Dog barking when i leave the house

A question about : Dog barking when i leave the house

My 18m dog barks constantly as soon as i leave the house and is disturbing the neighbours.

I'm unsure if it is seperation anxiety as she is quite happy left alone in a room by herself while i am in and happily sleeps in the hall downstairs each night.

I try to take her for a long walk when possible before leaving her and i also leave her with a frozen stuffed kong which she usually empties, plus her toys and chews but she ignores these until i get back. I also leave the radio on for her but it makes no difference.

I have reached the point where i might try the citronella bark collar, but it is not really somthing that i am sure is good as it's punishment for barking.

Does anyone have any advice? something else that i can try, i generally try to only leave her when taking the children to school and picking them up which is around half an hour at a time, but sometimes i need to go shopping and am unable to take her with me as i don't have a car to leave her in and she would just bark outside the shop.

Best answers:

• Hmmm, it's a tricky issue to resolve as it can be difficult to understand why she is doing it. One thing I'd say, is definitely don't go down the bark collar route. Much better off going down the positive reinforcement route first, and they can be pretty distressing for dogs which might just set you back further.
  What breed is the dog by the way? Some dogs tend to be more vocal than others which can help gauge the problem.
  Now, I'm not a qualified behaviourist, so if there are any on here, then take their advice over mine. But I would go with the following.
  Step 1 - Start day 1 of with a really, really long walk or heavy exercise. To the point where you know the dog will be really pooped.
  Step 2 - Plan to be able to leave the dog for a short amount of time, leave with the kong. Leave the house and stand outside within earshot for around 10 minutes. If you don't hear any barking, re-enter and give the dog some praise, a treat etc.
  Step 3 - repeat the above as much as possible, and extend the time gradually. The key point here is to try and keep returning back before any barking happens so that the dog learns to break the association with you returning when it barks.
  Key notes: Don't react in any way if you return when the dog is barking. In fact, completely ignore it until it is calm and how you want it to be. By telling it off in any way, you are likely to validate the attention it might want by barking, even if it's in a negative way. Keep praising for coming back in when it is quiet.
  I'd also stress that exercise is likely to be a key factor here. Again, not knowing the breed it's hard to recommend. The key point I've always tried to get to with my boys is that when I go to work, they should be tired enough that they look forward to the time to rest.
  Hope that helps a little.
• Get a neighbour to look after her or drop her off at doggy daycare so she is never alone whilst you work on the issue VERY gradually.
  https://www.dvgrr.org/docs/education-...y.pdf?sfvrsn=2
  Even though she is fine in another room in the house the key thing is she knows you are around somewhere. When she sees you leave that is it to her omg something awful might happen!!!
  Build up her confidence by opening the front door- treat. Open door- treat. Open door- treat. Keep going until she doesn't care about the door being opened.
  Then take a step into the doorway- treat etc again until she doesn't care. Then take a step out of the door, leaving the door open- treat. Then door closed for literally a second.
  This will take weeks/months of hard work.
  Build up the time so you close the door for 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 seconds then minutes.
  You need to do this criteria every day for probably several months to see progress (like I say it is hard work!) and when you have to go out like I say leave her with someone else.
  Luckily it doesn't sound like true separation anxiety but more like separation issues which is less severe. Also consider medication (see a vet behaviourist, not just your regular vet) if you think she needs it there are plenty of options for anxious dogs nowadays
• Thanks for the advice, she is a jack russell x cockerpoo. I got her when she was 15 weeks old and she came from a house with 6 other dogs and her two siblings plus a few cats, i do wonder if this may have something to do with it plus of course the age when she came to live with me.
  I do already leave her with a friend when i'm out for more than 2 hours at the moment, but unfortunately this is not always possible plus it can add an extra half hour journey time to get there.
  I am unable to walk her each morning before the school run, as i don't have the time due to getting the children ready on my own, but take her out around 10am and get home around 11.30am and then go off to pick up my youngest from nursery. I used to walk her round the block a couple of times before picking up my eldest but found it made no difference to her barking.
  She is a very high energy dog, she usually tires out one dog and then moves on to the next at the park, she also doesn't like to play fetch that much, i end up picking up the ball instead of her bringing it to me, which means unless she sees a dog that wants to play she hasn't had a good enough walk.
  She is equally happy moching around at home just as long as i'm there.
• Yeah the JR and have a spaniel in there will give you some high energy.
  Very difficult without seeing the dog, but I'd still be tempted to say exercise may be a the potential solution. Some very good points in pawsies document there, particularly videoing it if you can just to see what triggers it, where she is barking etc. If it seems to be at noises outside, then you may be able to address her territorial response, wheras if it's just general howling for attention, then the posts above are probably a better approach.
  The other thing I thought the document pointed out well, is the potential for getting a second dog I always say two dogs isn't double the effort of 1!
• Thanks, i haven't videoed it but did leave a phone voice recording and its barking and howling pretty much non stop for the half hour i was gone, although i haven't done this when i have left her after she has had a walk will do that tomorrow.
  I have reordered some pet remedy refills instead of the citronella bark collar as i am sure she was a bit calmer for the month or so that i left it plugged in, she certainly wasn't barking howling as much when i got home, now i hear her when i'm walking up the drive.
  At the moment it is just us walking out the door without her that triggers it as i had to take my eldest to the drs and had no time to walk or leave her elsewhere, she didn't even touch her kong this morning.
  I'm going to try the walking out the front door and coming straight back in this evening as it's something i can do straight away and will move on to all the other excercises in the coming days.
• An Adaptil plug in may help too
• A video would be a good way to get some more info on the situation. You may find, for example, that there's an external trigger causing or contributing to the issue.
