Excessive Barking

Hi everyone! Gwen has been doing absolutely wonderful. We enjoy her so much and cannot imagine our lives without her. In two weeks we are going on vacation and the beaches there are dog friendly so we are all quite excited about that! As some of you may know we've had some problems with our neighbor upstairs complaining about Gwen barking. Before this whole thing she was hardly barking at all. Since then I have become so nervous we are going to get in trouble that every time Gwen lets out a bark while she's in her crate I immediately take her out. I think she has definitely picked up on this and has realized that now if she barks we will let her out of the crate. I know I am 100% to blame for this, which is the worst part! Anyways I've tried to stop doing this but sometimes she gets herself so upset and barks non stop for up to 30 minutes. I need some help/advice on what to do to stop this. I have tried to teach her the quiet command (holding up a treat so that she can see it, saying quiet very firmly and as soon as she stops barking giving her the treat. However as soon as she's done with the treat she starts up again. This is a huge problem because the guy upstairs already wants to get Gwen in trouble!! She get two or three 30 minute walks per day, 1-2 hours of off lead on days I'm off work (saturday and sunday), and 30-45 minutes of off lead time on days I work (monday through friday). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I have the same issue with Maxi, it has gotten better though but I know exactly what you mean when they bark to get something and you have to give in because they a disturbing all your neighbours!!
It's a damn tricky one because I think the only thing that works is to ignore them completely. If they want your attention or get out of the crate or whatever it is, don't give it to them until they are quite and relaxed.
Maybe put up a note in your building and explain that she is in training and that you will do this training during day time, and if someone finds it too much or disturbing at any time to come and let you know? At least that way if someone would call the council you can at least tell them that you informed everyone about what was going on and all they had to do was let you know if it was too much.
Sorry, I know its extremely hard, but every time you give in it reinforces the behaviour. My dog is adopted and I think she must have gotten away with it since she was a puppy and now 7 years later it is damn hard to get the habit our of her!

Thanks so much Annie! Wow it feels better to know I am not the only one with this problem! I have spoken to all my neighbors and they all said they don't even hear here and that they understand she's a puppy and we are working on training her! It's just the one idiot upstairs that is complaining. My landlord says she will not do anything about it because it is a dog friendly community and she is a puppy. The guy then started calling the police! The police man understood because he has 3 dogs so I was lucky there. Thanks for your advice..it sucks that the only way for it to get better is for me to start ignoring her again and only take her out/give her attention once she is quiet..it will have to get worse before it gets better!

CaraElizabeth wrote:Thanks so much Annie!  Wow it feels better to know I am not the only one with this problem! I have spoken to all my neighbors and they all said they don't even hear here and that they understand she's a puppy and we are working on training her!  It's just the one idiot upstairs that is complaining. My landlord says she will not do anything about it because it is a dog friendly community and she is a puppy. The guy then started calling the police! The police man understood because he has 3 dogs so I was lucky there.  Thanks for your advice..it sucks that the only way for it to get better is for me to start ignoring her again and only take her out/give her attention once she is quiet..it will have to get worse before it gets better!

I'm afraid so! Being a puppy though I don't think it would take too long if you are just being consistent! Completely ignore her, don't talk to her, don't even look at her! Even leave the room of you can.
Your neighbour sounds like an idiot! Don't worry about him, seems like everyone else is on your side!

We do put her in another room now because it's so loud it hurts our ears and drives us crazy! I feel bad though because she will bark for so long just desperate to get out. I think she may have separation anxiety. But we started crate training her when we got her at 8 weeks old. She never had this problem before she would only bark for a reason (had to go to the bathroom, was thirsty, wanted to play) and it was never excessive.! So it must be me starting to take her out when she barks. Everyone is on our side but if this guy keeps calling the cops we could get fined a bunch of money I think. Yesterday she barked for an hour straight!!! Finally I took her out because I felt so bad!

CaraElizabeth wrote:We do put her in another room now because it's so loud it hurts our ears and drives us crazy!  I feel bad though because she will bark for so long just desperate to get out. I think she may have separation anxiety. But we started crate training her when we got her at 8 weeks old. She never had this problem before she would only bark for a reason (had to go to the bathroom, was thirsty, wanted to play) and it was never excessive.!  So it must be me starting to take her out when she barks. Everyone is on our side but if this guy keeps calling the cops we could get fined a bunch of money I think.  Yesterday she barked for an hour straight!!! Finally I took her out because I felt so bad!

Maxi was exactly the same, I could not put her in another room she would bark like crazy, she still will sometimes, but she knows now that if I put her in the bathroom she wont be let out until she is quite. So she only barks one or two barks in there, then she is quite and I'll let her out. Now only have to get her to do this with other rooms too. Her bark is also insanely high pitched and sooooo annoying, it is so hard not to react!
Yeah an hour is a long time, I would struggle too! If you leave the room, does she still bark?

The guy sounds like a real *. However it might be worth inviting him for a coffee ( nothing stronger as assholes tend to get worse with alcohol ) and introducing him to Gwen. Explain your need to ignore her barking as part of her training as a short term nuisance for long term benefits, and ask him to bear with you.
I know it is a bit of grovelling but he may just be a lonely saddo, himself looking for attention.
Good luck.

No idea what to do in this case, rocky doesn't bark that much thankfully, at least not yet he doesn't haha I better not speak too soon!!

Sounds like the vacation is going to be fabulous especially that there are dog friendly beaches! Hope you have a fantastic time