NeylasMom Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 I am really hoping this is just an adolescent phase Skye is going through (she turned 1 in October according to the vet estimate), but she has turned into a bit of a nightmare in terms of her alerting and vocalizing. Most of it is when she hears our neighbors taking their dogs out in the building (I blame the stupid woman with the 2 ill-behaved unleashed mini-dachsunds who bark their fool heads off every time they go out) and I am working on teaching her to go into her crate and lie down instead of charging down the stairs barking and howling like a mad woman so we are good there. The problem I am less sure how to deal with is her 5 am wake up calls. Cisco has kidney disease so he gets an automatic feeder set up to give him a little snack around 5 am so that he doesn't vomit from too much acid on an empty stomach. Often after he's had it, he will come back into bed with me to sleep, but he also occasionally meows a little waiting for it to open or because he's decided there wasn't quite enough food in it. This is when Skye just lets out a nice big howly bark at the top of her lungs from inside her crate. I am looking for suggestions for how to address this that do not involve correction. A couple of things I am trying: -While she's cat safe and I don't worry she would harm Cisco (she wanted to play with him like another dog from the time she arrived and was relatively easy to cat train), she does get excited or overly interested when he does something particularly interesting. This is a new behavior. I was letting things play out because Cisco actually likes her and will nuzzle her when she comes over and I sort of hoped they'd end up being good buddies, but I am now going to work on discouraging this interest on her part, I guess using a "leave it" (?). -Because I'm desperate, last night when she woke me I decided to hang a blanket over the front of the crate, essentially blocking her view of Cisco when he enters the room. She can still see me in bed through one side of the crate and she can see Violet laying right next to her on a dog bed from the other side of the crate so I don't think this is a mean thing to do. What I'm wondering is if I should just leave it hanging there every night preventatively until she hopefully gets over this, or I started to think today that I should put it down every time she barks so that she learns that if she wants to have a full view of the room she needs to be quiet. I'm not sure that will be a high enough motivator for her, but I'm low on ideas here. Unfortunately there's no way I can really positively reinforce good behavior because if she doesn't bark when he comes in, I don't know because I'm asleep. I suppose we could spend a little time in the bedroom during the day with her crated and I could maybe try to get Cisco to play with a toy and then reinforce with food if she doens't react. I hadn't thought about that until now. Any thoughts on which might be the most effective method here, or ideas I haven't considered? Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitycake Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Is the automatic feeder in the same room that she is? Could it be moved somewhere else, so if he "talks to it" she won't get as excited? Maybe moving it as far from her kennel as possible, yet keeping it convenient for him might help. Though that sounds like it might be an issue if there isn't a convenient location that is far enough from you and Skye.... I have sympathy at one pet stirring up another. Our Allie starts whining/growling/grumbling and sometimes barking when one of the cats growls, hisses, or they decide to have a mini boxing match or chase one another through the house. This is a problem because my boy cat HATES when something moves or touches him at night after he's tucked himself into bed (under one blanket, on top of another, against my side or stomach between me and the edge of the bed) and sometimes his sister decides to walk across him, or nudges to get to that side of me and "sets off the ShadeMan movement alarm" which triggers Allie into complaining on the other side of the room. I haven't found anything to prevent this either, so I hope someone else has a good idea (and that you have success that I haven't!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissy Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 (edited) Bark collar. Kidding. Is it the cat coming into the room or the fact that he's getting fed that gets her going? If it's the cat coming back into the room... would it be possible to just close your door at night for awhile and shut the cat out? Then Skye won't know if he's getting fed or hear him talking to the machine as much. Edited November 4, 2012 by krissy Quote Kristie and the Apex Agility Greyhounds: Kili (ATChC AgMCh Lakilanni Where Eagles Fly RN IP MSCDC MTRDC ExS Bronze ExJ Bronze ) and Kenna (Lakilanni Kiss The Sky RN MADC MJDC AGDC AGEx AGExJ). Waiting at the Bridge: Retired racer Summit (Bbf Dropout) May 5, 2005-Jan 30, 2019 Like us on