  I recorded mine when a neighbour told us about hearing barking during the day - it did turn out she had separation anxiety (later found out she had hypothyroidism - which seems to present as anxiety, including contributing to the separation issues) but I did notice some triggers, there was a particular time of day she'd start barking and it turned out it was the time my nan was arriving home (she lives opposite) and Kiki was recognising the car engine. Shutting the windows at the front and keeping the blind closed helped. Also, the postman or any leaflet droppers arriving set both dogs off, and she'd then be unsettled after that. They were things I couldn't stop, but it at least helped me identify a few of her triggers.
  If it is separation anxiety, two books I'd really recommend are Nicole Wilde's "Don't leave me" and Malena DeMartini Price's "Treating separation anxiety in dogs". Both pretty detailed and outline treatment plans, and both pretty reasonably priced as Kindle books.Working with a behaviourist is a good idea too - separation anxiety is a pretty tough thing to deal with by yourself.
• Our golden retriever was similar, he would bark and howl when we were out - it was separation anxiety. About 3 months ago we invested in a Motorola Scout cam - video is streamed to your phone and you receive an alert, like a txt msg, if they make a noise. When he makes a noise we're able to talk to him directly and we've found that on doing this he doesn't make a single peep afterwards, he'll quite happily settle in his bed until we return. Its been hugely successful, whether we leave him for 30 mins or 4 hours. We can take a peek at him whenever we like, check room temperature and play calming music to him if desired. Would highly recommend to anyone, even if only as a way to keep an eye on their behaviour.
• Thanks, i have been lazy in getting the video camera out and charging it, will try this when i leave her after her walk.
• There is a little voice in my head telling me the camera is going o get chewed? put it up high!
• Luckily she is not to much of a chewer, but will prob leave the camera on the stairs as there is a baby gate at the bottom at the moment.
  Krlyr i will take a look at those books you mention.
  Kmr1984 the scout cam sounds interesting bet its expensive, will take look at that to.
  Took her for an hours walk today, she played with her usual dog friends, but as soon as i got home, gave her the kong and left, she was barking and didn't bother with the kong till i got back 25 mins later, haven't had time to set up the camera yet, but it seems as though she has gotten worse as the kong at least distracted her when i left before. Have only had to leave her once today though thankfully.
  Might try something different in the kong tomorrow, to see if i can get her interested again.
  Have started the walking out the door and treating treating, which has gone fine so far, but it may have been because the children were around. When i try later will be the proper test as I'm the only one home this evening.
• If she's used to a Kong, you can extend the time it takes to get through it by freezing it. However, stressed dogs often won't eat, and if it's too challenging she might not want to work through a tougher Kong. You could always stick two Kongs down for now - an easier, unfrozen one, and the tougher one. That way if she's only fancying the unfrozen one, she's at least had something - and can eat the contents of the other Kong later, when it's defrosted.
  Just don't forget to adjust her daily meals to account for the extra food - I made 'light' Kongs for mine when I was using them a lot for the separation issues, by mixing some fish with some blended veggies. Yummy enough to eat, but less calories.
• Also, if this is a sudden change in behaviour, it's well worth a vet check. Mine developed separation issues when we moved house so I assumed it was down to that, but after 6 months of struggling to get solid progress on it, I went to the vet and had bloods done, and we found she had low thyroid levels. Once on medication, her anxiety improved a lot - not a total fix, but it has a massive influence on her behaviour when her thyroid meds need adjusting again.
• It might have something to do with the kong being too frozen as its been in the freezer a couple of days, where as its usually made an hour or 2 before i have to go out.
  Think I'll invest in a large kong next, would be better having 2. I usually just put her normal food in with the occasional treat, will look into other things though as she always seems to get through it quickly.
  Shes always barked but we were unaware until we left her one evening and the neighbor finally complained, wish they had months earlier as it may have been easier to sort it had we known earlier.
• Do you only give her a Kong when she's left? If so, she may associate it with your imminent departure. If this is the case, try feeding her meals in it at other times too to break the negative association. Many dogs won't eat when stressed, so that could also be why it's not touched.
  One of our current dogs has Separation Anxiety and we were advised by the Rescue to alter our behaviour patterns so we didn't give off so many signals that we were leaving. Put your coat on and then sit down again, pick up your keys and then put them down, walk to the door but don't go through it and repeat until you're both bored We were also advised to use a different doors to leave the house with our dog and without him - we left through the front door, he came with us through the back door. As far as he was concerned, the outside was only behind the back door
  We were also advised to completely ignore him for at least 10 minutes when we came home again. No stroking, no eye contact and no treats until he was completely calm and resting on his bed. Only then did we call him over for fuss on our terms
  .
  Your dog may also like the security of a den when left. We had a large covered crate for our boy and he loved it. Dogs are naturally den animals, so they don't all perceive it as being locked up. You don't even have to close the door for many dogs, they just like to have somewhere dark and quiet to retreat to. In fact, if you do decide to try a crate, please don't just shut her in it without taking the time to accustom her to it. Leave it set up with a comfy bed in it and let her find it herself. Feed her treats and/or meals in it and make it a nice place to be.
  Ultimately it's going to take a bit of time and effort to resolve, but please try not to get cross or frustrated with your girl. Dogs don't have an agenda and don't set out to annoy or wind us up. It may be that your girl is one of those dogs that genuinely needs the company of another dog, but you need to be careful you don't simply magnify the problem and end up with two howling, barking dogs! For the last 6 years we've had two dogs and it hasn't made a jot of difference to our first dogs potential anxiety levels. Thankfully, our girl is very relaxed and doesn't mind our leaving at all. Our boy is much better now, so long as we stick to the "rules" and manage him carefully, but 8 years on he still doesn't like being left and has the potential to be noisy and destructive if we're not careful.
  I hope you find a solution for your girl and you're all feeling much happier very soon.
  M x