need help with barking
 

I need help! I received a complaint from a neighbor today that my yorkie is barking too much. We live in a house and he likes to sit in the window and look out to the front yard and the street. She and her husband sit in their front yard the majority of the day every day and they can hear him when he barks. I have checked with other neighbors who say they only hear him if they are outside and only if there is something going on.
He is eleven years old and I am at work all day. This seems to be something the neighbor is pretty upset about; altho this is the first time they have said anything.
I have tried putting a kiddie gate up and confining him to the other side of the house; he is miserable as there is nothing to look at and keep him occupied. so miserable in fact that he tries to crawl under the gate to get back to the front side of the house.
My husband passed away 18 months ago and prior to that he was home with our little guy all day and able to monitor his behavior. Now, I have to be gone all day so I don't know how often or how much he is actually barking.
At any rate I need some suggestions any help would be appreciated

I have a neighbor that puts her 3lb chi outside at 4:30 in the morning. I dont call and complain at her,she is doing the best that she can. She has to go to work.
The only advice that I could give would be to try to explain how the lil fella must feel being alone all day suddenly. If I understand the law correctly,if your dog is in your house then they can suck it up. It isnt any different than someone diving through the neighborhood with loud music in their car. I do think that noise ordnances have an evening cut off time. Here where I live it is midnight.
I would certainly try the nice way first.

I'm so sorry for your loss, and I can feel both you and your furbaby's pain.:(
How long are you away from him everyday?
Whenever I leave the house, I turn radio on which helps.
You can also try to call your house phone and leave a voice mail(to your furbaby) every couple hrs so.... which my friend does, and it works.
You can also try window decorative film(home depot) which will prevent him from seeing too much?:D

PS: I think your neighbor should know that they are provoking him by staying in their front yard all day.... maybe, you can ask them if they can cut back a little?:confused:

hateful people
 

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried all of the above. This is a very wealthy couple who are in their early 60's and retired. They sit in their front yard every day almost ALL day doing stupid word puzzles. They don't like kids and obviously don't like pets. They have zero tolerence. The really bad thing is I thought they were my friends. Guess you never really know about people.

I live in a deed restricted community and I don't know if they can or will complain the the association or not. I have talked with other neighbors who say they only hear him when mail carrier comes, garbage truck or somebody walks down the sidewalk (which is not very often)

If they do go to the associaton my response is going to be that he is in the house, the barking is ocurring during the day (not late at night) and those who are inside to not hear it. It is common sense that if you are outside you are going to hear more noise than if you are inside.

It has broken my heart, but I pulled the shade today and he could not see out; If he can't see out he probably won't bark. It is going to hurt his quality of life; he is going to be bored....but I don't know what else to do. His quality of life...a big price to pay so they can sit out front and do puzzles. We have a pool in our community and they have a lake in the back of their house; plenty of choices for them. Very few choices for me.

I really HATE this situation. He is such a sweet little guy. He has helped me with my grief so much and now I have to do THIS to him.

Is he barking at the people? What is he barking at? I just spent 8 weeks with the help of a personal trainer to stop my dogs from barking out the window (among several other issues!). Could you try to spend time with him while you are home and teach him that barking out the window is unacceptable?

It sounds like your neighbors need to GET a life of their own. You might want to ask some of the other neighbors if it comes to an HOA meeting if they would be willing to speak on your behalf, you might also want to check into a lawyer,be sure to read all of the rules of your HOA so you will be well educatated as to what is in them.
It is a shame that there are people that have alot of money and dont know what to do with it or themselves. They could be giving back to the community in so many ways sens they obviously have time.
As for your baby,leave the tv on for him. maybe make him a place at a back window so he can see out that way.

Is it possible to install a webcam so you can see and hear what is going on for yourself before you change anything permanently for him? It sounds like you do have some grumpy neighbors.

I think its your neighbors problem. They need to move their spot to a place in their yard your dog cant see.

Our house overlooks a park and Joey thinks the park is his yard. The only thing that works for me is to close the blinds when there are lots of people in the park. Out of sight - out of mind.

any more suggestions
 

I had to go back to work today after being at home for two weeks. I set up a voice activated recorder; This was a rare day when I was able to get home for lunch (normally not able to leave work because I am a teacher). From 8 AM to 11:30 AM no barking. From 12:45 to aprx 2:45 two minutes worth of barking. I have no idea what he was barking at because the blinds were shut. Because the recorder is voice activated I can't tell if the barking was two continuous minutes or two minutes spread out. Either way it doesnt seem to me that two minutes is very much over a period of two hours. But, that is just me and I guess I am a little prejudice. I am hoping this entire issue is just going to go away. But, I want to have a back up plan in case it doesn't. I don't want to use the bark collars on him. Does anyone have any information on the machine that emits a high frequency tone when the barking happens? Does it do damage to their ears? How dangerous is it? Does it work?
I always leave the radio on for him...he just loves looking out of the window and watching the people pass by.
Please let me know if you have any ideas.
Thanks for listening!

That was pretty smart of you! I agree two minutes of barking isn't bad at all especially when you're not in the same house with them! Some people have those anti bark machines that go off if the dog barks. No, it doesn't hurt their ears, it's about as aversive to them as their bark is to us, anoying but not harmful. Usually, without other training the dog will learn to ignore it.

I think if you keep the blinds closed you'll have a better chance at eliminating most of the barking. When you get home you can open the blinds and let him enjoy himself if you want. One of those toys that you put kibble in might be fun for him, if you think he's getting bored while you’re gone.

