They won't stop barking! Advice please?

[naakte]

I have a huge problem with my cresteds barking when they are out in their play yard. 20' by 50' (thankfully not the neighbor issue as we live in the country). Cresteds are not yappy by nature, but they are just loud when they play. their dog run is off of their bedroom where they have a doggie door to come and go as they please. I am dealing with another dog issue right now that has kept me from getting proper sleep and frankly for the last few days I have actually hollered at them. yesterday I raised my hands in the air like a gorilla and they stopped barking. My dogs do bark when someone comes to the door and they are in my part of the house with me. I firmly say "Naka Naka" and they do stop. Naka Naka does NOT work when they are in their play yard unless I am in their yard with them. I personally hate shock collars, and i just wont use them, but if I knew where to buy the sonic collar mentioned above me I would give that a go.

If I had neighbors that were complaining about my dogs and it got to the point where I may lose my dogs, and i had explored all possible ways to quiet them, I would consider having them de barked as opposed to losing them. This is an extreme measure that should always be a very last option. I heard a dog that was de barked once and while the dog still barked it was raspy sounding like it had lost its voice. It made me feel very sad.

I have noticed that my dogs have been barkier than normal since my time has been spent on my current crisis. Normally 2 or 3 times a day I "sing" with them, and while writing on this post i realized that I have not done that in 5 whole days. our "singing consists of my holding Helen or Mildred on my lap and telling them to sing (i usually have to tell them 5 or 6 times), which ever is on my lap throws her head back and begins our "sing" only one dog begins to howl and right away all of us (including me) howl for a few minutes. I am working on getting them to stop "singing" with my vocal command, but they have not got the stop command completely. each dog has a different howl and if I was blind I could tell you which dog had which howl.

Donna in Branson

 

[naakte]

Quote:
I responded before reading this entire post.... I L O V E the idea you have of blocking their view. I have never thought of this. it makes sense!!!
Donna in Branson

 

[mekasmom]

I take it these are not LGDs? If not then I would suggest a bark collar. If they are, then you may just have to live with it. That's how they guard.

I have LGDs, and they bark all night everynight. It is just a trait of the GPs. And they don't sleep in bed with us. In fact they are the same size as most humans, so that wouldn't work at all. Barking is just one of the ways they protect their flocks. "Big Dog on duty, stay away. Woof, woof, woof, woof. Big dog on duty, stay away....."

 

[FarmerChick]

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OMG barking dogs at night drive me insane and your neighbors for sure LOL

this part I don't understand. in the kennel at night, is their 'dog house' a crate? A dog doesn't understand "time out" lol

inside...put in garage, in basement, on porch in crate or wherever you can control the situation. loose in a kennel at night is not control for the constant barking and seriously, the neighbor deserves some peace at night and I know you are trying hard to help them with the situation. glad you are one of those concerned and nice neighbors who care that your muttleys do bother others! cool

 

[FarmerChick]

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LOL your opinion on real dogs is just that "yours" and very different than mine.

so many would disagree nowadays with your opinion. many a dog like-- 'blind assistance dogs', dogs that help disabled, dogs that are companions, etc. live in the home and yes they have a job which is wonderful...and can be a couch potatoe too lol
or just plain old pets needed for nothing but friendship/companionship and something to love.

I have the farmer attitude also. all critters should be worth their existence, but sometimes a pet is just that...a pet!
and nothing other than love and friendship is required.

with the 'old world' going away, where everyone lived on a homestead and a dog was a guardian, hunting tool etc. would probably say an indoor dog isn't real....but with society now very different, dogs fit into a new role as companions in a whole new light.

time to accept the new role of dogs and other pets into life as it exists now. and give tolerance to those that view pets as just that...a companion and not required to 'work'.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Crate them inside at night.

 

[Okie Amazon]

The tarp idea is a good one. If they can't see every little shadow passing by, they may be quite a bit quieter. We actually used some plywood on our puppy kennel for that reason. We split a 4x8 sheet and placed it on the sides where they can see the whole yard and it shut them down a whole lot. Now they just bark when the goats taunt them on purpose!

 

[Brindlebtch]

Crate them inside at night. They will continue to bark at night at noises if they can't see anything. I willing to bet the only way you will absolutely get them to stop barking at night is crating them inside at bedtime.

 

[chickened]

There may be no solution here, when raising dogs in the company of other dogs your puppy if allowed to bond with the other dogs which they will over you makes them difficult to train when behavior is an issue. Our dogs prefer to be inside at night and are happier than being outside. They are heelers and german shorthair.

 

[FourPawz]

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If dogs bother neighbors enough, depending on where the person lives the authorities can force the owner to get rid of the dogs. So there is good reason for bringing large, barking dogs indoors when most people are trying to sleep.

My german shepherds come in by 11:00pm because I don't want them driving my neighbors crazy. It's called responsible dog ownership. And, they are right there to greet anyone who breaks in my house at night.