Constant yapping - suggestions please

[filly190]

I have three dogs, the youngest Doberman aged 4 has always been a little yappy but for the past year she has grown worse. They are kept in an outside heated very large kennel with a run of 20 meters. This leads to our garden of one acre which they have the run of during the day. We work from home, so they all get loads of attention etc.

At night she yaps and barks at "nothing" and gets us up at least four to five times. We shout "quiet" and she shuts up, only to start again within 2 mins. We have tried closing off the run, so they have the kennel and about 10 foot square of outside room for the toilet etc.

The other two dogs do not bark and are not set off by her. We are not getting any sleep and neither are our neighbours who are not best pleased. Her bark carries for about half a mile and we are not very popular.

We have tried getting up and shouting at her, spraying things at her, throwing things at her. I know this sounds brutal but we are living with her, she is not living with us at the moment.

She has no problems with the other dogs and this night time yapping has slowly increased over the past year to become a very big problem.

I am at my wits end to the extent that I am seriously considering taking her to the vets to be put down. During the day we are in the garden, she is out and about and there are no issues. The dogs are not put into the kennel until dark.

It is mindless yapping and barking at nothing. We open our bedroom window and she shuts up, knowing what she is doing is wrong. At this stage now, if we get out of bed and go down to give a stern word, she shoots to the back of the kennel and hides.

The minute we are away (in her mind) she starts again. Nothing seems to detere her.

I am sorry this post is long, I thought if I gave as much background information, someone out there may have an answer. There are no medical problems, she cant be borred, I have looked into her diet.

I cant split up the dogs, tried that and she howls all night. Have tried her with just one dog and the barking continues.

Please someone out there help, I am frantic about this and feel (only in my mind, so dont take this literally) quite murderous towards her.

She is a lovely little dog, which I have bred myself and taken to all the training classes. It would break my heart to have her put down, but at the moment we are stressed, tried and run down by all of this and at the end of our teathers.

 

[Tia]

I had the same problem with my Belgian Shepherd Dog not so long ago. She reached 1 year old, lives outside with my other 2 dogs (who do not bark at just anything and will be quiet when they are told!) and decided that she needed to bark at all strange and unfamiliar noises......that's good! That's what she's here for.....however not when she won't be quiet when told. She hit beyond ridiculous when she had me up one night 5 times! That was too much for me after weeks on end of being woken up several times every single night.

That particular night I ran downstairs like a banshee, went outside and smacked her!! Then I dragged her round the back to her room and pushed her on her bed and told her to be quiet!!

Now as most on here know, I don't hit my dogs.........however this time I did and boy did it work!! She is now a wonderful dog and yes she will still alert us to anything unusual however she will also quieten when I ask her to.

I don't know what to suggest to you, I am just saying what worked for me. Good luck.

 

[filly190]

I am sitting here crying my heart out, wide awake after going to bed at 11pm and getting up three times.

Just before I posted this message, I went down, dragged her by the scruffs from the kennel and gave her a good shake and shouted at her. This is the third time tonight I have done this, I even gave her a smack on the bum. I have never hit my dogs before and this is the last resort. Third time and at the moment we are quiet. I put her on the lead to do it this time and really made her know I meant it.

I didnt think from the first eposide tonight that she would dare start again. I have dog friends staying with me and they have shown me how to do this correctly, by getting hold of her scruffs and giving her a dam good shake and shout.

How many times would you do this, if it isnt getting through to her, what next. I was shaking when I went in and wet with sweat with the stress of it all.

Thank you so much for responding

 

[GTs]

Barking collar??

 

[Christmas_Kate]

I would say from what you're saying she's attention seeking. The more you go out, the more she barks to get you to go out. Like a child, good attention/ bad attention they don't care as long as they have ATTENTION.
TBH I don't think shaking the dog is the answer. Barking can be an insecurity thing. A persistent barker is a nightmare. I know, a neighbour has one. My dog doesnt bark he 'yips' which is just as irritating!
Try one of the anti bark collars, if all else fails I'm afraid you may just have to have the dog in the house at night. You can't NOT tell the dog to shut up, but when you go and do that you're giving it what it wants thus rewarding it. But at least by having it in the house it's close to you and this may solve the problem. You can buy cages for bigger dogs, one of those in the kitchen or utility may help.
If that doesnt work I think a call to an animal behaviourist is in order, there are plenty in the yellow pages and they will be able to help you.
good luck!

