~9 y/o small dog barks like crazy when I'm not home, and my neighbors are upset

[carmensvineyard]

I need advice, folks. My dog will not stop barking when I'm not home, and seeing as I work nights, my neighbors don't appreciate it. I figured he would get used to the place and settle down after he sees me repeatedly come and go, but no such luck. I've tried treats with Thiamine and L-Tryptophan using the maximum dose the packaging recommends for his weight (~25lbs). I've tried repeated coming and going for 5-10 minutes at a time on my days off, but that doesn't seem to be helping. (I'm out of sight from him when I do this)

My landlord texted me tonight saying he's had multiple complaints from neighbors and while I was on my break at work, I ordered a vibration/shock collar from Chewy. Partially just scared of getting kicked out, partially because I don't really know what else to do and it seems I'm running out of time here. He just barks at EVERYTHING when I'm not home. He barks at everything when I AM home, but I'm there to calm him down. (I generally play with him or, if I'm in bed, just pet him 'till he calms down) I don't want to use the shock part of the collar if I don't have to, but I feel like nothing is doing any good. I'm hoping the vibration portion of it does something, but if I'm being honest, I don't really expect it to.

I'm almost certain I'm doing something wrong or not doing something I should. I've had dogs my whole life, but I've never lived in an apartment, so I've never had to deal with this problem head-on. All my other dogs just sort of got used to it eventually, but I don't think I have the luxury of "eventually" here.

 

[sonas]

@carmensvineyard ‘Calming’ them through the barking is just reinforcing the bad behavior.

I think the bark-collar is going to be the fix you need for now.

 

[carmensvineyard]

@sonas Hey thanks! So, how do I do it right? It definitely makes sense why he hasn't stopped then, but while I am home, I plan to definitely keep the bark collar off, so I'd like to properly train him to eventually not need it at all (obviously). What should I be doing instead?

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@carmensvineyard Hi, I also use a bark collar with my dogs. I hate it, but they actually sleep in their crates now instead of barking the whole time I'm gone, so I guess it's good :/

I'm not happy with the way I trained it, so I'll keep an eye out for tips, but I did want to let you know my expirience with brands.

I used a sport dog collar first, and I hated it. The first level was really high (like a 25 on a micro educator) and it wasn't sensitive enough for my dogs.

Then I used the Garmin Barklimiter 2VT which I really liked. It only has tone and vibration, so no "spikes" so you can leave it on your dog 24/7 like a normal collar. It also connects to your phone, so you can see exactly how much your dog is barking when you aren't there, and you turn it on through the app, so there is no fiddling with the collar. The only down side was that vibration was only enough for one of my three dogs. Ironically, my biggest dog (12 lbs) was the most sensitive to the vibration, and my smallest dog (8lbs) was the least sensitive.

Moving on to the collar I use now: The garmin barklimiter deluxe (I bought both collars from gundog supply, so I can vouch for them, but I couldn't find the VT on their site). This collar works for me. If you are facing eviction/rehoming your dog, this is the collar I reccomend. The lowest stim level is a lot milder than the sport dog collar, and it is sensitive enough to keep my dogs quiet. This one doesn't connect to my phone, so I don't know exactly how much my dogs are barking, but they don't bark at all when I am in the other room. It has a setting to advance from the lowest stim up, but if I could change one thing, I would have it go vibrate-stim 1- stim 2 and so on. That way it would condition my dogs to have a warning vibrate, and I could switch them back to the vt when they learn. However, given how expensive they are, I'm not going to try out other brands when I found one that works well enough.

Good luck!

 

[sayalittleprayer]

@carmensvineyard Part of the problem is the dog doesn’t know an alternative behavior instead of barking. And barking is actually quite self re-enforcing for it’s own sake, hence why it continues.

Teach Quiet and Speak, then use quiet to actually ask for quiet. Video has more details:

I agree the bark collar is a short term fix, but there’s training that should also be done in the long run.

