Dog Barking Solution

Don't know if this is the correct forum for this or not, but would like to solicit advice from people on how to stop a dog barking problem. We recently have had a 2 year old lab/chow mix come into our family. He is a great dog, but has a big barking problem, especially early in the morning. We have tried a variety of things with no success including the anti-bark collars of all kinds (spray, shock, etc.). The problem with the spray collar is that it goes off frequently for things other than barking. The shock collars are not effective because his coat is so thick (even when he has been trimmed) that it just doesn't appear to affect him. Are there any other products out there people have had success with? We really do not want to have to resort to removing his "barking box" so to say. Thanks.

 

We have a lab/husky mix and have had similar problems. A trainer taught me this trick a while back for a number of actions that we wanted to correct (jumping on people, etc).

She gave me a very small (pint?) paint can with maybe 10 pennies in it. When the dog barks you are supposed to give the can a good hard shake, and say "NO!" in a loud, deep voice at the same time. Generally, they don't like the noise and they should stop. Now all we have to do is pick up the can and our dog knows to stop (though we really don't use it anymore!). The nice thing about this is it doesn't harm them either.

Let me know if this makes sense.

 

Have you tried those bark-activated ultrasonic noise machines? I used one on a neighbor's noisy dog once and it worked fairly well.

http://www.petsafe.net/bark_control/ultrasonic.htm
http://shop.petsmart.com/product/2534374302023689/2534374302032915/845524441778452.htm

 

I would never remove the voicebox.
Sounds like this dog is greeting the morning. I suggest either early morning walk combined with firm and consistent training with non threatening techniques - like the coin can.

By the way, I sympathize and am not judging. With two of my own I have failed at consistency but have learned what not to do.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I forgot to mention that one of our problems is that we have three other dogs. This last dog we took in to save him from being put to sleep by his owners. The other three we had since they were puppies and trained them early on. I have tried a number of things dealing with the early morning wakeups (4:30 - 5:30 AM) such as feeding them much later at night, trying to tire them out, putting a fan in the room where they sleep to block out noises he hears, darkening the room, etc.. The one thing that seems to work is giving him a sedative at night that our vet prescribed. However, I only give that to him if I have had a late night and really don't want to get up at 5:30 on the weekends. Don't want to rely on medication. That seems to work fairly well.

The idea with the coin can is good for when we have someone come to the door and I will definitely try that. Now we use a spray bottle with water and that has the same impact. The one problem is that this doesn't help in the morning when I am not in the room with him.

The ultrasonic thing we have tried, but doesn't seem to stop him. I also don't want to punish the other dogs that are behaving due to his being bad.

I too want to avoid surgery at all cost.

Thanks again.

 

You also don't want to totally stop the barking do you? I mean when strangers come to the door? I guess I like a dog barking when someone approaches our house. I certainly can understand a dog barking all the time would be annoying. We used to have a border collie mix (rest his soul) - He was a wonderful dog. He too, barked alot, but he was talking to us....very verbal dog. However, he slept with us and wouldn't wake up until we did so he never awakened us at an early hour. We were lucky. That's great that you rescued him from being put to sleep! Hang in there.

 

One of my co-workers had Bark Busters come into their home and help them with the lab mix. Here is the local representative:

http://www.barkbusters.com/franchises/Virginia/renshaw.htm

Do you know why the dog is barking? Does he need to go out? Is he hungry? Does he suffer from separation anexity? Do you his background? Was he abused? There are many reasons for the dogs behavior. I'm involved in rescue and we have had several dogs with behavior issues. You can also meet with a behaviorist.

You can contact me privately if you would like other suggestions.

Best of luck!

 

Originally he had severe separation anxiety and would bark when we would leave the room. We quickly were able to break him from that habit and he is very well adjusted now. He tends to bark at noises and people walking by the house quite a bit which is more manageable as we can quickly try to correct the behavior. What is most problematic is early in the mornings when he seems to be barking for food. We don't want to overfeed him and he does get two cups of science diet per day (50 lbs). He seems to have a huge appetite and will devour anything put in front of him. I think his old family fed him table scraps frequently, but again we have been able to break him from that habit. I have tried to feed them later in the evening (7 to 8 PM) and he still routinely wakes up early to let us know it's time to eat. It's definitely not having to go to the bathroom as when I come downstairs the only thing he wants is food. I have talked to our vet about his appetite, but she says we are feeding him the correct amount and not to give him more.