HELP!!
I've looked through the "Search" facility, and got a few ideas but none that I'm really going to be able to put into practise in my situation. As I work nights, I have the impossible task of trying to sleep during the day~hot, humid weather & school hols. make it hard enough, but now Hugo is adding to the problem!
I know Min. Schnauzers tend to be pretty vocal anyway, but when I'm awake I usually manage to calm him down fairly quickly and divert his attention from whatever he thinks he's barking at. However, whenever I'm in bed and there's lots of things going on~other dogs barking, kids playing, people walking by outside~in fact anything really, he just won't stop barking and then sets my other normally quiet dog off as well! The pair of them are driving me round the bend. I dread to think what my non-animal loving neighbours will do if I can't quiet them down. All I seem to be doing all day is yelling at them to be quiet and pulling the duvet over my head! I really don't want to keep getting out of bed squirting water at them or shaking rattly tins, which he's quickly realised isn't going to hurt him anyway, so he just ignores it.
They both have the run of the house and garden and tons of toys, and can also come in to sleep with me, so if anyone can come up with any suggestions I'd be eternally grateful.
Thanks~from a very baggy-eyed Michele!

Having the run of the house and garden is your problem.

when you cannot be there to supervise and instantly srop the behaviour you should restrict their ability to have exciting outside things to react to. do not let them have accesss to any rooms from which they can see people coming and going through the windows. Put them in an area where they can see no activity, give them the toys, and put on the TV or Rqadio in that room, so as to minimise outside sounds.

This is what works with my lot, as given the chance they would do the same. If I am not in the Living room then I can't leave them in living room or garden, as they will run up to back gate to see who has coe to front door, or will rush to living room window if someone stops by our drive, and of cours bark excitedly. This gives them a high, so I shut them in the kitchen if I cannot be there. I always have back door open for them,but close it if I am not downstairs, as the time it takes to vome down is enough of a reward for them if they should get chance to bark.

I do have to keep drumming the rules into the kids heads though, as I have sometimes gotten home to find dogs wizzing about in living room, barking at the window, or in the Garden when they hear me.

Summer hols are an exciting time as there are so many kids about, and all seem to knock on my door, LOL!!!

Lots of sympathy Michele. Stan, my mini, barks at everyone that goes by our house when we're in. I've found that he's a lot quieter when no one is in. I can even walk up to our back door, look in the kitchen window and find he's usually fast asleep when I come home from work. I think the key is to keep them confined to one room for a number of hours with some quiet distractions (a stuffed kong). I work all day and my whippet is kept upstairs in the morning (where he sleeps on my bed) and my miniature schnauzer is kept in the kitchen. My dogsitter pops in to walk them at lunch time and then leaves them both together in the kitchen until I get home. They are as good as gold, and my neighbours say they rarely bark when we're not there. They've got into such a routine that even at weekends or when i have a day off, they will go and settle down and sleep all morning if i let them. Maybe the key is to get them into a quiet routine and keep them separate for a few hours, or confine them to one comfy room. It will probably take time, and Hugo will probably cry a bit at first, but I'm sure you'll get there in the end. It is difficult with minis. They are very good little guard dogs :-) .I'm sure some other people will come up with some good suggestions too, as I'm still very much a novice with training.

Hi Michele

I also work night shifts :( so can sympathize with your predicament. Fortunately, I have very understanding neighbours who know that when my GSD's bark then someone is about and it makes them feel safe. Having said that they are not nuisance barkers.
Firstly - I use those little yellow foam earplugs which when I've got them in eliminate just about all noise - I can't even hear my dogs barking through them!! Since I started using them I don't know how I ever managed without them.
I've also got a ceiling fan which makes a huge difference on the humid summer days. I've also got one for the kitchen for when I keep my dog/dogs inside.
What I would be tempted to do is to come in from work and take the dogs out for a walk. Then bring them inside and keep them in a room with the curtains closed so they will not be barking at people that they can see out and about. Jam in your earplugs, stick the fan on and have a good sleep. :)
When you get up you can take the dogs out again or let them into the garden when you are up and about to stop them barking and irritating your neighbours.
I get really grumpy when I have a bad days sleep on nights so I know how you feel :(
I would really recommend the ear plugs though. The council dug up the road behind my house once and I never heard a thing!! :)

Michele,

Mini's are born to bark, that is that, and there is nothing you can do about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, if you have any luck on stopping the noise, please let me know. My Zak is a nightmare . We were ok until the neighbour rescued??? a spaniel, i think its a springer but it is so fat it must be 2 welded together. There are a couple of gaps in the fence at the moment, about an inch wide and the two dogs spend every available moment scrapping through the gaps. Every time I seal one up he seems to find another. Unfortunately its a very long fence!

