Barking, Incessant Barking!
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| It could be separation anxiety. My Maggie barks and acts frantic if I leave her loose in the house when I leave but she is quiet if I put her in her crate. Have you tried a crate? With a blanket, a toy and a treat, it can make them feel very safe and secure. . . |
| she's actually worse when crated, unfortunately. |
| She does have separation anxiety, unfortunately. My advice to you would be to stay consistent with your training method.
Practice leaving! Do not make a big deal out of it when you leave her or when you come home. When you come home, don't look at her, don't talk to her as is she wasn't even there, no matter what she does until she calms down or at least for 5 minutes! Same thing when you leave her. First, leave for a minute, then 5 min., 10 min., half an hour, etc. Give her a Kong filled with treats. You can teach her the "Speak" command. I know it sounds weird but you can reinforce her to bark and when she does say "Good girl, bark" and treat her. She will think you are crazy.  But this way you can also teach her "Quiet".
I also think you should practice the Leadership Exercise and General Rules for Dogs with her. It is obvious that she is worried about her pack (when you or your husband leaves the house). In her eyes, she is responsible for both of you and she can't do anything to stop you leaving the house. She doesn't know what will happen to you while you are not under her supervision. Bark collar might stop the barking but she still will panic and live a stressful life. You and your husband needs to take over her responsibility and lead her life. She will be a calm and relaxed dog then. |
| Our Murphy used to have similar issues
Actually, issues that had landed him with us being his third home He was afraid of being left, Murphy was even a biter when he didn't want to do something So....thinking what do you do?? I have to say that taking Murphy to obedience classes has made him a very secure dog! You form a bond that a little seperation is going to be "understandable" for the dog He goes to classes 3 nights a week(you dont have to go that often but, Murphy and his Dad choose to) Even in his first session he turned into a very trusting and loving companion. How old is your sheepie?? Have you tried a Kong when you leave??(toy filled with treats) One more thing you may try is just leaving for a few minutes at a time...come back in and pay no immediate attention (like it wasnt a huge deal you were gone) I am not a trainer, just my thoughts You have certainly come to the right place for advice Good Luck! Kathy |
| That was a copy of previous advice....sorry
I think we were posting at the same time! |
| I agree with everything said. We always crate Tucker when we leave (we don't trust him out when we aren't home). When he was young he was fine with it, then went through a period where he would stress-bark when he realized we were leaving. BUT as soon as we turned on the radio quite loudly when we're out, he's a perfect angel!! Something to try for sure!!! |
| We have taken her to advanced obediance training and she did very well. However, she requires constant vigillance. I have tried leaving for short spurts and coming back. I pay her no attention when entering/leaving (because I know this will make things worse). The only thing that even remotely helps is if we make her lay down and stay when we leave, this will keep her at bay until we lock the deadbolt at which point she gets up to bark. We have taken turns leaving and having the other stay inside to "enforce" the stay command but this doesn't translate to when we both leave. We have a second dog who couldn't care less when we go but because of food aggression issues prevents us from leaving out toys and treats when we aren't around to supervise. The only thing that has ever kept her from barking when we leave is if she is busy eating her breakfast. |
| Do you know how long she barks for? Like is it just for a minute or two (or 5) when you leave or is it the entire time you're gone? For us, Barney wasn't really a barker when we left, but he had issues of not wanting to come back into the house in the morning because he knew soon thereafter we'd leave. So I started treating him with a Milkbone and he is SO eager to get back inside. And once I give him his Milkbone, that's when I leave. I just slip out the door and he's too busy with it to even care that I'm gone.
Since you said breakfast is the only thing that keeps her from barking, maybe you could try a similar thing, like a treat or a kong or something to keep her occupied for a while. |
| According to our neighbors, vet and kennel she only barks for a few minutes when we leave. At the vet/kennel she starts barking again the moment we drive into the parking lot.
I know it's a control issue. I've owned other dogs who were alpha-types and stubborn... but she is deffinitely the most difficult. She also has a habbit of running ahead of us everywhere we walk in the house. Her trademark is running forward and looking backward trying to anticipate where we're going (it's pretty funny when she accidentally bumps into things doing this). I've not allowed her to do this for some time and make her heel or walk behind me around the house. She is terrific on a leash. We rescued her about 2 years ago and she is our first OES. She was disgarded by 2 other owners who couldn't "handle" her. She's an amazing, intelligent, sweet and loving dog. So I am committed to trying to fix this behavior. |
| I agree it is a training issue - but I think you need to start with sit stays when you are in the room, moving to out of the room and up to the five minutes, then on to leaving the house and coming back.
You may aso want to check out the control unleashed book by Leslie Mcdevitt. Dogs learn to relax more and it certainly helps with seperation anxiety. I also make sure I give mine a special treat in the morning when I leave (usually their Kong with PB or cheese) they are busy and don't notice me leaving. |
| Ok, I have started a few things and the combo seems to work. My husband and I are making her sit stay in the morning while we get ready (this is when she usualy is working herself into a frenzy) and then we let her outside for 5-10 mins while we put on shoes and do last minute things that normally signal "we're about to leave". Once we're ready we let both dogs back inside and then immediately feed them. She happily eats without noticing that we're going away. It was a treat to back out of the drive without her nose pressed to the window barking in panic... |
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