Excessive Barking

[jgeelen]

I have a 3 month old boxer girl. She is crated at the most 4 hours a day. I or my roommate are with her the rest of the time. Our neighbors told us that when we are gone that she is barking excessivly and that they can hear her upstairs. We recorded her while we were gone and she does bark quite a bit but not as bad as I thought. She is crated in the living room and we leave the TV on while we are gone. I think she is barking because she wants to be out with my older dog. I leave toys and bones in her crate yet nothing seems to help. I exercise her before she gets crated and she has never been crated over 4 hours since we got her. Any suggestions would be great. I don't want to continue and annoy the neighbors.

 

[gmacleod]

Where is your other dog during the time you're gone? Is she in the same room as the pup? It would seem the most likely that she'd settle down with company.

 

[jgeelen]

My other dog is left out in the house. My puppies crate is right next to my other dog's bed in the living room. My other dog has free run of the house but typically stays in the living room on the couch or her bed. I think she might feel left out or abandoned but I don't know what to do to help her.

 

[gmacleod]

Beyond leaving your other dog in the same room, there isn't much to be done other than wait until the pup figures out that barking won't help.

If her crate is near to where the other dog is going to choose to sit (bed and couch) then she ought to settle relatively quickly. It may help further if you leave her with something to do that will keep her engrossed for the first 15 minutes or so. Perhaps a frozen stuffed kong, treat ball or a raw bone may do the trick.

 

[jgeelen]

I'll try leaving her with something more exciting tomorrow while I'm gone. I was hoping that she would realize it wasn't working and stop. We'll see. I was gone for an hour earlier today and I recorded her and she barked pretty much the entire time.

 

[jgeelen]

Another part to her barking, she has only been crated maybe 5 times, we were keeping her elsewhere and it didn't work out so we bought her the crate. I don't know much about it, but would it help if I crated her for short periods while I was home and praised her when she is being good? I really have no idea, I have never crated a dog before.

 

[gmacleod]

Very definitely yes! A dog needs to be acclimatised to a crate prior to being shut in, and prior to being left alone in it. And that takes a bit of time in building up a positive association.

There is some information about how to go about crate training at http://www.boxerworld.com/puppy/crate/ In the meantime, is it possible to gate the pup in the kitchen or some other puppy-proofable area?

 

[jgeelen]

We left her in the kitchen the first week we had her, she destroyed it. She got onto the kitchen table, somehow, and opened up a cupboard and somehow knocked dishes out of the sink (haven't figured that one out yet). She goes crazy when she is left in the kitchen, that's why we bought the crate. She hasn't been left in it very long yet. I don't know where else to keep her because she is getting into everything. I think the crate is the safest place for her.

 

[gmacleod]

Was your other dog in there with her? That would likely help a great deal.

If it just isn't going to work though; then yes, a crate can be the safest place. She does need to be acclimatised and relawed about being in there prior to being left unattended though. Crates are not safe places for dogs that panic inside them, for example, and some have been killed that way. Yours doesn't sound upset to that degree, but still, you need to spend some time training her to be in there prior to leaving her alone in it.

 

[jgeelen]

I'll try locking them both up in the kitchen tomorrow and see how they do. I have been leaving her kennel door open and praising her when she goes in there on her own. Would it help if I fed her in there? Currently I feed her treats in there, so at least she has to get in to get a treat. Hopefully I'm not hurting the situation.