Hi everyone,

We own a Minature pinscher and he barks when we leave the apartment which drives our neighbour crazy...he's threatened to have us evicted and we don't know what to do!. When we are at home our dog is fine, so we are wondering if muzzeling him will work when we leave the house?...
If anyone has any suggestions or comments to make about what kind of muzzel to try or just some advice we would greatly appreciated it.

Thanks

I doubt very much a muzzle with stop him barking - although there is a device called a 'husher' which is like an elasticated muzzle which is reported to stop barking. It's not normal for a dog to bark when left home alone like this - it canindicate a problem in the relationship with the owner, either the dog feels he should be checking on the owner like he normally does when they are at home (following from room to room etc.), or he's very insecure and is literally fightened at being left alone. Do you know when the dog barks? Does something trigger it? Maybe you could set up a tape recorder to record what happens? This might give you a better idea - it may even be an outside stimuli which is setting him off (or there may not be a barking problem at all - which happened to me and one of my neighbours :-( )
If you've got a 'checker; then he needs to be trained to stay when you leave the room for short periods. If he's worried, he needs to build up his confidence that nothing bad is going to happen while you're out - a Dog Appeasing Pheremone defuser (DAP) can help her - consult you vet......

HTH

I think you should be looking more towards treating the cause of this nuisance barking here rather than treating the symptoms.
Your dog could be barking because he is anxious and distressed to be alone and muzzling him to gag him will probably cause him more stress and unhappiness. The husher that has been mentioned before is supposed to be for this sort of thing but I have never seen one or know anyone who has used one so can't comment on it.
I sympathise with your neighbour - there really is nothing worse than a persistently barking dog. Much as I love dogs it would drive me mad as well :(
You don't say very much in your post like how long you are out? Is it all day while you are at work or just for a couple of hours? Do you leave anything to occupy your dog like a kong stuffed with food or toys or chews? As suggested before is he barking every time he hears a noise?
Apartments can have very thin walls! Maybe you should consult a behaviourist who can come into your home, meet you and your dog and advise you on how you can start working together to make him more settled when he is left. You could approach your neighbour and ask him to be tolerant for a little while longer as you appreciate the fact you have a problem but are working at finding a solution.
:)

Thanks to everyone who posted advice.
We don't leave our dog alone for long periods of time, about 3 or 4 hours . I don't think he barks because of separation anxiety because our neighbour has complained only once before this and it was about 2 months ago... and since then we have kept him on leash inside the house and brought him out into the yard when he does his buisness on leash to better control him. When we bumped into another neighbour they even asked us if we still have our dog because they don't hear him anymore . We are going to try everything we can because it is annoying to have a dog bark all the time, but we were also wondering if our dog indeed does only bark when a normal dog would, what is the fair thing to do...? Should we have to leave because of that and what is the law on this?

Thanks in advance, again any comments or advice will be much appreciated.

IMO, it is more what is reasonable to ask your neighbours to put up with, than if what the dog does is normal dog behaviour. If he barks a few time when someone walks past your flat and then shuts up, I would consider that ok but if having started he continues until you come home, thats not. Get a recorder and see if he starts the moment you leave the flat and continues or if it is only if he is disturbed. If if is caused only when he is disturbed you may be able to train that out of him or may be a cage would help calm him. Think you need to know what the trigger is, is it you leaving, or something out side the flat happening, neighbours knocking, kids playing. Once you know you could talk to your neighbours and seek their help. Over the years I have found that people are more tolerent of dogs they know than ones they don't. All the best Jackie

Try an Aboistop Collar, they are brilliant! The collar squirts a jet of citronella spray under the dogs muzzle whenever the dog barks. Dogs generally don't like the taste/smell of the spray or the sound it makes when spraying, so soon learn not to bark. The collar costs around £80 and comes with a refill can. Refill cans cost £11.50. You can also get mustard scents, but aren't as good as the citronella ones.

I agree with Jackie. The other thing to do might be to introduce yourself or have a nice visit to the neighbor where he/she can vent about the problems of the noise just so you can figure out what exactly is the problem.
Perhaps your dog is barking when there's a baby trying to sleep, or when the person is trying to rest. If the person is elderly or in pain, the barking irritation might be a symptom of other problems going on. Perhaps your visit and your point of caring might make a difference in this person's complaints. It's difficult to be rude when you know a person as an individual instead of just being a stranger. :)

Last year, I visited my elderly cousin who is in ill health and completely alone. She doesn't sleep well at night and tries to make up for it in the daytime. I listened to some very interesting complaints about things that were disturbing her, including a distant lawnmower, and aromas from a barbecue that a family was having across the street. I just smiled, listened, and sympathized. I think it really helped her out to know that someone did care. However, she loved my dogs and thought their occasional barking was quite 'charming' once she could tell the difference in their tones :rolleyes: :)
good luck :)
toodles

I agree with everything already said, it is worth setting up a recording and finding out prescisely what you are dealing with, chatting to neighbours, etc.

I have had neighbour problems in the past, but in this case it was the neighbours who were being unreasonable, as to them just one small bark constituted a major crime. I discovered later that these same people had plagued a farmer years before and made him dope his BC. SAdly some people just do not like dogs and will not put up with any noise at all from them. As with my neighbour, (or should I say past neighbour), some will even make noises to encourage the dogs to bark, and then complain.

I do feel communication works very well with most reasonable people though, and it is certainly worth a try. I agree it would be very helpful to get in help to assesss the situation and maybe set up a behavioural modification programme.

The cause of the barking must be worked on, or it cannot be solved :)

Lindsay