# Separation Anxiety Barking - Spray Collar?



## Wilson94 (Apr 28, 2014)

So my staffy cross has a horrible problem with barking when I'm out from seperation anxiety, and I'm simply not in a great position for him to continue doing this because I live in a flat, and will be going back to uni soon. I currently work at the weekends at 6am, and since the first morning of him waking all the neighbours up a few months ago, I've managed to get someone to stay over to look after him while I'm working. Apart from one instance, where my camera recording failed, so I didn't get to see what he was like, and then the weekend just past as my parents are on holiday.

The Saturday recording failed, but I got the full 9 hours on Sunday, and was glad to see that he only seemed to bark for the first 20 mins before calming down. And it wasn't frantic barking either.

That said, today I nipped to the library for 5 mins, and he was refusing to go in his cage, waiting at the front door. Eventually I enticed him in with a treat, by throwing it in then walking away. But literally as soon as I left the front door he was barking frantically. And you could hear him from outside too! He was still barking when I got back. And I'd had him out for a big long walk just an hour prior to this. The weekends I managed to get a 5 minute run and 10 minute walk perhaps before I left.

I haven't had any of the neighbours complaining to me, although they complained the very first morning to my landlord.

A few poeple have suggested an anti-bark collar. I thought they were cruel but this one gets good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PetSafe-Ant...onella/dp/B00EAPCD92/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Would this work? There's simply no way I can train him barking is not acceptable if he only barks when I'm out. The whole, positive reinforcement thing and trying to get him to like his cage doesn't seem to be working for this problem.

He did spend over a year in kennels after all. He is also due to be neutered. Will that help it at all?

Any ideas?


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Don't punish your dog for a nervous reaction.
That would be like leaving a baby at home alone and when they cried have someone spray burning citrus up their nose. 

Give him more than 5 or 10 minutes of exercise before you go. Leave a tv or a radio or something on, leave him with lots and lots of toys and things to chew. After he's neutered, look into daycare or something for him.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

If it's anxiety, anything unpleasant enough to stop the barking will likely only make the anxiety worse :/. 

Keep working on positive association with the crate (Google "crate games", and work on it when you have time to spare, not just when you're leaving the house). If it seems like the anxiety is bad enough that he just won't be able to calm down on his own, talk to your vet about medication.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Have you worked specifically on getting him to be comfortable in his crate and being alone? Do you ever leave him with something like a stuffed Kong or other treat dispensing toy?

Kikopup has videos for both. You might also check out Susan Garrett's crate games to help him see the crate as a good thing. For separation anxiety, Nicole Wilde, I've heard, has an excellent book. Your dog doesn't sound super stressed - some dogs with severe SA eliminate uncontrollably; destroy doors, windows, curtains, etc.; and harm themselves when left. He just needs a little help so he feels comfortable when you're gone.

There's a basic protocol where you desensitize your dog to every part of your leaving. It's outline towards the bottom of this page: find and control anxiety triggers

Here are some additional resources:
Separation Anxiety Solution: Training Fido That Calm Behavior Makes You Return
Separation Anxiety - Canine Style
Separation Anxiety 101 - Part 1 
Separation Anxiety 101 - Part 2 

An anti-bark collar is likely to make things worse if he's truly anxious when you leave. If he's not anxious, having something unpleasant occur while you're gone may cause him to start feeling fearful or nervous. The collar may stop the barking, but he may express his anxiety in other ways or he may simply shut down and become generally unresponsive.

Neutering is unlikely to help.

Others here have dealt with the same issue and I'm sure they will have plenty of helpful advice.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

If he's only barking for about 20 minutes after you've left before settling down, then he should be okay. 
Screw the collar - you don't need it.
Start training him while you're home. Take him for a big long hour walk, then get a treat and tell him to "go in your house" or whatever you want to call his crate (do not use come, a whistle, any of your recall commands because this WILL jeoprodize their efficiency in an emergency). Walk with him, with a treat in your hand, to his crate when he gets inside, wait for him to turn around, then give him a treat and close the door. 
Walk away and go on your balcony or front step or whatever, bring a book, and wait for the barking to stop - it may take time, but that's what the book is for. When he stops, go in, get a treat, and give him the treat when you let him out of the cage.

This will teach him that the faster he settles down, the sooner you'll be back and he'll get a yummy treat too!


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## Wilson94 (Apr 28, 2014)

So in other words, an anti-bark collar will only help if they are barking for reasons other than anxiety?

I previously fed him in his cage, but haven't been doing that recently. His water's there, and he also had a stuffed kong, but he doesn't always seem to bother about that. Maybe he's given up?