I have thought about getting an anti bark collar, but not sure if I agree with spraying him with evil smelling gas or electrocuting really appeals to me (or him for that matter) but would hate for him to annoy the neighbours so much that they complain.

Good luck and keep me posted on any good ideas.

Hi

I think you need to understand that the spray collars do not spray " an evil smelling gas" they spray compressed air either with or without citronella added. The sound and the smell distract the wearer from the unwanted behaviour. If you use the remote control version - it is a very effective training tool for particularly problem behaviour.

The electronic ones are - imho - cruel and unecessary, but if you have a dog that is causing problems with neighbours - the spray collar could just save you from further trouble.

Pam n the boys

Hi!
Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions. Unfortunately, my house is mainly open-plan, the only internal doors are the bedrooms and bathroom, so keeping them in one place is nigh on impossible. Also, the backdoor has a cat flap which I can't lock as it's used by both the dogs and the three cats all day long. I like the idea of closing the curtains though, as both of them sit half-way up the stairs to get a good vantage point for looking out the living-room window.
And Lara, the idea of ear-plugs was brilliant~I got my husband to bring home some industrial ones from work and used them for the first time yesterday. It was fantastic, I couldn't hear a thing. I wish I'd had them ages ago. Perhaps I should get some for the neighbours as well!

You may have to get some baby gates for the doors, and shut off the cat flap while you cannot supervise, and the cats will have to be locked in or out! The only other alternative would be to crate them, the dogs not the cats, LOL :d.

Over the past few weeks I have had HUGE success with the citronella collar. This was my last resort, but it has stopped over 90% of the barking and now I only have it on Chelsea about 2 hours a day max. Most of the time she can keep herself under control, but sometimes she just 'has' to bark at the dog next door so I pop it back on her and she's fine again for another day or so.

This 'may' be the way to go in this case, though I wonder if going through the cat flap might actually set it off. I had to take of Chelsea's collar as the tags would set it off, and hubby accidentally bumped her with his briefcase and set it off.

I agree - I wouldn't use an electric one, but this has been an absolute godsend!

Wendy

Hi Pammy,

Only kidding about the evil stuff (although the recipient mustn't enjoy it that much)! It is after all a means to an end not a constant fixture for life.

Being new to this web site (and any other for that matter) i'm not used to people not being able to see my face to see when I am joking or being ironic.

Ps what is IMHO??

Look forward to more conversation, as a stuck at home while the kids are out chatterholic!!!!!!

Hiya, Its .....In my humble opinion. :)

Michele,
As you know I also work the grave yard shift, and had a nice letter from the council telling me they are investigating a complaint from a neighbour about ' barking dogs '.
After several heated telephone calls I finally established it is not only my dogs that bark, My garden backs on to the allotments and one of the gardeners happens to be growing blackberries against my fence,he comes down on the mornings to harvest his crop which sends my dogs ballistic. Also there are to mongrel dogs that escape from one of the neighbours gardens and run wild in the allotments,this also starts the dogs off.
Hugo is still only a pup ,he needs to establish a routine, who should be there and who shouldn't, this will come with time, my Bodie is starting to establish 'friend or foe ' she is starting to ignore the kids playing outside, next door out in the garden,things that are not a threat but if someone steps into ' our territory' she will bark....I try not to tell her to shut up if she is barking.
Before I go to bed I take them for a walk or play/train them,get them stimulated......then knacker them out.

Craig , I sympathise with you ...however , I also sympathise with the people that complained (but they should CHECK first exactly whose dog is barking before complaining :) )

Where I live , we are being plagued with 2 dogs that bark constantly whilst their owners are out ....sometimes for 9 hours at a time. They are large dogs and very lovely to look at but are fiercely protective of their home even when the owners are in . I will not say what breed they are then no one can take umbrage :)

I wrote them a letter explaining the situation some months ago and there was a slight improvement but it was been getting worse again. I have had to phone environmental health to complain as it is driving everyone crackers. I also happen to think that it isn't doing the dogs any good at all .....when the owners go out the male dog barks continually for 3 hours or more before getting so cream crackered he then only barks when he hears something :( It is not a good situation for eith the neighbours or the dogs. There are loads of large dogs around this small area , Anita has 2 GSD's I have a Malamute , there is a large crossbreed over the road and another next door to him. Thye ALL bark at some point ....but there does come a point when it begins to affect other peoples quality of life as constant noise always does :(

Melody

Had a staff years ago that would howl when we left her in. A vet said to leave her with no visual stimulation. We then left her in the hall with her food water bed and no windows or lights. It worked. Dont know If it will work for barking though.