 

[Sooty]

I agree with Kate, each time you go to her or shout at her you are reinforcing the behaviour by giving her attention. Also, if she is barking and you are shouting at her, she is likely to think you are joining in with her! Can you not take her indoors at night? TBH by now I would be doing anything to keep her quiet. You must have very tolerant neighbours, if I lived next door to her I would have strangled her myself by now!

I think you have to decide to either do whatver it takes to shut her up, even if that means having her sleep with you (something I would never do, mine sleep downstairs), or think about rehoming her. She may have insecurity issues, she may be scared of the dark, she may be hyper-sensitive to noise - who knows? The lack of sleep must be awful, I really sympathise.

 

[bellgave]

You poor thing, sounds like youa re at the end of your tether. You need the dog equivalent of Super Nanny to come and restore a peaceful nights sleep!! There is one on TV Victoria someone, you should look her up and contact them. Good Luck

 

[mrdarcy]

I've known people who've had lots of success with the anti-bark collar. But I've also known people who've tried it and it's had no effect whatsoever. Depends on the dog. It's worth giving it a try though.

Can I ask - has your dog been spayed?

 

[filly190]

She has'nt, would it make a difference. Upon watching her behaviour last night she is yapping for the others to wake up and play with her, to guard the kennel door and stop them coming in or out. The barking is at nothing.

 

[mrdarcy]

Re the spaying - it does tend to calm them down a little bit (hence why you have to monitor their weight more closely post spaying) so it may help her. If you're not intending to breed from her then it wouldn't hurt to try - as a last resort anyway.

Also I reread your original post. You said that your dogs have free run of your very large garden during the day... do you also take them out for walks each day? Having a large garden to run about in is good from an exercise point of view but from a brain stimulation point of view its the same sights, sounds and smells every day. It sounds like she wants the other dogs to play with her which might suggest she's bored and her brain needs more mental stimulation. Long walks away from her usual surroundings might be enough to satisfy her need to play with the others.

 

[Tia]

Yes the dog is possibly attention-seeking but this wasn't the case in my dog's situation; she was actually barking at new sounds; she never had me up for no reason at all. My gripe with my dog was not the fact that she barked but the fact that she wouldn't quieten when I asked her to.

In the poster's position, unfortunately she can't allow the dog to just bark willy-nilly as presumably she has neighbours who will tire of this behaviour. I do feel terribly sorry for Filly - not a nice situation at all and I know just how incredibly wearing it is.

I don't think anti-bark collars are supposed to be worn except under supervision therefore they would not be safe to leave on the dog overnight.

 

[claire1976]

I have the same problem with my Doberman and this has become worse as she has gotten older. She barks when she's shut outside and often at nothing in particular. So I let her in then she's pacing around the house frustrated and going to the door all the time!! She sets the other dogs off too so it's really annoying.
I can't really offer any other advice than what's been given on this page except you could try a herbal relaxant, something with valerian which may help her relax a bit a night and settle down. Anti- bark collars did not work on mine and neither did shaking or smacking. As already said on here, any attention whether negative or not is attention to a dog and thus rewards them with your presence and voice which is what they want.
Good luck, I can only sympathise with you.

 

[cevans]

Would definately try the collar - my friend had the same problem with her collie and it has worked and she now no longer uses it.

You mention you did dog training with her? - do they do any agility or something that might stimulate her? perhaps she needs wearing out a bit!

Its a rotten situation - I hope you can resolve it.

 

[Oneofthepack]

Poor you! Lack of sleep is a killer I know.

Not sure if you're into this sort of stuff but there is an equine herbal company called Hilton Herbs that have a domestic animal section and I got Skullcap and Valerian tablets for a dog that started having mini fits. I'm pretty sure there will be something that could help if you have a look at www.hiltonherbs.co.uk. I believe they will make something up for specific problems too.

Keeping her in the house seems like the best idea if you think she's trying to get the others to play.

 

[filly190]

Thank you for your comments they are very helpful. Because we work from home, we dont walk the dogs as we should. They have the garden and fields next door and I suppose I thought they had enough attention and exercise. I had not considered new stimulation.

She barks and does not quieten when asked and then does mindless yapping at night. During the day the dogs are on the go all the time, we do play with them and do training exercises, but as you have mentioned nothing is new. I just cant understand why it has to be a night. Last night the last lot of bother I had was 2.30am and as you can imagine after getting up (we have neighbours next door with young children) so I feel so guilty and awful I just cant leave her.