I'm glad you recorded him. where I am in NYC, excessive barking is 10min continuous barking from 7am to 10pm, and 5min from 10pm to 7am. So even in NYC where you can hear everyone, he's not excessive barker. I had bark elimitator in my house, and it worked for little while, but babies got use to it, so they are not bothered by it any more.:D
Just in case, keep the recording, so that you can prove that your baby is not excessive barker. (you can buy 12hr~24hr non stop video/audio recorder on ebay under $100)

I understand the barking situation all to well!
 

My precious little Bella doesn't just bark for the sake of barking but if she wants to play she will bark trying to get the other dogs to PLAY with her. She also LOVES to bark if she see's someone outside a window.
I think your idea of recording to see how much and long she barks is a great idea. You should also jot down the time and duration if you can for easy referral if you need to speak to someone about it.
I do think the Ultra sonic bark deterrent might be helpful. Since you only have one dog it might have a longer lasting effect on him. My dogs definately pay attention to that, but since I have a pack it affects some of them more than others and when one dog barks it encourages the others to follow suit even if they weren't going to bark to start with.
My advise would be to continue to record and get you an ultra sonic bark deterrent and place it specifically near the window. If you need to keep your curtains shut while you are gone I wouldn't worry to much about because when you get home he will enjoy his window time all that much more.

You poor, poor lady - I really feel for you :(

They must know everything you've been through - and should be doing all they can to help you be happy at the other end.

As you thought you were friends - have you tried sitting down and really talking with them, explaining to them, as you have to us? Maybe they'll end up doing a little doggy-sitting?!!? :rolleyes: :D

The trouble is, they're quite entitled to be sitting wherever they like, doing whatever they like - as you are! They've obviously got a bee in their joint bonnet as they've nothing better to do all day - but that doesn't help you.

I realise you don't want to do it - but keeping the shades/curtains closed 'til you get home is probably the easiest, ultimately kindest, thing to do :)

I really do wish you luck - must be a nightmare for you. Sally + Harry x

I would go to the store and buy two sets of high quality ear plugs. I would tape a piece of paper on the earplug box and draw out a small crossword puzzle saying "From (name of dog)". I would then wrap them in Christmas paper and take them over to their house. Knock on the door, hand them the two pretty little boxes and say "Merry Belated Christmas" and walk off with your nose in the air.

this

i think you could explain to them your situation and that you are working on your dog.
I'd suggest closing the blinds and leaving the TV on so he will have something to occupy his time. Also kongs, DAP diffuser, interactive toys, radio etc can help with boredom. Also you could spend time training him to enjoy being in the back room similar to "crate training" - associating positive (treats, praise) with being back there? This could take some time

I think they have the right, to peace and quiet just like you have the right to have a dog in your house. But it sounds like his barking is not excessive from your recording. Maybe he barks when he sees them, and now with the blinds down he doesn't see them, which is why your recording only caught 2 min of him barking?

I've been doing a lot of training with my puppy on being OK alone and not whining/barking.

--Good luck

Thanks to all of you for your comments, suggestions and most of all understanding. I have continued to keep the blinds shut and continued recording. The most barking has been for 4 minutes in a 7 hour period. I really don't think that is too bad. Because the recorder is voice activated it is impossible to tell if it was 4 continuous minutes or bark stop and then start barking again.
I have mentioned the problem to a couple of other people in the neighborhood (I have not given the name of the complainers) Everyone's attitude seems to be the same.."Tell them to go to -----" They say he is inside the house, not tied out and not on a lanai so the other people need to "get a life".
I hate keeping the blinds pulled; but will probably do so for another week or so. I open the blinds when I get home and he of course enjoys his view.

I am now dealing with another issue...blood in his urine. He got me up several times last night to go out and pee, very unusual for him. It kind of scared me so I caught a urine sample in a cup and there was a spec of blood. I dropped him off at the vet's this AM. They did a urinalysis and found crystals which is not unusual for him. They did an Xray but did not see any stones. He is now on an antibiotic in case an infection is causing the blood. I am suppose to take him back in 3 weeks to have the urine checked again. If there is still blood we will need to do an ultrasound which is very expensive, but if he needs it I will just have to go out to my money tree;) He had to have bladder stone removal surgery 3 years ago and I am hoping it does not happen again. I am trying so hard not to worry about him.

Again, thanks for all of the good thoughts!

Oh dear I'm so sorry and hope he doesn't have a stone. I've heard that some people have very good success with certain Rx diets that are suppose to reduce the occurance of a certain type of stone. Has your vet talked to you about this? Sending prayers your way, and good luck with the barking. I know you hate to close the blinds, but he probably feels safer when them closed. That's why they suggest putting a cover over their kennels.

It sounds like you have tried to be a good neighbor to some people that dont really deserve it. I think that you should stop worrying about them and turn your attentions to you and your baby. As my DH says "you do all you can do" and you have.
I will keep you both in my prayers. You might start a thread on the sick and injured part of the forum so more people will be aware of his condition. Prayer does work.

There's natural cranberry extract for dogs, or you can try cranberry & papaya digestive suppliment by pet authority(I use this one). It will help keeping your baby's urinary track healthy in long run. I'm sorry that you are going through such problems.

The dog I had before Gracie used to have a table in front of a window and he would sit on it much of the day to pass the time and watch for us to get home. He was so happy to have that outlet. When one of the kids was out some where at night he would get up and watch out the window every now and then for them. He didn't bark much tough.
I would not take that place away from my dog just because your neighbor is a bit put out. You would know if it was a big problem and obviously it is not. Ignore the neighbor.

Prayers for your little guy. I do understand. Been there too.