Ticket2ride21 said:
ok. Tucker is 8 months old and he's a great GREAT dog. We have a few problems thought. First and foremost...when we leave, he barks. All the time, when we come home we dont hear him, but the neighbors have complained...almost all of them. I love my puppy but he has a really loud bark. I know he misses us and wants us to come back but we gotta do what we gotta do ya know? Anyways...we've never left him for more than 4 hours and I dont understand. How do i stop him from making the neighbors want to kill him?
Yes, he misses you. But, it sounds like it's something a little more than that. It sounds like anxiety. In order to fix anxiety, you are going to first need to explain to your neighbors what you are doing and ask them to bear with you a little longer. First of all, crate him. It's the BEST way to handle MINOR separation anxiety in my experience (some dogs that are too far along, crating can get really ugly. but your average dog like Tucker sounds to be, will benefit greatly). It doesn't automatically fix the problem, but it helps. It will help with keeping your house puppy proofed and keeping the puppy safe.
First of all, DO NOT make a fuss out of coming and going. If you do, the anxiety intensifies. Make leaving a minor deal. Just put him in the crate and walk away. Maybe give him a kong to keep him occupied. Peanut butter Kong's are a gem of a treat.
When you get home, don't run to the crate, let him out and make a fuss. Don't apologize to him. While he may not be able to understand what you are saying, he understands how you say it. When you get home, just walk around. Take off the coat and shoes, get the mail and sort it. He will learn that you are not going to rush to him. He will whine for the first few times, but once he gets used to it, he will be quiet and just wait. Don't let him out as long as he is whining.
Do this for short periods of time at first. Try not to leave him alone to long for a while. 15 minutes while you run up to the gas station, 30 minutes to go get a few groceries, 1 hour to go out to eat, etc.
Yes, at first he will still bark, but as you create a less anxious environment, he will become less anxious as well. It's not the only way, but in my experience, it works.
Ticket2ride21 said:
and last but not least...he chews up everything. expecially paper, anything he can get into. We are working on it this way, we come home, he's excited to see us, he dances, we dance, we are excited to see him, we see the mess and ignore it and pretend like were happy...then we mosy on over to it...still excited and see it and BOOM../end excitement. We point at it and in a firm, non happy tone say "what is this? Tucker....what is this?" and he hangs his head low and cowers. So...he knows what were upset about and he knows he's in trouble. but the barking thing...i have no idea....what do i do?
~Dave
He doesn't know he is in trouble. He knows you are mad, so he cowers or whatever his reaction is. But, he does NOT make that connection. Just by having that reaction, you may be making it worse. A black lab that I was training kept getting worse, but once the owners stopped yelling at him, he started to learn easier. If the dog is afraid of you coming home, you are actually intensifying the anxiety. You want to make coming home and leaving an easy thing. Don't make a fuss. If you do, you run the risk of making the anxiety worse. In order to fix it, you have to catch him. You can set him up. Make him think you have left and hide (doesn't always work, but if you make it realistic enough, it usually does.) Watch him and when he starts to tear things, stop him. How you go about that is your choice. Sometimes, scaring him will work, but I don't usually do it that way, because it doesn't help much with socialization. You can use a spray bottle. Or you can simply say "no" sternly and loudly. When he stops, you "leave" again. