hi again all, i have a slight problem with my 5 1/2 moth GSP that has just recently started barking at 3 and 4am in the morning and doesnt let up, i am loathed to go to her as this is just telling her that hey they come running if i start to bark ! this is only a recent thing she used to sleep through till 7ish in the morning but as you can imagine it is playing havoc with our nights sleep not to mention the neighbours !

she is also constantly barking everytime we leave her in the cage to go out anywere, and when we get back she and the cage and everything around is covered in slava !

so i was looking at these ultrasonoic bark stopping gadgets, do you think this would help teach her not to bark or not ?

thanks
chris

Before even contemplating using anything to stop the barking you need to find our why she is barking.  if she and the crate are covered in saliva this points to the barking being as a result of stress.

I have a bomb proof pup who wasn't bothered by fireworks as now of the others are either, but just recently because we have had so many and such loud ones, she is showing signs of reluctance to go out and reacting to noises which she didn't do before.  Her reactions are quite minor and might be missed or not connected to the fireworks by another person.

Hopefully she will slowly forget to worry about them s time goes by, especially if the explosions start to ease of after the new year.

Didn't help though that pretty much every time we go out some fireworks go off.

Supressing your pups signs of distress could cause her serious mental harm.

We had a rescue dog once who used to bark in the night. We hit on the idea of using a baby alarm the wrong way round - so we could speak to him without actually appearing - :-) It worked very well for a time, until he was badly spooked by fireworks, at which point we gave up and he came and happily slept in our bed-room for the rest of his days.:rolleyes:

the dog is not bothered by fireworks whatsoever, she quite happily goes for a walk with airbombs etc... going off nearby and doesnt even flinch, so fireworks are not an issue ! the problem has started the last 2 nights when i have been on nights and my wife has been putting her to bed, do you think the change might be an effect on her ?

Dogs are creatures of habit, and any change in routine can upset the apple cart.

Hi,

Normally if a dog/pup suddenly starts barking when previously fine there is a good reason for it and it's worth going to it to find out why.  There could be several reasons.  She could be near coming into season and finding it hard to hold on for as long to go to the toilet, as some bitches don't have as much bladder control around their season.

As already said if your are coming back to a crate and it's contents being covered in saliva this sounds like a very stressed pup and she can't be left like that.  She may have been scared by something whilst in her crate and is associating being in it with being scared.  Any changes in environment or routine can upset a dog/pup.

If the night time thing is as simple as she needs to go out to the toilet you could go to her - you don't have to interact or even talk to her - just let her out side and when she's done her business put her straight back to bed again.  If it's more than that and she's got worried by something at night time then maybe taking her crate into your bedroom till she breaks the habit of worrying at this time of night and then gradually start moving the crate away again, either that or sleep down stairs for a while so that she knows you are near.  I would strongly advise not leaving her to get into this state as it could lead to further problems - goodluck :-)

you say that the pup is very stressed (re saliva and barking in day) and cannot be left like that when we go out, so what do suggest we do then ? we both have to work after all and i do not see any other option than to leave her, at is only for max 4 hrs a time and only twice a week

They don't work, don't waste your money :d  We bought one as we had a complaint about our dogs barking in the middle of the night although the two neighbours either side said that they could hear nothing.  Bought one of these and they didn't even flinch when it went off :d

I would suggest that until you get her more comfortable being left, which will need to be done very gradually - but can be done that you need to  not leave her.  Take some holiday, get someone to come in and sit with her.  There is usually a way round things.  If you do leave her to get her self into a state you are likely to end up with more problems long run.

With regards to anti bark devices - a lot of the time they don't work, and if they do it's because the dog finds them sufficiently unpleasant.  If she is already stressed and you add something else she finds unpleasant into the mix, you will end up with one very stressed out little pup.

Get her used to being in the crate when you are around, pop her in it to give her dinner, for extra special treats, give her stuffed kongs in their, hide some treats.  Pop her in it when she's sleepy and sit with her and stroke her while she's in it, or just sit next to her with the door closed while she's enjoting a chew, gradually build up to you being able to move away from the crate.

Do you leave a radio on when you go out, as this can help with some dogs.  Leaving something with your scent on it may also help her settle better.

Karenclynes has said what I would have suggested about building up leaving, and making the crate a positive place to be etc. If my gsp is left he's happier with more space - doesn't like being shut in one room, but he's OK with the run of downstairs, though I can see why you might not want to do that with a puppy (and I didn't when he was a puppy either!). :D And I leave radio 4 on for the dogs - they're rather used to it being background drone anyway. ;) Stuffed kongs and activity toys are good to help preventing boredom, and if you do clicker training, a session of that before leaving her should help tire and relax her a bit (I've only recently started with the clicker with my gsp and he ADORES his clicker work - clever dogs, they love to think).

Wouldn't use a barkstopper personally - if the dog's barking from distress they'll become more distressed by the bark stopper, and if it's through frustration or boredom they'll often learn to ignore it and bark anyway (and if there are other dogs around and they bark it can set the device off - have seen this with a work colleague who tried it on her westie - don't believe it cured the problem, but it did distress the dog).