Barking

[Guest lunasmom]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had training suggestions to minimize barking. I live in an apartment and apparently the neighbors are complaining about Luna's barking.

 

The main situation where she barks is when DH or I get home from being gone. She will bark from the time she hears keys outside the door to the time she can get to us.

 

This is something she has done for the past year, but it hasn't been a problem until now. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated I would like to be proactive and minimize her barking as much as possible to prevent anything from escalating with the landlord. But this is also something that happens every day since we both work. At this point the landlord is essentially informing us that Luna has been barking and has requested that we try to keep her calm.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Houndtime]

Tell your neighbors to get a life. Are we talking barking for minutes? This is not a day long thing going on.

[Riverhound]

Agreeing with Irene! How long does it take between when she hears keys to when she's with you? Sheesh!

 

Make your keys quieter.

Is she crated? Can she not be, or can the crate be closer to the door?

Stand outside and waggle your keys for a second. Walk in while she's still quiet. Rinse and repeat. Increase key waggling time. Do it more.

[Guest shanesmom]

Tell your neighbors to get a life. Are we talking barking for minutes? This is not a day long thing going on.

That's my question too. I live in an apartment condo too and my neighbors would never complain about something so minimal. If she's only barking for a few minutes when you get home I'm surprised that would bother anyone.

[RedHead]

 

Tell your neighbors to get a life. Are we talking barking for minutes? This is not a day long thing going on.

Wow, that's what I was thinking (assuming that it only lasts for a few minutes). I live in a townhouse complex, and people's dogs bark all the time when people walk by, knock on the door, etc. It is loud, but only lasts a minute or so, I would never think of complaining. It sounds like they just hate dogs.

 

No suggestions on the training...it is tricky when you are not actually there. You could try ignoring her for the first few minutes of getting home so that the anticipation/excitement of you coming in decreases. Or...sneak up really quietly so she doesn't hear you lol Really though...if that is all that she barks, it sounds like you just ended up in an unfortunate situation with annoying neighbours. Some people get their kicks out of complaining about everything....

 

 

[Guest lunasmom]

Tell your neighbors to get a life. Are we talking barking for minutes? This is not a day long thing going on.

Yes we are talking about a minute or so once a day which is why I never thought it would be a problem. I am totally with you that they need to just get a life.

 

There have been complaints lately about dogs barking all the time. I don't think the complaints are specifically about Luna but since she does bark (however brief) my landlord has talked to me about it. I actually asked some of the other dog owners in the complex about it and they agree Luna is not the problem.

 

For now I think I'm just going to close the sliding door next to her pen. That should at least muffle the noise a bit.

 

I like the idea about jiggling our keys all the time too, making that noise less exciting.

 

Any other ideas are welcome, my landlord is being very reasonable at this point and had only asked that we "try and keep her calmer" I just don't like that she had talked to us about this at all so I would like to do something if I can.

[Sambuca]

Train her to bark on command, then train her to be quiet in command. That's generally what I've heard trainers say when dogs bark too much. Unfortunately I've never done it so I can't tell you the best way to go about it. I did teach Bu to bark a bit on command. He only does it when he's in the mood though. I used a clicker and when he barked I clicked and treated. I added the command in after he seemed to get it and now when he's in a mood I ask "are you a brat?" And he barks or talks to me.

Maybe work on some clicker training with her and when she knows a few things ask her to do them while you're walking in the house. Maybe it will distract her. Make sure to reward her.

[Guest greyhound_in_LA]

I would talk to the landlord again and quite honestly tell him that the barking happens only for a minute between keys and walking through the door and that you will try to work on less barking (never promise it will just be gone).

 

I think whoever complained about the barking is stupid and unreasonable. Unfortunately, I know people like that and I just don't want to hear any more about their first-world problems. I live in a suburb of L.A. and some folks keep their dogs outside all night long. Their barks carry pretty far in the valley, and sometimes they start barking at raccoons and coyotes at 2-3AM, and I have just learned to live with it.

[kronckew]

poppy doesn't bark indoors, ecept once when she saw a fox thru the window. neighbour across the halls shi-tzu 'bella' will bark for a couple minutes if her human leaves or the postman comes.(it hates poppy.)neighbour down the hall's shi-tzu 'tilly' doesn't bark (she likes poppy). terrier under her barked for 4 hours straight yesterday (a holiday here) when her human was out (also doesn't like poppy much). human directly under me plays the tuba 2-3 hours a day. mostly just playing scales. guess which one annoys me most.(hint - ain't the dogs).

 

anyway, if the only time she barks is when y'all return, it's because she's excited and has been missing you while you are gone. seperation anxiety of a mild sort, she may not bark to get you to return home sooner, but she doesn't like you being gone, leaving her alone. the trick is to make like it's no big deal when you leave AND when you return. do not acknowledge her, make a fuss over her or otherwise admit she even exists for at least a few minutes after you return. also when leaving, just go. do not have a 'goodbye' ritual involving her. as far as she's concerned, her barking makes you come thru the door to relieve her anxiety, which to her is a good thing. in otherwords,she needs more 'alone training'.

 

jiggle the keys, and walk away for a minute or so if she barks, etc. as noted earlier by the others, should also help. do not enter if she is barking.

Edited August 26, 2014 by kronckew

[GeorgeofNE]

I would write a nice note (since I know you're in the same complex with different neighbors) and put it under the doors of all your immediate neighbors. Tell them your name, etc., and let them know you've lived in the complex with the same dog for a while now, but since you're just married you've moved into this larger apartment. Let them know that the few minutes of barking they hear are just the sounds of a happy dog welcoming you, and invite them to come meet her.

