Barking

Poppy is a constant barker, morning noon & night.

she will bark at the tv if an animal comes on it, bark if she hears another dog, bark when the neighbours are in their garden & bark in the night for no apparant reason.

i must admit i didnt realise how bad the problem was until a neighbour told me last night she had barked non stop all day. obviously this is annoying for them.

now usually, my partner is home with her as he is only out for a few hours a day, but through a sports injury since we got Poppy he has been at home from a week after we got her upuntil the begining of this week constantly so she has been used to him being there all of the time, i think this is why she has been so bad this week. - change of routine.

is there any sugested ways of dealing with this, usually when we are in, we tell her to be quiet, if this doesnt work we put her in her bed for time out & soon as she has quietened down bring her back in, we do not chastise her, but she will start again. we have tried ignoring her nothing seems to work!

My other two only ever bark for a reason ie. someone coming up the driveway etc but poppy will literally bark at everything & nothing?

Jasper seems to bark when restrained .... shut in or on a lead. When he's out in the garden & supervised or running round the house with us, he's fine. A chewy rawhide can offer some relief, as it keeps their mouths busy!!

when we go out we leave her with a kong & she has always had a long walk before hand, i would have thought that would tire her out!

9 times out of 10 when we have got home the kong is untouched! yet it has treats in i know she likes as she will sit and play & chew it not long after we come in!

Archie is a constant barker and walks around the house growling and moaning to himself.we have given up.Not alot has worked here,he mostly starts in the house,so i guess that is him being overly protective.He is also bad when outside with Ella,he just walks around with her barking head up.That guarding,which i dont want,if that starts we bring him in.

You may want to try a DAP diffuser.

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=719&pf_id=6476

Sparky is a barker (I call him Barky sometimes...).

I was told this was a problem when he was in rescue, but when I got him home I put Rescue Remedy in his water and used DAP. He was fine until about a month ago when I thought I didn't need the DAP anymore.

Well, he went crazy when I'd come home and would stand in front of me and bark, for no reason. Just very unsettled. I got the DAP again and started putting calming/anti-anxiety drops in his water and he's been doing much better. It wasn't immediate, but I do believe it is making some difference.

Oh, I also have a special Pet Music CD that I use when I am away that is supposed to calm them.

Keep in mind though that Poppy is a puppy, so this really might just be a stage she's going through. Lucky used to be that way, but he got over it in time, when he realized I'd be coming home for him. The long walk to tire them out before you leave is also a really good idea, but puppy energy is almost infinite, so you may be fighting something of a losing battle there.

Good Luck.

Do you live in a semi detatched house? If you're detached I wouldn't worry. I'm gone during the day as I teach and live alone. They sleep when I go. Maybe he will get used to this. Maybe limit where he stays on his own. Mine stay in the kitchen and I keep the blinds down so they are not distracted by cats, rabbits etc. Good luck.

Poops I meant SHE. Sorry.

I meant ooops not poops. Sorry!

i'm fortunate that rudy stays in a big laundry room during the days i am gone from the house. the only window in the room is up high - allows lots of light but he cannot see out. i think he uses that time to catch up on sleep since he's on 'go' anytime i'm around. we switch out the toys to keep his mind busy (kongs with different things in it, a fav chewie, toy, etc) and we leave his kennel door open so he can sleep there when he wants (altho he uses his cushy dog bed too).

i do think it makes a difference keeping them from roaming the house if the barking happens when you aren't home.

it took rudy months before he barked (we were beginning to wonder) & seems to only bark when excited during playtime with OH or when asked to 'speak'. Otherwise, he's pretty quiet so I don't have a lot of personal experience on this one. He's even learned 'inside voice' (a muffled woof) when asked - we worked on that after seeing a dog do it on tv.

a friend had a lot of trouble with a dog that barked inside. she found out she was 'enabling' him by asking him in an excited voice about squirrels, birds, visitors outside...then he was doing it all the time. she changed her voice patterns and doesn't encourage it anymore and it has subsided a bit, but he's still a barker - sometimes for no reason at all!

i feel for you - good luck.

When you leave your dog, do you leave a tv or radio on tuned to a station with a lot of talking? I find that our two dogs seem happier with voices around them

Years ago I had a golden who would bark a lot. I got her to sit and then saying quiet I would gently squeeze her mussle.? spelling. After 2 or 3 times, she got the message and would stop barking when I said quiet.

Heather R

Thanks for all your comments & advice!

food for thought there, we used to leave the radio on for Thor when he was a pup to calm him, cant believe i had forgotten that! will try that and also the dap diffuser! i have one in the cupboard somewhere for Freya at bonfire time!

we do live in a semi detached, and Poppy is in the kitchen the other two in the living room divided by a dog gate, so that they can see each other, we used to also shut the door between them, but Poppy would scratch & scratch with no sign of letting up & i thought it was distressing her to much, so we left the door open.

the last couple of nights she has also been unsettled running up & down the stairs to come on the bed - they are not seperated at night as she just wouldnt settle, and all sleep down stairs and they have always been great!

will try the ideas! thanks again!