I was gaving him run of the living room recently while I've been out, if I've needed to go to the shops or what not. But somehow I feel that makes it worse, because he barks most of the time and waits at the door, and doesn't settle for long. He also nabbed the fish food and last time managed to jump from the couch onto the top of his cage. (It was covered with a blanket, but still surprised his legs didn't fall through). I know this from the recordings I took whilst I was out.

Do you think the 5-10 min run is a good idea in that case as oppose to a 10 min walk? I might try it a bit more.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

I think you need a longer walk in general... I take my medium-sized bulldog for 3, 1 hour long walks everyday. 10 minutes is not long enough, you need to stretch it to at least 30-45 minutes. 

Crate is the best option, keeps him safe while you're out, find a treat he values highly and use that to reward him for going to his crate and again for being calm inside the crate. 

Anti-bark collars are a silly invention and altogether unnecessary. Don't want a dog that barks? teach a 'quiet' cue rather than squirting him in the face.


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## WonderBreadDots (Jun 26, 2012)

Everyone has given wonderful advice so far. 

When you leave the dog alone, how do you leave? Just walk out the door, or continuously reassure the that you will be back prior to leaving?


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

20 minutes of barking really is not that much. His SA sounds very manageable. I would up the exercise and practice leaving when you are there. (going in an out of door, increasing the amount of time before you come in, treating if he's quiet). I would only recommend a spray collar if you were afraid of being kicked out, but it doesn't sound like you're in that situation. Perhaps you could send out a note to everyone in your building explaining that you are working on his barking.

Also, ignore him before you leave (don't talk to or pet him 10-20 min). when you come home do not give him attention for approx. 10 min.


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## Wilson94 (Apr 28, 2014)

BostonBullMama said:


> I think you need a longer walk in general... I take my medium-sized bulldog for 3, 1 hour long walks everyday. 10 minutes is not long enough, you need to stretch it to at least 30-45 minutes.
> 
> Crate is the best option, keeps him safe while you're out, find a treat he values highly and use that to reward him for going to his crate and again for being calm inside the crate.
> 
> Anti-bark collars are a silly invention and altogether unnecessary. Don't want a dog that barks? teach a 'quiet' cue rather than squirting him in the face.


I take him for 45 minute walks every day. But I can't take him for 45 min walks at 4am, or every time before I go out the house, because A) It's not practical. B) I don't have that much time on my hands. So basically he gets a 45 minute walk, usually in the morning or immediately when I get back from work, and up to 3 or 4 10 minute walks throughout the day because I live in a flat and there is no garden for him. So essentially he's getting between 65 and 85 minutes walk per day.

A "quiet" cue isn't going to help me, because he only barks when I am out of the house.



WonderBreadDots said:


> Everyone has given wonderful advice so far.
> 
> When you leave the dog alone, how do you leave? Just walk out the door, or continuously reassure the that you will be back prior to leaving?


Like any first time dog owner (apart from family dogs anyway), I started by doing the reassuring thing, but I have since stopped, and tried to get him distracted with the kong and having the TV on, then slipping out the door. My recordings once showed him not to realise me leaving, but after he finished his kong he was barking like mad.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

I'd work on the desensitizing to your leaving more than anything. Others have already posted helpful links. 

A friend tried a spray bark collar on her dog with separation anxiety. He barked every last spray out of it, and was even worse off than before. Don't do it.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

never used one,, but first hand seen the results over 6 months of a gal who post on face book.. If she would just look at the first pictures she took when the pup arrived happy happy pup ,, now it seems the pup is always curled up somewhere with it's head tucked away.. ????? guess it works for the barking and much more...


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

ForTheLoveOfDogs said:


> A friend tried a spray bark collar on her dog with separation anxiety. He barked every last spray out of it, and was even worse off than before. Don't do it.


We tried one on Caeda once. She's never been a SA dog....she is an alert barker, which she did a TON, especially when she was younger. The spray made her angry it seemed, so she barked at it....so it sprayed, so she barked at it. Yeah, not cool. 

I agree, anything negative would be awful for a dog with SA......just some armchair theorizing here but I'd think it would make things worse because not only are you gone but bad things happen when you are gone! Barking might stop, but it would make a mess of the dog!

The other links and suggestions you have gotten are great, and 20 minutes isn't so bad (though yeah....in a flat it could still be a problem!). If you decide you want to try to use any kind of "gadget" or any such thing, the only kind of thing I might suggest is one of those calming pheromone collars, they seemed to help one of the fosters a bit when he was getting settled in, though it didn't affect Caeda at all when we were taking car trips.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

I used a citronella collar on my dog years ago and it was extremely effective. I wouldn't use it on a soft dog or one that was barking out of anxiety or loneliness, though. My dog is made of truck, and barks because she is naturally yappy as heck. I had taught her to hush on command, but as you've discovered that only works if you're there to give the command. Her barking when I wasn't home was risking costing me my tenancy, so I had to do what I had to do, and the collar did its job quickly, stopping the barking without shutting the dog down at all. For her it was only mildly aversive, more like it just interrupted her monologue and reminded her, "oh, yeah, I'm not allowed to yap incessantly." 

