Barking dog is driving me crazy...please help.?

Question

If we try to leave our 15 month old Cocker Spaniel, she holds us hostage in our home with her constant barking. Before we moved 1700 miles away her separation anxiety seemed manageable. We were told by our neighbor in the old apartment building that she barked for a few minutes upon our departure. No one else there mentioned it or complained. Compounding the problem is that we are retired so our dog did not grow up experiencing daily periods of alone time. It is our own fault. We created a monster.
Angel barks immediately upon our departure. Our neighbors have no tolerance because sound travels here. We have been following Cesar Millan's “pack leader” way for 3 weeks. All the the trainers (too expensive) in the area say that obedience won't solve our drastic situation. Many of them suggest bark collars. Any ideas are appreciated.

Answer 1

I have no experience with bark-collars, but I believe that they don't recommend leaving it on when the dog is alone sooo...

I had a dog with severe seperation anxiety who chewed through walls in my apartment so I did a lot of research. Sadly, I wasn't able to fix it before he became aggressive towards me so I had to give him up. :(

Here are some tips you may be able to use...

Try to make your arrivals and departures very boring and low-key. Don't make a big fuss over saying hello and goodbye. Be very casual and up-beat.

Get your dog used to your getting-ready-to-leave cues, like picking up keys and jacket. Go through these actions repeatedly during the time when you're staying home, without actually leaving. If your dog has already learned to associate his fears with your depature cues, it will take a lot of repetitions before the dog will get it.

Give your dog more exercise. A tired dog is a good dog! A dog can sleep most of the day if he's tired enough. Most young dogs could use 20-100 minutes of full-speed running per day. Increase your dog's exercise. Don't forget mental exercise, like training, exploring new places, encountering new smells, and social interaction with other dogs. Taking your dog to a park where he can run and play with others may be crucial. (Find dog parks around San Jose here.)

Give your dog something to do while you're gone! What does your dog do all day? Wait around for you to come home? Give your dog an hobby. Jean Donaldson calls the solution to a lot of dog problems "work-to-eat" programs. Stuff a Kong or a hollow prepared bone, fill up a Buster Cube or Roll-A-Treat, scatter the dog's food in the grass or hide several chew treats around the house (see the Merchandise page for a description of some of these items). A dog that is working for goodies is not barking or chewing, and a dog that is eating is not very stressed!

Consider crating your dog. Some dogs are more comfortable when confined to a small "den". Make sure your dog can "hold it" for as long as you need him to, and provide plenty of exercise so that his main activity in the crate is sleeping. You might just want to consider leaving your dog in one room (rather than giving him the run of the house), and maybe leaving a radio on and an article of clothing that smells like you in the next room. Warning: Some dogs are a lot less comfortable confined to a crate when alone. Make sure your dog is comfortable and secure.

Consider taking your dog to doggie daycare or to a friend's house (or to work), so that he is not actually alone, while you train your dog to deal with being alone. Remember, dogs are pack animals that want to be with others; being a "lone wolf" can be dangerous in the wild, as well as lonely. Note that for many dogs who have bonded strongly with people, having another dog (or other pet) around will not be sufficient.

Desensitize Your Dog To Your Getting-Ready-To-Go Cues

Figure out what begins your dog's anxiety. Is it when you put on your work shoes? Brush your hair? Pick up your keys? Find the earliest item in your getting-ready-to-go sequence that makes your dog anxious. Then practice doing that action, over and over again, until your dog is no longer anxious about it. For example, put on your work shoes, then take them off, then put them on again, over and over. You don't need to talk to your dog or do anything else special. Act just like you do every morning when you put on those shoes. When your dog is no longer anxious when you put on your shoes, move to the next step in your normal morning sequence; perhaps brushing your hair. (Note that if your dog's anxiety does not decrease after several repetitions, you are probably not working on the first item in your getting-ready-to-go sequence, and you'll need to back up).

You will have to spend a LOT of time with the early items in your getting-ready-to-go sequence, but as your dog learns to deal with this sort of thing, it will get easier. Opening up the front door (presumably the last item in your getting-ready-to-go sequence) will take fewer repetitions than the first item (putting on work shoes, in this example).

Practice Short-Enough Absences

When you've worked through your whole getting-ready-to-go sequence and your dog is no longer anxious, you're ready for your first absence session. Up to now, your dog with separation anxiety has associated absences with intense anxiety. The dog has to know learn to associate absences with a lack of anxiety, or calmness. You and the dog will practice being apart from each other for very short lengths of time - the time that your dog can handle - and you will gradually practice longer and longer lengths.

So you've gone through your whole getting-ready-to-go sequence, and your dog is not yet anxious (if your dog is anxious, you are not ready to do any absences. Go over repeating the sequence items until your dog is calm about them). Now you're ready for your first very short absence. Walk out the door, shut it behind you, lock it, and then turn around, unlock it, and come back in. Don't make a fuss over the dog. Repeat. When your dog is not anxious, lengthen your absence to 2 seconds. Repeat until your dog is not anxious. Lengthen your absences to 3 seconds, with occasional 1-second absences. Repeat until your dog is not anxious. Continue with this process, gradually increasing the length of time you are gone, until the dog is alone for longer than your normal absence. (Yes, that means you will NOT be able to really leave the dog alone for longer than you've successfully practiced. Hire a dog sitter.)