I pop my head out of the bedroom window and say shut up and she shoots into the kennel, the minute I am back in bed she starts again. My neighbours are lovely and long suffering but its not fair on them, thats why I get up because I am thinking of their kids.

I will try your suggestions, I am willing to do anything to stop this. Many thanks

 

[filly190]

Thank you for your posts, I am willing to take all comments on board.

A question, I dont know if you can answer, regarding the anti bark collars. I had considered the radio electric shock one. As I mentioned before as soon as the bedroom window is opened she shoots inside and hides, knowing she has been bad. If that is the case and the kennel is part of our brick garage, would the remote be able to give a strong enough signal.

The collars appear to be about £100, which is a small price to pay for sleep, but if the signal cant reach her, it would be such a waste.

Also if I did get one to zap her with, could it make her worse, I know with horses you sometimes correct one bad habit and another one pops up in its place.

This barking and yapping is only late at night, when this clever little dog knows there is nothing you can do about it. In the day, I am in the garden with the dogs or not very far away and can control the barking, allowing them to bark to announce something and getting them to quieten when they have done their job

Once again, many thanks to everyone, and tonight I hope to get some much needed sleep.

 

[Tia]

Yes I hope you get some much needed sleep too - that is the worst part of this.

The remote control collars do work fairly well but not sure they would work through brickwork. I had one which offered a number of different options: beeping, vibrating (buzzing like a cellphone) and 11 different levels of electric zap. I had one for a different problem with the same dog; she used to jump up and bite the horses on the nose at feeding time. I thought that the beeping would be enough for her to stop but it wasn't. I used the vibrate and this worked brilliantly. I only had to use the collar for less than a week and she was over her biting habit! I didn't use the electric zap, however I would have had she not stopped with the vibrate. The one thing that it did state on my collar's details was that the collar should NEVER be left on unattended, so by not using at night it never helped me with her night-time barking (the smack did the trick with that one). I sold the collar as have no further use for one now.

Someone else did come up with a great idea though - take the dogs for a really long walk in the evening and try to wear him out and if you could do some agility with him it could really help. I'll bet the dog is sleeping most of the day and then is wide awake at night.

Very best of luck.

 

[chestnut cob]

[ QUOTE ]

Someone else did come up with a great idea though - take the dogs for a really long walk in the evening and try to wear him out and if you could do some agility with him it could really help. I'll bet the dog is sleeping most of the day and then is wide awake at night.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tempted to agree with this. About this time last year our older dog had a couple of cataract operations and had to be house bound for several weeks. Once he was mobile enough to get around the house he got really fed up of this. He slept all day so by the time we all went to bed, he was wide awake. Cue howling, barking, whining, scraping the floor and doors all night long.

In the end my parents started taking him out for lots of very short walks to break the day up, and trying to find things for him to do during the day to stop him sleeping. Anything to tire him out enough to sleep through the night. Now's he's back to normal and normal exercise, he never gets up unless the postman comes v early before anyone is up.

Good luck sorting it out, it must be hell not getting any sleep.

 

[Cobnut1]

Constant barking for no real reason can be a sign of stress for the dog (as well as the owner and surrounding area!) Yelling at her to shut up, putting a barking collar on, giving electric shocks is nothing short of cruelty, sorry folks but that is my opinion. Your dog is not attention seeking. It is stress. Agree with Oneofthepack, and get some natural remedies into her, and also suggest you start walking them. If your work does not allow you to do this, then pay someone else to do it.

I can't understand folks who have dogs then don't walk them sufficintly (Sp?) then wonder why they bark!!

 

[Cobnut1]

I have just read your post again, and was astounded when you say, "No medical problems, can't be bored............" if you don't WALK your dog, and she has the run of the garden every day...and no-where esle, why can't she be bored? I think possibly Boredom is a factor in this case, as well as stress, and i still abide with what i wrote above.

 

[Triskar]

Try clicker training, and train her using positive reinforcement to bark on command - and ONLY on command. Then, since you aren't cueing the behaviour, she won't bark.... in theory, anyway. But clicker training does work - like magic, and it sounds like you're at the stage where anything is worth a try!

 

[CLS.]

We are waiting to get our first doberman puppy and the owner of the stud dog is incredibly good. Have a look on arituar.co.uk and maybe email/call her and ask for help im sure she wouldnt mind especially as you are at breaking point. Good luck xxxxx

 

[PiebaldHorse]

You can buy collars that give a small shock when the dog barks, these are the best. Its like you putting your tongue on a small 9V battery (please dont ask lol).