Given the way the dog is made and the collar was made I don't think it would have been physically possible to get the spray in her eyes, nose or mouth.

I certainly don't think they're for all dogs or all situations but they're also not this monstrous thing.


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## RosieLove (Jul 13, 2014)

How are you doing with this issue? I'm working through the same thing with my dog, as well. I'm not ready to label her as having "separation anxiety" because 
1) her only behavior is barking, not destruction, urinating, excessive panting, etc.
2) she will eventually settle herself, and
3) she WILL do her barking thing on other occasions when there's something she wants but can't get to. (IE, if we have bread cooling on top of the microwave.) 

What's working for us is 
a) crate games, crate games, crate games! We do this every day for breakfast and sometimes throughout the day. 
b) alone time in the crate. She used to bark quite a bit even if we were just in the next room; now she settles herself down. 
c) NOT being frantic about putting her in the crate. When practicing absences with Rosie, I put her in the crate and quietly do something else in the room for 10-15 minutes, until she's settled in a bit. 
d) practicing absences. Used to be just moving to another room, now it's moving outside the house. We are now up to me being outside the door for a minute and she won't make a peep. When I come back in, I ignore her for a little, then, if she is still calm in her crate (sitting/lying down) I give her a treat and quiet praise. If I'm doing multiple absences, I don't let her in/out of the crate in between -- it gets her too riled up. (This is essentially the usual desensitization process for separation anxiety, but since this isn't true/severe SA, we can move through the times a bit quicker.)

We have the issue where a Kong will distract her but then she'll just bark when it's empty, too, so I'm not going to start adding the Kong until she can be quiet for a short absences (15 minutes); then I'll add the Kong and take it away when I return.


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## Wilson94 (Apr 28, 2014)

RosieLove said:


> How are you doing with this issue? I'm working through the same thing with my dog, as well. I'm not ready to label her as having "separation anxiety" because
> 1) her only behavior is barking, not destruction, urinating, excessive panting, etc.
> 2) she will eventually settle herself, and
> 3) she WILL do her barking thing on other occasions when there's something she wants but can't get to. (IE, if we have bread cooling on top of the microwave.)
> ...


Hey,

My dog's still barking for around 20 mins before quietening down. It's progress I guess. Much better than the 5 hours he was barking initially. It's not ideal if he's barking at half 5 in the morning though, but hopefully I won't have early shifts for much longer..

My dog only barks too. He was jumping from the couch to the top of his cage when I let him roam the living room, but I've since confined him to the cage again when I'm out. It actually seems to help him quieten down. He seemed to constantly howl and stroll around the room and wait at the front door when I was out.

What sort of crate games do you do? I've never heard of them. Sounds interesting though.

I've got the same issue with my dog and his Kong. OR sometimes he won't even bother with his kong (and even loose chews I give to him) until I come back. He sometimes goes and brings them out of his cage when I get back then devours them within a few minutes.

Also for the people saying not to use a spray collar for anxiety, I totally understand that. I wasn't wanting to use one anyway - but I felt I was getting to the stage of not knowing what else to do.


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## RosieLove (Jul 13, 2014)

This is the video I was given as an introduction to crate games. I also have Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD, that Cookieface linked to her in her post, which is fun and has some things I enjoy doing with Rosie, but is a bit more geared toward agility dogs. 

For the first couple days I did crate games, I hand fed both of Rosie's meals and did it all in the crate. She now RACES into the crate at meal times and bed time.

The fact that he won't eat when you're gone makes it sound like it *might* be true anxiety? If mild. You could try getting a special Kong or chew that he only gets in the crate. Try giving it to him in the crate, leaving for a little (even if it's just 30 seconds - come back before he starts barking) and coming back. Take the Kong away (you could even take the Kong away but leave him in his crate -- just sit by him and do something else quietly.) He'll probably want the Kong, now that you're around -- so give it back and leave immediately. He might realize "hey, I better get to this Kong while he's gone or it's going away!" and start to associate your leaving with something positive. 

Every dog with these issues seems to be a little different. Once you find something that seems like it might be starting to work, even marginally, stick with it! Today Rosie lay quietly in her crate for five minutes while I sat on my porch, and I can't tell you how excited I was!


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