a tapping on the bed--no vocal command or treat reward.)

I hope, one way or another, you get a good night's rest!

Wow that sounds really tough. Normally I wouldn't suggest this, but given her traumatic background, I wonder if she would settle if you had her in your bedroom for a while. I know that for some folk this isn't an ideal situation, but I'm just wondering if in the short-term it might just give her that confidence she needs.

When we adopted Sonny (who comes from a really loving background) & also when we get a new puppy, I always put them in my bedroom & if they are fretting a bit I don't mind letting them on the bed for a little cuddle. Then when they fall asleep I gently put them in their bed. I've found that just a couple of nights of this helps them settle in & I've never had one that wouldn't then settle in the place I eventually want them to sleep.

Has the rescue group you got her from any suggestions for this kind of situation?

Glad to report that the pill worked.

We let her sleep naturally, til 1:30 when the howling started.

Didn't want to sedate her unless absolutely necessary but had some cheese and the pill ready to go....lol

Each pup got a bit of cheese (only MA got the pill) and back to sleep we went til 9!

We do have doggy stairs for both the bed and the sofa, so that they can "visit", but until I recover, they cannot possibly sleep on the bed.

Must admit, I'm starting to enjoy the bed being a "dog free zone"....lol

We've had pups on the bed since 1992, when our Charley was first home.

Good news, we all had a quiet night...and a decent sleep.

Thanks for your help.

What about a dap diffuser? I have never used one but they are apparently very good for naturally calming dogs ?

Thankyou, that's another idea for me to check out.

I had forgotten all about them, tx.

Mary Alice has been on her sedative for a few days now, it's turned out best to give it to her about 20 minutes before they go to bed, or she kicks up a fuss.

The first "session" seems to be related to when our daughter gets home from work and reheats food in the microwave. The dogs LOVE the microwave dings!!

That explains the 1 am howl-a-thon, but not the others.....so we're still at a loss as to a permanent solution.

By about 9:30 am, she is sleeping soundly on the couch, cause she too is tired!

Think I'll stop the sedatives on Wed. night and give it another try....if she howls, I'll be :blabla: the vet or :bang:

Shall check out those defusers tomorrow, thanks again.

Does anyone have any experience with those citrus sprays ??

I hate to do anything remotely "mean" to the poor pup...so I've avoided those but I also don't like sedating her.

Which of those, is the the lesser of two evils? Tx.

Hi, even though ur vet recommened to sedate her, i have heard that this is not a great idea, something about the body been asleep and the mind still active, which in turn can make them worst in the long run. Maybe this is not so for all sedatives.

Hi

Got a dap diffuser for the girls last Bonfire night for all the fireworks cant really comment if it worked they all still barked when the bangs happened but i think they finally settled about midnight ,good luck and best wishes.

You could try a herbal relaxant - like dorwest herbs scullcap & valarian or liquid valarian. I used to use this with my old dog Leo around firework season (www.dorwest.com) - he had a bad heart so sedatives wern't the best idea for him.

On another note, you said she's had some kind of head trauma - could she be going deaf & can't hear herself? I had a cat years ago that used to 'howl' after he went deaf - but he would stop if you stroked him, almost like he didn't realise he was doing it!

Ps - I tryed a DAP difuser a few years ago - did noting for the firework problem but did make my parents Goldie very horny!!!

Hi Zippy, Ive just been reading through this thread and wanted to wish you the best of luck with Mary Alice. I feel so sorry for her reading about how she autoimatically rolls over waiting for a smack. Makes me so angry to think of how anyone could treat a dog like this
:xfngr: you will find a solution to this problem soon!

Hi,
Have you tried a nice long walk of at least 45 minutes right before bedtime? I found my Tri sleeps her best when she has been thoroughly exercised. If I only do a 30 minute walk, she is up at least 1-2 hours later, she just is not tired. A well exercised dog will be more submissive and ready to settle down more easily. Sometimes I do two walks between 6pm and 10pm if she is really wound up. Best of luck to you and how wonderful it is that you are willing to work with this dog, she is truly loved and blessed!

Hi everyone,

Sallymum, Yes, dogs and people can have a reaction that makes the problem worse but the pills worked for a few days. Unfortunately, she was howling again this am at 1:30 and then again around 5. After being patted, she went back to sleep and I could not...lol I'm beginning to wonder if I'm being trained to do middle of the night comfort sessions! With the nice weather, I want the windows open, but the neighbours won't tolerate much longer. One neighbour "jokingly" asked if we were killing her, two days ago!

Thanks for the good wishes Brian M., I will be looking at diffusers this weekend but I sure hope it doesn't make her react like Dublins' parents' Goldie!

Dublin, we've tried Remedy Relief, we used to give it to our Charley when he was elderly and heart probs. but it didn't do a thing for Mary Alice. Might buy some Valerian, at this point even the sedatives aren't holding her through the night and I think we're at the top dose. If it doesn't work for Mary Alice, it might help me get back to sleep.

She has had major head trauma, is partially deaf due to her ruptured ear drum and "something", as yet undiagnosed that seems to cause intermittent discomfort. We've seen a neurologist, twice, had films done and still don't have a certain diagnosis. Someone suggested a dental consult but her teeth are fine.
They wondered if she had probs with her mandibular joint (I'm too tired to remember the problems' name).

Louise, Thankyou, she sure is loved, very much and is the sweetest little dog. It breaks our hearts when she reacts that way too. She used to be afraid of the newspaper but we now unwrap it on the porch...as Moviedust says, this isn't an uncommon reaction from abused dogs, they just expect to be hit, I doubt she'll ever get over it. I can't imagine ever hurting a helpless animal either....just some brute. Very sad.

Momay, no Mary Alice isn't getting a long walk, just a short one before bedtime....although I am going to get after my daughter to walk them a bit more for me. Once I'm on my feet, they'll be walking a lot more...but it's going to be awhile. It might be a contributing factor though, thanks for the suggestion.
They do race around the garden a lot, during the day, so she's not a couch potato pup.

My daughter is a big proponent of those citrus collars, I'm just not sure given her previous life, if we should try a "punishment" based item..........punishment based "anything" for children or animals, goes against my better judgement......does anyone have any experience with either the "forced air" or "citrus" collars?

Hubby says we could try one but as stated, I'd hate to be "mistreating" her myself!

Thankyou everyone for your suggestions, the sedation isn't a long term solution and we will try many of the suggestions, as this problem hasn't resolved yet.

Any feedback/opinions about the "collars" would be appreciated. Am I being to cautious about not wanting to cause her further distress by spritzing her with citrus or forced air? Tx.

Please please don't use a citrus collar they are not nice and I really thing given the history you have described not a good idea.

I can not advocate this product as I have never used one but if your running out of options to try may be worth looking at.

http://www.husher.com.au/default.aspx?department=About+Husher&section=What+is+The+Husher

It is a specially designed muzzle type thing to control unwanted barking. Not sure how well it would work on the shorter cavalier nose either but thought i'd pass on the info.