Facebook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubcitypam Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Buddy gave me a 7 a.m wake up call when he got here..probably because that was when he got breakfast in his other home. I took to stumbling out of bed, handing him a milkbone and the littles a couple of snaps and he settled right back in and slept until my usual wake up time of noonish when he gets fed. Do you think girl hound is jealous because she knows the cat is getting a "treat" and she's not? I can totally see that happening. Maybe try giving her a Milk Bone or such when the cat eats, go back to bed and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Is the automatic feeder in the same room that she is? Could it be moved somewhere else, so if he "talks to it" she won't get as excited? Maybe moving it as far from her kennel as possible, yet keeping it convenient for him might help. Though that sounds like it might be an issue if there isn't a convenient location that is far enough from you and Skye.... Is it the cat coming into the room or the fact that he's getting fed that gets her going? If it's the cat coming back into the room... would it be possible to just close your door at night for awhile and shut the cat out? Then Skye won't know if he's getting fed or hear him talking to the machine as much. Do you think girl hound is jealous because she knows the cat is getting a "treat" and she's not? I can totally see that happening. Maybe try giving her a Milk Bone or such when the cat eats, go back to bed and see what happens. The feeder is in the kitchen, out of sight. It's not the food or the fact that Cisco is eating that's causing it, it's the cat coming into the room or meowing at me (either, or both depending on the morning). I should note that on the rare occasion that Cisco has meowed, it's been very quiet/minor so most of the time it's just Cisco coming in that sets her off. I don't think shutting him out is an option. I don't really want to do that anyway because I'd rather not disrupt his routine in any way given his kidney disease, but I think it would just result in him scratching and meowing at the door a lot, which would elicit even more reaction from Skye. And at the bark collar. I'm not going to lie, I used to have those for use with my fosters before I knew better and for a moment I wished I still did. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissy Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 I think your only option may be to ignore her and/or cover the front of her crate so she can't see him come into the room. Also, during the day/evening you could practice crating her while Cisco is not in the room and then encourage him to come into the room. Reward her if she doesn't say boo. If she barks when he comes in ignore her until she stops and then reward her. Quote Kristie and the Apex Agility Greyhounds: Kili (ATChC AgMCh Lakilanni Where Eagles Fly RN IP MSCDC MTRDC ExS Bronze ExJ Bronze ) and Kenna (Lakilanni Kiss The Sky RN MADC MJDC AGDC AGEx AGExJ). Waiting at the Bridge: Retired racer Summit (Bbf Dropout) May 5, 2005-Jan 30, 2019 Like us on Facebook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleptogrey Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 pup in a crate in your bedroom gate at the door to keep the cat out ??????????????????????????????????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I think I'd put the cat in a separate room, if possible, with his feeder, bed, litter box. I have a "cat room" in my condo fitted out with everything they need, and when we have any sort of cat/dog issue, they go in there and I shut the door. Sometimes just to give George a break! And at night I usually close my bedroom door. George and I inside, the cats on the other side. It's just too disruptive to my sleep have them either waking me up or waking him up. Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Well I hesitate to say this because I'm sure the minute the words are out of my mouth I will regret it, but she hasn't done it since the morning I threw the blanket over the front of the crate. I think she did one little woof the following morning and I haven't heard anything since. Could be a fluke - she wasn't doing it every single morning - or Cisco may not be doing whatever was so interesting to her. He hasn't been as hungry lately and he definitely hasn't meowed. So officially I guess this may not be resolved, but I am hopeful. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowjay Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Embrace it and start your day early! Quote Cody: (11/19/2000 - 1/7/2013): [CollateralDamage #92569] Cody's DogsterPretty: (11/1/1994 - 1/27/2007): [Bee's Prettyside #43811] Pretty's DogsterPinky: (4/25/2003 - 3/17/2014): [Wagtail Resolve #19753]Click here to learn how to find your hounds racing name, pedigree and racing history! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Embrace it and start your day early! :rofl If I got up at 5 am it would be like getting up in the middle of the night for most people. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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