It might help to set up some cues that the dog will not be alone for longer than he can handle, in other words, that this is just a practice session. Do you normally leave the radio or TV on when you're home? If you do, the silence when you're gone is a good indicator that the dog is alone. During this training, set up a cue that says "this is just a practice", such as the sound of the radio or a Mozart CD that you leave on "repeat" on the CD player. When you really do leave, you will continue to play this same cue - the dog will always believe that this is just a practice session.

Note: Some medications, such as Clomicalm or amitryptalline, may help your dog get over his anxiety. However, these may take a few weeks to take effect, so you will need to make sure the medications are in effect before you try to use them in combination with the desensitization. The medications will not work in the long-term without the desensitization/counter-conditioning work - the process of teaching the dog how to deal with being left alone.

Homeopathic remedies like the Bach Flower Essence mix "Rescue Remedy", may also help calm a very anxious dog during training. You should talk to your vet (traditional or holistic) about using these items to help. Visit the Alternative Veterinary Medicine webpage to find a holistic vet near you.

Answer 2

At least you accept responsibilty. You also created the separation anxiety.. When you leave the house, don't make a huge sucky fuss about leaving... Sit quietly in the chair and think calm thoughts. When you and the dog are calm and relaxed, quietly get up, don't even look at the dog, and walk out the door. The more relaxed she is when you leave, the more relaxed you are the less likely she is going to be all anxious about you leaving. Dogs read our feelings, and if you are upset about leaving, you leave her with that final thought as you go. She thinks about nothing other than how upset you were when you left and hasn't a clue why.
Get the bark collar, and a couple of harmless shocks and she will stop barking, and you can leave the collar on her w/o a battery eventually. Just the collar itself will remind her not to bark.

Answer 3

My dogs both suffer from separation anxiety. I work from home so they are rarely alone. I went to get the mail and my American Bulldog would rip the blinds from the windows trying to get to me. My Cairn Terrier would bark crazily the entire time I was out of the house.

The most simple way I found to correct the behavior was the kennel training. I'm not sure why or how it works, but it does. I started with training when I was at home and just needed to get things done. I would put a stuffed toy in each kennel that was their "kennel toy". Then I would leave the house for short periods of time. Eventually they got to the point that when they saw me put my shoes on, they would go to the kennels. I think I would try this method before resorting to a bark collar.

Answer 4

You should'nt have to put up with this. Have any other neighbours complained. This would drive me mad and something must be done. I can understand that you are reluctant to complain as your neighbour seems like the kind of person (like many these days) that gets off on annoying people, and it may start more aggravation. Also its not good for the dog. Find out if any others are being affected by this and get together as a group and report it to the Noise Abatement Society. The RSPCA probably won't do anything as they don't normally act unless an animal is being starved or beaten. I really feel for you. I wish you luck and Peace and quiet.

Answer 5

Your dog is used to being around you all the time. Dogs are pack animals, so try taking her places she can go, too: dog runs, long walks, rides in the car, that kind of thing. Try getting her a friend so she's not alone: it doesn't have to be another dog. It can be a stuffed toy, as long as it's something that's hers alone. If that doesn't work, try getting her a live friend. She should settle down pretty quickly.

I'd only use a bark collar as a last resort.

Good luck, and I hope that helps.

Answer 6

I don't know if this will work in your situation, but it worked for ours. Our dog suffered sever separation anxiety. She barked and chewed up everything while we were away. We bought her a travel kennel and put it in the living room. We left it open for a few days and put treats in there so she would go inside. After a few days it became her favorite place to sleep. We then closed the door for a few minutes while we were in sight, then closed her inside while we left the room. Now anytime we leave we put her in the kennel. She seems to feel safer in there, not having the whole house to protect. We don't hear any more barking and nothing gets chewed up. She is happy when we let her out, and is quick to obey when we say "kennel up!"
Good luck.

Answer 7

Sounds like a job for the vet. Drugs like Clomicalm or Xanax may help. It sounds like the move has really stressed her out. You also may need to change your routine before you leave the house. She seems to be picking up on your cues, like the keys jingling and shoes being put on. You can start to get her used to you doing things like that and not leaving. That will make her eventually forget them as bad signs. Also be careful about how you treat her when you return home. Don't let her get too excited about your return. Ignore her until she calms down and then give her attention. I really think the vet should get in on this though, she could potentially hurt herself, or you.

Answer 8

You can always try positie reinforcment. Through treats and affection, the monster will become a sweetheart. A dog can get over being barked at, but a treat, a dog can never resist!

Answer 9

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Answer 10

there are bark collars that vibriate, so then you are not hurting your dog, just kinda freaking them out. Then there is the shock collar, but I sugest getting one that has an adjustment on it to high and low voltage....but i would try the vibrating one first...good luck...

Answer 11

Shock collar. You buy it at Walmart.