Need advice, dog barking when I leave the house
 

Hi I'm new here, I have a 10 month old yorkie called Hamelt. We've had him since he was 8 weeks old and only recently has he found his voice and starts barking when we leave the house.
He don't bark if we are home and don't bark if someone knocks on the door.
I took him out all day yesterday and he was very tired so I left him for no more than 10 mins while I went to the shop. By the time I arrive back he was not barking. I had a hand written letter by one of neighbours saying That i need to stop leaving my dog alone, he barks for hours at a time and said he barks all night and that they are reporting me.
He's never barked at night we are all home by 4pm. We got to work/school at 8.30am my husband pops in at 2pm to walk him and me and the children are back by 4pm, plus my husband only works 3 days a week so is home with him for the rest of the time.

Is there anything I can do that will stop Hamlet barking while we do go out? As I don't want to upset my neighbours or have my dog taken away, he's very much loved and the most sweetest little dog you'll meet. I wish the anonymous neighbour would of spoken to me instead of sending a nasty letter, I could of apologised and explain he is only a puppy and that we will try and solve the problem.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
lisa x

Hi and welcome to YT :)!

What a tough situation. The neighbor is obviously exaggerating somewhat, but it still leaves you in a tough spot. What about maybe trying those automatic bark deterrents you can get on like Amazon or elsewhere? When the dog barks, it will let out an ultrasonic sound that is supposed to deter the dog from continuing to bark.

Is there a chance it is not your dog the neighbor is hearing? Seems odd for them to say it barks all night and you know your dog does not. Maybe they are hearing someone else's and just thinks it's coming from your house.

Thanks for the replies, there's lots of people with dogs where I live, I rarely hear any bark at night, but know for a fact it is not my dog. He barked one night as there was foxes outside which scared him and stopped pretty quickly.
We have notice if we all leave together he starts crying and barks, but I don't think he goes on and on for hours. I went to the shop less than 10 mins away and he started soon as I shut the front door and we listened when we got back and he wasn't barking.
I'm going look in the pet store for them rubber toys and put treats in it and see if that helps.
I'm off work today so I've gated the living room and kept him in there, I went to the shop and my husband stayed in the bedroom and he didn't cry or bark while I was gone. I praised him and going to try again later on a few more times.
Thankfully he's a really good pup and training him has been pretty easy, only thing is he is so attached to me.
Thanks again and I'll keep you updated on how it goes today, the real test will be wheb my daughters come home and we all go outside together so wish me luck lol x
lisa xxx

Buy a voice recorder. $6 gets you a flash drive that records, plug it into your pc/laptop and find out if it is your dog.

Amazon


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Yes and after that and you know a) if a dog is barking at night that you can hear and b) how long your dog does bark when you are out.


You can send if you wish a missive to all neighbours - stating the facts. And asking that if there should be a problem you would appreciate talking to the person with the issue

I think that if you set up that voice recorder on your pc to see if he barks is a great idea and I hope you will let us know how it turns out. I do know that a barking dog that always barks especially at bedtime is not a pleasant thing first hand but when you know it is not yours and are wrongly being accused that is frustrating as well. Hoping for the best for you and your little one.

If the neighbor takes it further (and assuming you're allowed to have the dog in the first place), the council will investigate the noise frequency and levels. If the neighbor is exaggerating, it will be found out and you will most likely have nothing to worry about.