Hi guys

Im asking this question on behalf of my distrought neighbour.  She has two rottis and on a night time they constantly bark throughout the night, she lives in a quite culda r sack and the neighbours have got to gether to get a pertition to get her out or to get rid of the dogs.  She was talking to me yesterday and said she had one month to try and sort the dogs situation out howeve she said she has been trying all sorts of training techniques out and also had a few behavioural people out with no luck.  she asked me if there was any thing out there which could help, she mentioned the shock collars however I said I didnt like the idea of that but then again I have never used anything like that so couldnt really comment, however I did say I knew a group of people who might know lol ;-)

Where does she keep them?  I doubt my neighbours would hear my dogs barking if they were kept inside and the windows were shut.  If she keeps them outside the solution might be to bring them in.  If she lives in a flat the chances are that a guarding breed would bark if there is noise in the closey.

They don't work.  I was also wondering where the dogs must be?

Where are they while they're barking? Where is she, come to that?

Hi she has the dogs crated on a night or when she is out in a garage which has the garage door plaster bored and insultated on the garage door side.  I must admit I can here them on a night as there bark echos through the street with us being ruralish too its really quite and esp this time of year we all tend to have a window open

I think she ought to try crating them somewhere else where she can keep them quiet more easily - her bedroom or landing, perhaps?

Unfortunatley she cant, shes in a rented house at the min and one of the stipulations is the dogs cant sleep in the house, the landlord lives int he street so cant risk it.  She is on a list to move but needs something now

> Unfortunatley she cant, shes in a rented house at the min and one of the stipulations is the dogs cant sleep in the house, the landlord lives int he street so cant risk it.  She is on a list to move but needs something now

the landlord has a brass neck if s/he signed the petition.  what about putting a blanket over the crate?

To be honest if the dogs are shut in crates in a garage, however nice, and with her during the day they will bark. Probably due to loneliness/confusion or maybe guarding (less likely even thought they are rotts as I suspect the place is quiet).

What happens during the day?

I don't think they should have any punishment (ie spray collars or worse) because of this. She's not sadly providing the correct environment, however good her intentions. It would be totally unfair to punish them. Also some equipment can cause dogs to turn on each other ( even though crated, they may associate shocks with each other .... ).  This happened with 2 beardie brothers who ended up fighting all the time.

It's not cold - can she not bed down with the dogs in the garage? if she makes it nice and cosy it could be an ideal solution.

Failing that, is there someone who might be able to look after the dogs until she can move?

Re the landlord - with some landlords there are things you can do. For example, if she were to promise to "make good" any mess or if she paid more up front as a deposit....ie she may be able to negotiate something.

This DEFRA article is written by a very good behaviourist, it may be of help and interest:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/noise/research/barkingdogs/constantbarking.pdf#search=%22dogs%20cortisol%20levels%20bark%20collar%22

Best wishes
Lindsay
x

Does the landlord check up on her house due to the dogs? If he doesn't do checks or pop round then i would be inclined at night to move the dogs into the main part of the house. How will he know if they are also crated, bearing in mind that they are clean when she walks them through.
Has she tried putting the radio on in the garage, kongs with treats etc? What about a TV on quiet down there?
If its a rural location they may be hearing small animals moving about outside and this can cause many dogs to bark, i know it sets mine off, especially foxes.

can ask do the dogs get enough exercise and stimulation in their lives so that their tired when left and would sleep a lot of the time.
this is a really difficult situation as we don't know your friend but it seems a lot of things will have to change to sort this out and i expect they would be a lot quieter if they slept in the house.
someone with rotti experience is best for answering some of this question.
i really feel for your friend but on the other hand i have the noisy dog from hell living next door to me and can also see where the neighbours are coming from regarding the nose.
i think the only thing is to find someone who can have the dogs until she moves, if not a friend or family then maybe any of the rescue centers may have someone who can have them in their home for a short period if she explains the situation. worth a try anyway.
if your friend moves it would still be a good idea to sort this out before her new neighbours  complain about the barking.
wish your friend luck.

If he doesn't do checks or pop round then i would be inclined at night to move the dogs into the main part of the house. How will he know if they are also crated, bearing in mind that they are clean when she walks them through.
As a landlord I would seriously advise against this.  If I'd given permission for a tenant to keep dogs outside and I found that they had them in the house, then they would be evicted immediately for breaking the terms of their tenancy.

The bottom line is that the dogs do not have suitable living conditions and to use a device to stop them showing their distress would be most unfair. :(

> The bottom line is that the dogs do not have suitable living conditions and to use a device to stop them showing their distress would be most unfair. :-(

Totally agree.

And suitable living conditions would come under the Animal Welfare Act surely?

May I add that this a newly built house with an integral garage, the lady has plasterboarded the garage door up so is more like a room and has adequite heating and lighting. 

In that case I think she should sleep down with them for a week or two so that she can shush them when they start barking. Hopefully it'll break the habit and she can then go back to her room.

> May I add that this a newly built house with an integral garage, the lady has plasterboarded the garage door up so is more like a room and has adequite heating and lighting. 

I would either sneak the dogs into the house, I take it that as the garage door is plasterboarded, there must be an access door from the garage into the house, so the landord wil not be able to see that the dogs are in the house. The landlord can't be that bad if he has allowed a new-build garage to have it's door plasterboarded over, or he has not been told about the plasterboarding, in which case, how would he know that the dogs have been allowd in the house at night, if they do not cause any damage :)

Or sleep in the garage with the dogs,

Or, leave the door from the garage to the house open (assuming it's an internal door), with a dog-gate up - the dogs may feel more settled/less isolated if they can see/hear into the house.

> one of the stipulations is the dogs cant sleep in the house,

what a bizarre landlord - maybe it is just my dogs but they cause the least amount of bother when they are sleeping!  You would think for damage limitation the LL would be better saying they can't come in during the day but can sleep in the house.