I know here in Northern Ireland, you can rent them from the local council, but might be different were you are.

They are around £50 but so worth it. My westie likes yapping and it did stop him.

Sometimes it can be a wee habit they get into and its just a matter of breaking that habit

 

[filly190]

I appreciate your comments, however in my defense, I did mention that we are at home all day and they have 8 acres in which to exercise and I do games and training with them.

Please dont think I ignore them and leave them to their our devices, they have lots of attention and love. I admit I dont walk them as I should, we dont have time. But I had thought with the amount of land they are exercised on, it would be enough. Their fav thing is hunting rabbits etc which they are all excellent at.

I know now by other peoples comments that I am not giving them new stimulation and this I will rectify. But I had thought before these posts that when people walk their dogs, they have a selection of routes and not all dogs get loads of open countryside to run freely in.

I admit my ignorance on this subject and am willing to take on board all comments.

As for zaping her with a collar, this is something that I have not bought, just considered and I mentioned in a previous post that I was worried about this. Yes, I agree that it is cruel and would never wish to harm my animals.

As for shouting at her, I dont know what else to do. If she will not quieten on command, what do you suggest. As also mentioned she is fine in the day, its night thats the problem. Usually 2.30pm.

My neighbours have young children and all I can do is open my bedroom window and shout to her. This has stopped working because she knows dam well I am in the house away and cant do anything. The minute the bedroom window is shut, she starts again. It is mindless yapping. I dont like shouting, shaking or smacking and have never even carried a crop for my horses. But I do have the welfare of others to think about in this situation. Unfortunately this dog is disturbing several other peoples lives and if she continues waking the neighbourhood up, they will complain to the council etc etc.

If you have more advice on this, please post, I am at my wits end and would appreciate all the help I can get. I badly want to do this right and I care very much, hence the post.

 

[Tia]

If it makes you feel any better - none of my farming friends walk their dogs and neither do I.

My dogs have free 24 hour access to our 200 acres and they aren't walked ever, although until they were being bothered by the wolf, they did come out on all the trail rides with me. They find plenty to amuse themselves with all day.

My dog did not bark because she was stressed; she didn't bark because she was attention-seeking; she was just barking at new sounds. Perhaps that is all your dog is barking at?

Just a thought - could you close the garage door at night so that they can't get into the garden? It might keep the noise down a little, particularly if you had a radio playing quietly.

I was thinking about you last night as I lay there listening to the wolves howling their heads off at 3am.......

 

[filly190]

Thanks for that, most appreciated. I had considered my dogs quite lucky that we're home and they have are lots of freedom.

I spoke to the stud dog owner, when I bred her from and she told me that the dad is very yappy. The bitches mum is'nt and she thinks she has inheritated this trait.

Her advice was to bring her in the house. This is something i would like to avoid as I have parrots in my kitchen and it means a total reorganisation of the house.

Well, thanks once more, your advice and support is appreciated.

 

[chestnut cob]

Hey, I think having 8 acres to roam around in all day is pretty damn good!! Most people's dogs only get a walk round one or two fields each day.

Don't be so down on yourself, its stressful enough already without blaming yourself for everything. If she's the only dog that's barking it may not be lack of exercise or stimulation - surely the others would be the same? She seems to be the "odd one out", not the rule, so it stands to reason it could be something specific to her.

Have you thought about contacting an animal behaviourist? They might be able to suggest something different that can help.

 

[filly190]

Thank you, and once again thank you. I spoke to a dog specialist today at length and he said as much the same. Today, the dogs have been walked, played with, out all day from 6.30pm until dark. My youngest has just started her nightly yapping. We've run the legs off them and still she's on the go.

He told me it is quite common with dobermans and says what ever I do will not stop her. He said not to go out to her, but as I have neighbours I have to do something.

He has ordered me a special rubber muzzel, she can still drink with this, however he swears she wont be able to bark. For £9.00 its worth a try and I have to use it for a week to break the habit. If it works, I will tell everyone who is going through yapping.

I get it next week, so fingers crossed, wish me luck.

 

[Tia]

Oh good luck!! I really hope it works......would be nice for you to get one full night of sleep. Fingers crossed all goes well.

 

[chestnut cob]

Good luck with the muzzle. Keep us updated, be interested to hear how it goes.