Neighbor's Barking Puppy
 

Hi, I'm asking for some feedback (friendly, please). I live in condos and my new upstairs neighbors have a puppy (some kind of larger terrier mix) that barks, whines, and actually howls for up to two hours each time when the couple leave in the morning and after they come home for lunch to let him out. That adds up to a lot of barking per day. This morning I heard the dog actually banging himself against the wall when he was howling. I pointed this out to the neighbors, saying that 1) I'm concerned about his distress; and 2) the noise is interferring with my work (I work at home, writing). Their response was that it was normal for a puppy, and a necessary part of the "training process". My questions to you friends, is this: (aside from the obvious noise annoyance part), Do you agree that a puppy in that amount of distress shouldn't be left alone all day except for a lunch visit? I know I have no control over that part but need a reality check because my gut is telling me that it borders on abuse. I thought that when you have a puppy, you shouldn't leave them alone until they were accustomed to surroundings, routine, etc. Am I living in a fantasy world thinking that is what one should do? If you disagree with my thoughts, I appreciate the feedback but please do it kindly ;) A second question: can my very quiet Yorkie learn to bark by listening to that dog upstairs or otherwise be traumatized? My Yorkie (12 months) has started to go into shaking after the upstairs barking turns into howling.

I think your yorkie can learn to bark from another dog. Kaji never made a peep (he was 12 months when I got him) and now he barks and is noisy when we're at my friends house. (her yorkie is very vocal) He's even starting to growl at home. This is my experience anyway.

As far as how long he's alone... That's tough to say. Some aren't as lucky and can only take a few weeks off when adding a new puppy. The banging is the hardest part. Maybe they need help with training?

Where I live you can get fined if your dog barks for greater than 5 minutes of continued vocalizing (4 vocalizations per min) or 20 minutes of intermittent vocalizations.

Your complex my have noise restrictions that you are not aware of that you could you educate your neighbor.

The above situation you mentioned is not normal.