Also, you might be working in too large of increments for leaving him alone. Start and reward even smaller, 30 seconds, 5 seconds, maybe even shorter times of alone time. You have to establish a pattern of behavior in a tiny increment before it can be used in any larger increment.

Final note: you might want to crate/pen up while you are gone to give the dog less to bark at?

 

[jerryj]

@carmensvineyard Hi, did you ever find a solution to your problem? My roommates and neighbors complain about my 8 year old barking while I'm away and I work two jobs and can't afford to move.

 

[loveyoulord]

@carmensvineyard Is he in a crate? If he's crate trained, try keeping him in there with a blanket over the crate. It might feel like a cozy den to him where he doesn't need to stress about whatever is making him bark. My dogs will bark at everything they hear outside, but when they're crated they are completely chill.

Also, don't worry about using the electrical stim on your bark collar. Most dogs figure it out pretty quickly and won't get zapped after the first day or so.

 

[carieinney]

@carmensvineyard Just a tip, Petting him and playing with him every time he has a barking fit is just going to make him bark more, you are accidentally rewarding the behavior you’re trying to stop. The bark collar sounds like a good idea. Make sure it is on tight enough to make good contact with his skin.

 

[bojan]

@carmensvineyard What are his triggers for barking when you're home? Is it things he sees? Smells? Hears?

Does the barking appear to be similar when you leave? Or is it because you're gone?

For many dogs in apartments that bark at external triggers, I recommend that when you're not home, you crate your dog in the most isolated room and then have noise masking going - I usually suggest cheap box fans, or if your bathroom has a noisy vent fan that often works well too. That way the external triggers are mostly absent.

However, if your dog barks when you're gone because you're gone, that's a different matter. That primarily points to separation anxiety and I would recommend getting a formal training protocol for that going.

 

[carmensvineyard]

@bojan When I'm home, it's external triggers. 99% of them being him hearing neighbors walking around, cars in the parking lot, etc. These barks generally seem at least somewhat relaxed in nature compared to when I leave - Those barks sound much more "urgent" to my ears. Does that make sense? When I noticed this, I immediately called my vet and asked what to do. Ended up buying ~$90 in medicated treats that I described in the OP because I KNEW this would be a problem, I just had no idea how to fix it. After a week or two of these treats not doing anything, I called them back and they basically said a bark collar was probably the only option. Not only was I EXTREMELY reluctant to accept that answer, they didn't have any in stock anyways, so I suppose it was easy to just hope it fixed itself once he got more acquainted with the place and me coming and going. In hindsight, it wasn't the best decision for anyone involved, but here we are.

What are you suggesting when you mention a formal training protocol? I'm not above asking for help, nor am I too proud to pay a professional trainer (If that's what you mean), but I don't really have one in my area. None that I've found, anyway.

 

[bojan]

@carmensvineyard You mentioned doing the leaving for 10 minutes or so, but that wasn't helping. A better option would be a protocol like one outlined in books like Be Right Back. https://www.amazon.com/Be-Right-Back-Overcome-Separation-ebook/dp/B081Y9XFXF

Additionally, separation anxiety is a thing that a lot of trainers do virtually. Melina Demartini-price is really the leader with separation anxiety, and she has a certification that people can get to train dogs with separation anxiety.

https://malenademartini.com/for-owners/separation-anxiety-training-programs/

Also on the website is "mission possible" which is a training protocol.

 

[leathamoll]

@carmensvineyard As others have mentioned, you are rewarding the dog for barking when you "calm it down" or pet it. Stop doing this immediately.

When you are home and the dog starts barking, into the crate until a calm state of mind has been reached. I would decrease privileges like furniture time during this process as well. Eventually, the dog should see the crate as a safe and calm space and using the crate while you are gone should result in less barking. Using the collar during this process could be beneficial in helping the dog realize that they should be calm and quiet in the kennel.