hi,again everyone.has any one got any advise on how i can stop dougal barking.in morning( every morning) he wakes between 6.30 and 7.00a m by barking,thats fair enough he wants out,when he comes in he sits at bottom of stairs barking up,he is not happy till everyone is awake.he also barks if my husband or myself go upstairs for any reason,he gets quite distressed,he is getting big so barks loudly.x

buy a multivet anti bark collar

hi rumrat,

Sorry for being stupid but whats the collar your said about and how does it work?

Hi Alimacwicks
Is Dougal the young pup with heart problems that you posted about a month or so ago? How old is he now, what breed is he and how long have you had him?  Depending on the answers to those questions, differing solutions will be appropriate.  Also, does he generally suffer with seperation anxiety if you leave him or is the barking very specifically only in the instances that you describe first thing in the morning?

IMHO........don't even contemplate an anti-bark collar!

Hi

There ar elots of other things you can try rather tahn an anti bark collar
It sounds like he wants company and has trained you all well to come when he barks.
I have had this in the past with my own GSD who I sadly no longer have and with some short term fosters when I was unsure I could face having a permenant dog again so I know what it is like and when you are tired from weeks of it exhaustion kicks in and you feel so much worse.

You have established a routine and simply put you need to establish a new one- Sounds easy and can be but may take a few weeks as the existing routine probably did too without you noticing it creeping up.

This is just what I would try - I am not an expert though.

Get up and let him out to relieve himself- do not pet him and try not to speak to him- I am ssuming he uses the garden immediately rather than waiting on a walk?
Bring him in and confine him in one room with you (so he cannot reach the stairs to bark up)
Perhaps put his breakfast down or put him back to bed with a favourite toy (ideal if you have a crate because he will not run around)
Next is a cup of coffee/tea and a magazine or paper which you should do whilst ignoring him- The aim is to provide him with the company but be as boring as possible
You would probably do this for a few days- gradually getting up and leaving the room for short periods even if just 30 seconds and building up.
Ignore any barking and importantly ignore him being quiet too - By priasing when you return you are increasing the excitement - It's no big deal you come and go as you like and shouldn't need to praise.
The aim is to get him that he can go to the toilet and then either go back to bed or amuse himself without you whilst you go about your morning routine.

Might want to consider if maybe he has lots of left over energy if he needs more exercise on his walks- maybe take a ball or go with other dogs so he gets a good run around and so is not so full of life in the am. Also if he knows his morning walk is coming at a set part of the routine that helps too.

As I say just some suggestions that have worked for me but maybe something of use.

Good luck

hi, yes  dougal is the pup with poorly heart, he is a black labrador aged 4mths, we have had him nearly two months now.,he even barks if there is someone downstairs with him,he is very rarely on his own always someone at home with him.he barks anytime we go upstairs even if it is just to put twins to bed,if we go out in car and leave him with our oldest son he still barks.we are off to london this weekend and my son is home with him so dont know what he will be like.

hi, thank you for some tips.i do normally walk past him ,just put him out without saying anything,i feel horrible doin this,i just want to give him a cuddle after not seeing him all night,i then normally make my coffee, then i give him his breakfast then sit with him,but he still got to go to bottom of stairs for his bark up,by then normally everyone is awake.x

what kind of toys does he have? something absolbing, like a stuffed kong or a doggy pyramid, might keep him occupied. doesn't solve the issue but might help

Hi alimacwicks
It does sound as though it's a classic case of seperation anxiety, but given the history and the emotions you've been through, that's probably not suprising.  Soooo.........deep breaths and time to just pretend he's a normal pup with no 'history'!  :-) 

Firstly, you ideally need to have the 'jolly hockeysticks' type approach to everything you do around him - hey ho, isn't life a blast? - rather than 'oh, poor Dougal'! (Probably much easier said than done, I know!)  Then you need to start ignoring him when he is in the room with you by reading the paper or doing whatever.  When he settles happily in that circumstance and realises that barking and/or pawing at you won't get him attention, then walk into another room where he can see you but not reach you - baby gates are great for this. Whenever you leave him, give him something that he wouldn't normally get - a high value treat that you keep only for this type of exercise.  (Ultimately, when you go out of the house a frozen kong sealed with pate at either end would probably be ideal!)  Then you have to build it up slowly - add time or distance, but not both at the same time.  In other words, for instance, build up to 30 mins in the next room where he can see you, but perhaps only do 10 mins when you are upstairs and he can't see you but can still hear you moving around and only 5 mins when you go out of the front door and he can neither see or hear you!  Leaving a radio tuned into a chat show channel is also a good idea. 

When you come to leave him in the house, if you can orchestrate it, it would be a good idea to always give him some physical exercise/play before you leave.  A tired pup is more inclined to sleep than one that is bursting at the seams!  :-)

Good luck and be patient with the little chap!

Gunner gives some great advice about separation anxiety.  Another good tip is to remember to shut doors behind you - Dougal will soon learn that a closed door is normal and it's often just for a minute or two.

One other thing to consider is what happens after you come back downstairs ie what does pup think you are going upstairs for...

For instance the bottom of the stairs is the only place our boy will bark at us - it's not sep anx but excitement or 'Oi, what about me?'.  That's because a) we are not 100% consistent about upstairs, sometimes he can come up, sometimes not - just depends on time of day, what I'm doing etc, and b) because we go upstairs to get dressed in preparation for a walk.  I could stop it by altering my patterns a bit but as it's only a few barks, in our case, then he stops it doesn't cause me too much bother.

At Dougals age it's very likely to be anxiety but it's worth considering what you can alter to minimise it happening at all.  If I need mine to be quiet I need to come down fully dressed for a walk (so I don't have to go back up) or do it whilst he's busy eating breakfast, or zooming about the garden.  If I let him come to the bottom of the stairs at his high excitement time the barking is almost guaranteed!!

Good luck

Oh, and another thought.........maybe try a DAP diffuser or collar.  They seem to work for some, but not for others, but always worth a try! 

thank u for the advise will give them a go,on some things he learns quicker than others,we cant stop him jumping on settee when we try get him off he gets nasty,he does push his luck sometimes.he was barking like mad when i went upstairs to take babies to bed as he could hear my voice through baby monitor,we will try an ything at moment x

we cant stop him jumping on settee when we try get him off he gets nasty

Either try to lure him off with a treat and praise him when he has all four paws on the floor or attach a light houseline to his collar (length of light cord) - this will enable you to direct him off the sofa and maintain your confidence in handling him.  Don't however leave him unsupervised with the line trailling.

thank you again,bet you get fed up answering my questions.we tried treats but he eats it then brazingly gets back on,he makes himself comfortable really quick,you do have to try and keepa straight face with him x

Persistance and consistancy are the key!  :-)  If he gets back on, you 'invite' him back off again......and again........and again until he gets the message!  :-)   Unfortunately, laughing at their antics only reinforces the behaviour!  Hard I know, but try biting the insides of those cheeks - yours, not his, that is!  :-)

if you e mail me i shall explain

This is good advice--when my WSS was determined to fetch me to him by barking, howling and making himself as interesting as possible from the livingrom (two floors down...this from a dog who rarely barks, but was upset at having to give up a place in my bedroom for my partner) I went downstairs, put him outside without a word, didn't go with him so it wasn't much fun for him in the dark and rain, and when he came back in I never said a word or looked at him, just got the grooming bag out and did all his feet and handstripped his ears. Now, would you want to call your human down at 3.00am if you knew that was the treat in store? :-((

Mind you, I now have two lovely dogs and no partner--great trade, in my opinion.