Does anyone have a sensible answer to my problem of:---?

Question

My lurcher howling whenever I go out. I was told about these citronella collars. Do they work? Have you a better idea?

No stupid or cruel ideas please, as wasting my precious time, and outright cruel answers may well be recieved and returned with a well deserved slap! and a bad rating to boot. Thank you in advance to all who answer sensibly, Bugger off and grow up to those who think its clever to be cruel / dim!!!!

Thanks to all who have replied so far. I am in the UK, and have not heard of the crate thing. The trouble with all " LONG DOGS ", is their silly bunched up insides. They need the Potty more often than most other dogs and therefore its maybe not a great idea to crate them for very long. She would only be left for very max 4 hours, would deffinately mess in the crate in that time. Thanks all of you anyway.

Answer 1

If its practical, take your dog for a long walk before you leave to tire him out and calm him down.

Then what you might try for a while is pretend to leave, but be ready to rush back in the second he howls and very firmly tell him NO. Don't talk to him otherwise, don't pet him, northing, just leave again. Keep repeating until he catches on. Don't make a fuss over him, or even say goodbye before you leave. Also try (even if it's hard) to ignore him for a few minutes when you come back. Don't let him think you're coming and going is a big deal.

Hope something works for you.

Answer 2

A friend who has two Shih Tzus has used the citronella collars with great success. My friend was desperate as she had just adopted these dogs from a rescue and she lived in a condo. The collars were a last resort so she could go out without worrying that their barking would disturb her neighbours. They only barked when she left them.

Beware when buying these collars from a pet store. Sometimes it is not citronella - just a lemon scent which doesn't work. She also paid less at the vet's then what was being charged by pet store. (However, I did hear of one person whose dog just kept barking until the citronella was gone.)


If you have the time and opportunity, it would be better to work on your dog's separation anxiety. The links shown are both from a great site with lots of dog info including how to handle the problem you now have. Good luck.

Answer 3

I agree with walkinglady. If you wear his little butt out he will just sleep when you are gone. I would also look into getting a crate for him. Make sure you crate train him before hand, no dog is going to like getting thrown into a box and left for hours everyday, you have to ease him into the idea of it. There are many places on the net with crate training tips if you do a search you will definately find something of good use.

I've heard great things about the citronella collars, but you should only use them under your supervision. It might break or something and it might hurt him, or scare him to death making things worse.

Answer 4

Keep in mind with the citronella collars that your dog will be sprayed with citronella in the face, that itself sounds cruel to begin with. They do make collars and another thing that looks like a small box that makes a sound that is annoying to the dog, but that we can't really hear and it will go off when the dog starts and some come with a button to make it go off when the dog isn't making noise. Unfortunately they won't work though if the dog has a hearing problem (one of my dogs is nearly deaf). The collars that make a sound definately sound less cruel than the spray ones.

Answer 5

hi yes the crate thing is a good idea , i crate train all my dogs , but dont think it will stop the howling , u should try , goin out ur front door for 5 mins , then go bak in , dont make a fuss ov your dog straigh away, leave him for at least 5 mins , then praise him , u need to do this regular and build the time up by 5 mins each time , for a few day leave him 5 mins , then build up 2 10 mins and so on and so , it sounds like he has seperation anxiety , i have delt with this b4 , hope this helps .

Answer 6

Separation anxiety is common. I have never hear of citronella collars. Here's how my dog whisperer helped my dogs with it. When you have to leave, prepare a Kong chew toy with a few kibbles in it, a smear of peanut butter on the inside rim, and a dog biscuit shoved inside to lock everything in. Give lurcher the Kong as you leave. Everytime you come back, ignore him for 20 minutes. Then pet him and play with him. This strategy teaches him that just because you leave him, it doesn't mean you don't love him, and just because you are there, doesn't mean he gets your full attention. The Kong toy with the treats in it will keep him busy, at least for awhile, and when he finishes licking all the peanut butter out, the feeling that you have deserted him will not be so fresh and sharp. Make sure the Kong is the right size for him so he doesn't swallow it and choke.
Good luck!

Answer 7

I think that everyone can use a good slap every once in a while, and I haven't been slapped in a long time. But, as for the lurcher, I have never heard of the citronella collars. You could try them, I'm sure every thing will get a different result.

Answer 8

I apolagize for not having an actual answer for your problem, except to advise you not to use any form of bark collar. I am personally against them. You can always start over with training. Here's how it goes:
Leave the dog in a room that he is familiar with while you close the door and wait a few minutes, then go back in the room to make sure he hasn't been stressing out over it. Gradually increase the time that he is left alone until he can calmly wait all day for you. If you have to leave for a prolonged time during this training period, move the dog to a different room than the one he's being trained in so that you don't have to start all over again

Answer 9

I have a dog who initially made a huge howling crying ruckus when I left.

Our key weapon in this battle has been distraction. It seems that if we can sufficiently distract him while we're in the process of leaving, when we're actually gone and he finally notices, he doesn't really seem to care that much.

Here's the routine: The dogs are walked about 40 minutes in the AM. Our dogs both get their meals in Kongs. We make the Kongs up the night before with peanutbutter, kibble and a little water to moisten, then freeze them overnight. You don't have to get that elaborate, but you do want something that will keep your dog busy for as long as possible. I'm talking hours here, not minutes.

About 5 minutes before we leave, I get the Kongs out of the freezer and the dogs immediately run into their crates. I leave them with the Kongs, shut their doors and go about my final leaving stages. I brush my teeth, etc.... I don't pay any attention to or talk to the dogs who are happily munching and licking their Kongs, but I am in and out of the room that they're in (our bedroom) several times.

I leave the radio on and finally when we're ready, I just shut the door to the bedroom and leave the house. I don't say goodbye, I don't make a production, I don't even look at them. I just leave.

When I return, I also don't give them much attention at first. I let them out of their crates and take them out to the yard to do their business, but I don't really talk to them that much or love them up until they've pottied and settled down a bit. Then we enjoy or evening together with lots of love and training and exercise.

Just because your dog "distress vocalizes" when you leave doesn't mean your dog has Seperation Anxiety. All dogs will vocalize when they're left alone by their pack. But there are ways that you can train them to understand that when you leave, you always come back, and that you leaving is SO not a big deal at all.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Dogs don't go to the bathroom where they sleep. I have a great dane and he has been crate trained since 4 months...and never any mess. They make them big, but you don't want too big because then they may pee in them in a different area. Does the dog bark the ENTIRE time that your gone or does she stop? Plus when I put my dog in the crate I give him some of his favorite treats so he actually looks forward to it.