# Help - My dogs barking all day and driving my upstairs neighbor crazy



## Rufusmom (Jan 15, 2010)

I need help with my dog's barking while we are gone. When we are home he is the best dog ever, well behaved and super smart and never ever makes a sound. Once we leave for work he barks non stop not to mention destroys everything in sight. We live on the main floor of a 2 family home and my upstairs neighbor works nights and is not happy. We have tried leaving marrow bones out he dosent even touch them until we get home, he dosen't play with toys and dosent like kongs, we have tried kenneling him, leaving him in a room, leaving him the run of the house. We have tried every anti anxiety product on the market, leaving the radio on, we bought him a cd that was supposed to be made just for dogs with anxiety issues, pharamons, behaviourlists, obiedience school. We have read every book and followed every rule for behaviour modification that we could find. We switched him to a raw meat diet and the anxiety had decreased a bit mosty in regards to visitors in the house but he is still barking when we leave. I don't want to have to get rid of him but will be forced to if he dosent stop barking all day long. I am a first time dog owner and don't know what else to do. 

We are considering 2 other options, 

1. Citronella anti bark collars but are concerned that this is cruel, also our behaviourlist mentioned that because he is so smart he may just bark till it runs out
2. getting another dog but are concerned that we will end up with 2 dogs barking all day


If anyone has any other ideas please help! This is costing us a small fortune and I love my dog to death and can't bare the thought of loosing him.


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## GypsyJazmine (Nov 27, 2009)

How much exercise is he getting?...You need to wear him out before you leave him...A tired dog is a good dog!
As far as him tearing things up, it is up to you to manage his surroundings by putting things where he can't get him & limiting the areas he has access to.
Lastly, getting another dog is NOT the answer...You will then have two dogs who need trained & may very well learn bad habits from each other...It is never a good idea to add another dog until you have the one you have under control!
Good luck!


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

I selected no, however I do think that they should only be used after many othr things have alread been tryed. firstly how much excersize does he get?


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## pamperedpups (Dec 7, 2006)

I'll echo the previous advice NOT to get another dog, for now. You really need to address your current dog's undesirable behavior first. With that in mind, have you given much thought as to WHY your dog is barking? Is she alert barking? Barking out of boredom? Anxiety? Remember that barking is communication. What is your dog trying to tell you? What is her daily schedule like? What do you give her to do while you are away? What do you do with your dog when you are home? What haven't you tried yet? Doggy daycare? A dog walker? Training classes? How long did you try the other things?

As for the citronella collar... like anything else, YOUR DOG is the one who gets to decide if it's punishing, or not. Some dogs will be completely unaffected by it while others will completely shut down.


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## Alex927 (Nov 2, 2009)

I didn't vote at all only because I'm assuming that you haven't explored other options yet.

I'm having a similar problem but I live in a detached house so no one complains.

I just dont like the idea of my dog being anxious all day.

I think OP and I need to work on some serious desensitization, assuming OP exercises their dogs as much as I already do. The citronella spray is kind of a quick fix type thing and the type of results you're looking for aren't even guaranteed.


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## Rufusmom (Jan 15, 2010)

The dog is definatally barking from anxiety. I get up at five am and take him for at least an hour walk, he goes on 3-4 walks a day (min of 2 hours a day) and to the off leash dog park once a week for four or five hours (untill he is tired of running). My partner is verry active as well and takes him for a run a few times a week. We go hiking and for bike rides with him often. The dog never seems tired though, we have taken him for all day hikes before and he still has energy when we get back. 

We tried to have a friend come over and hang out with him during the day but my friend said that all he does is whine and growl at him and wont let him near him. When he is stressed he also pants non stop, he licks things or chews his legs.

He was a rescue dog and was kenneled for almost five months, before that he was found as a stray. He wouldnt even walk when they found him and had to have 2 surgaries on his eyes so he has been though alot. When we first got him he wouldnt walk up staris, sit or lay down, he wouldnt eat for a week. It took a few weeks before he would walk up stairs, and at least a month before he stoped panting constantally. It took about three months of working with him and hard behaviour modification before he became the dog he is now. Considering all of this he is doing really well. He is playfull and friendly and verry obiedient so long as we are arround. 

We took a six week obiedience class and he did really well. He was the star of the class. We also saw a behaviourlist, who taught us things like not making a big deal of coming or going and making sure he walks good on a leash. He listens really well when we are there so its not an alfa dog problem. I dont think he is alert barking either because he never ever barks when we are at home. He dosent make a sound when we are home. I really just think he is tramatized from all he has been though.

We tried doggy day care for about a month but again he just growled and whined the whole time and was verry stressed out. We couldnt afford to keep that up either becasue it was $200/week. We have tried leaving some home videos of me and my partner on during the day, hoping that hearing our voices would keep him calm (this actually made things way worse) We even got 2 way walkie talkies with a really long range that are voice activated so that we can hear him bark and try to talk to him during the day we tried this for a few days but after a while he just started ignoring it. This helped for a little while, when he heard our voices he calmed down for about 10 -15 min but probally just trying to figure out where its coming from. On the weekend we will try standing outside or walking around the block to get him used to us leaving. We cant get past 20 min or so though before he starts barking. We have been doing this for almost 3 months with no improvement. 

I will heed the advise about a second dog, but may try the bark collar as I think we have exhausted all of our other options. If this dosent work I suppose moving is an option as well. I would probally move before I would get rid of my dog.


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## Rufusmom (Jan 15, 2010)

GypsyJazmine said:


> How much exercise is he getting?...You need to wear him out before you leave him...A tired dog is a good dog!
> As far as him tearing things up, it is up to you to manage his surroundings by putting things where he can't get him & limiting the areas he has access to.
> Lastly, getting another dog is NOT the answer...You will then have two dogs who need trained & may very well learn bad habits from each other...It is never a good idea to add another dog until you have the one you have under control!
> Good luck!


We really try to manage his enviroment, we put everything away but he has taken to chewing up funiture. He has already destroyed all the blinds in the house so we dont really care about those. We leave him chew toys but he ignores them. He chewed a leg off a wooden chair the other day. I am also worried that he will chew his legs if there is nothing else to get at to relieve his stress (he does this sometimes)


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

I would talk to a vet about anxiety medication. If your dog is this anxious, a citronella collar could make it worse. Give the vet a call and see what he/she can offer.


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