 

They probably won't, but hopefully they'll feel stupid for complaining when they find out you didn't actually just move there.

 

And I'd remind the landlord there were no prior complaints and that it's just someone being unreasonable.

[greytpups]

I wonder if there have been complaints about dogs barking in general and the landlord is saying this to all dog owners. I would clarify with him if she's only barking for a few minutes.

 

You may also be rewarding her to bark and may want to reconsider your routine when you come in the house. I admit, I would find this difficult knowing she's just happy to see you. I also wonder if part of it is because she knows she'll be let out of her pen.

 

I live in a house and listen to dogs bark outside all of the time. I also listen to kids play, lawnmowers, splashing in pools, etc. I can't imagine complaining about a few minutes of barking...constant barking, yes that would bother me.

[silverfish]

Tell your neighbors to get a life. Are we talking barking for minutes? This is not a day long thing going on.

 

Absolutely! Good grief... one has to assume these people are the quietest folk on the planet and never make a noise of any kind?

 

Train her to bark on command, then train her to be quiet in command. That's generally what I've heard trainers say when dogs bark too much. Unfortunately I've never done it so I can't tell you the best way to go about it. I did teach Bu to bark a bit on command. He only does it when he's in the mood though. I used a clicker and when he barked I clicked and treated. I added the command in after he seemed to get it and now when he's in a mood I ask "are you a brat?" And he barks or talks to me.

Maybe work on some clicker training with her and when she knows a few things ask her to do them while you're walking in the house. Maybe it will distract her. Make sure to reward her.

 

We have taught all our dogs to bark on command (except Susan who was with us less than six months). It is a simple progression then to teach them to stop, although it has to be said that for some dogs barking is its own reward and they'll bark no matter what. For those dogs it's extremely hard to get them to stop barking. However, your girl should learn the trick pretty quickly.

 

All we did was to praise hugely while they were barking, and then simply say 'OK, good dog, that's enough' - often laying a hand firmly on their shoulder helps to get the message across - and then more huge praise when they're quiet. You may have to be quick to catch the moment to throw in the praise in the early stages. If they're not immediately quiet, I'll add an 'Uh-uh!' with a raised finger or hand in the 'stop' position. Add in a treat when she obeys if you like. I've honestly never had to do more than that.

 

I'm not sure how it's going to help you in this situation though, unless you yell it through the door, by which time you're pretty close to having her be quiet anyway.

 

I doubt it's separation anxiety. It's simply her throwing a party because she loves you and you're home!

The other thing you can do if this becomes a real issue with the landlord is to ignore her when you walk through the door, until she is quiet. It seems a shame though, not to respond to her delight that you're home.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

One thing to consider, your hound may be barking a lot more than when YOU come home. If the conditioning is when keys are heard, barking starts, what happens when neighbors in your hallway have their keys out and open their doors? I think it may not just be when you get home, but when anyone is heard in the hallway when you guys arent home.

[Guest lunasmom]

One thing to consider, your hound may be barking a lot more than when YOU come home. If the conditioning is when keys are heard, barking starts, what happens when neighbors in your hallway have their keys out and open their doors? I think it may not just be when you get home, but when anyone is heard in the hallway when you guys arent home.

I've asked some of my neighbors if they ever hear her. The answer has always been "no". When my landlord told me about the barking she said she noticed that Luna has been barking in the afternoons and that particular day Luna was barking a lot.

 

I immediately sent a text to my husband to see how close to home he was. He had just gotten home. Luna barked more than usual that day because he was on the phone then went to the bathroom before letting her out and she was barking excitedly the whole time. He gets home from work in the afternoons so the timing lines us with when one of us gets home.

 

I also figured out that it's not specifically the keys that cause her to get excited. If I jingle my keys at a random time she doesnt react at all. When she hears keys outside the door and we have been out for a while she gets exited and barks because she knows we are home. She will usually stop barking when she sees me walking toward get to let her out at which point crazy zoomies and stuffie parties commence.

 

Conversely, if I forget something on a work day after I have already left and locked the door, she does not bark when I come back inside to get it.

 

The only time she barks when we are home is of she is out on the patio and wants to come in, or because she is very excited for a walk. In either case it is a single bark.

 

In the past I have recorded her when I left to see what she does. .. She basically sleeps all day while we are gone waking briefly to shift positions before going back to sleep. She knows the routine and when to expect us home.

Edited August 27, 2014 by lunasmom

[scullysmum]

I have a similar thing happen when I walk my friends dogs. The Lurcher barks like crazy when I am unlocking the door to go in, she is being wound up by the Greyhound who is bouncing around in anticipation of seeing me...I have tried all sorts of things to shut her up, but due to trauma early in her life she finds it hard to learn anything new, the only thing that works is keeping a ball on a shelf out of her reach just inside the door and giving it to her to shut her up as I come in, she finds it hard to bark with a ball in her gob

 

I'm not worried about her noise upsetting the neighbours as both sets of neighbours have yappy little dogs hat are always making a noise, it's just that she has no volume control and in the confines of a narrow entrance hall it makes my ears bleed!

 

I also think that if Luna is only barking at that time and it's not at an anti-social hour then your neighbours need to be more tolerant.....I have to put up with my neighbours children crying and screaming at all hours and I tolerate it.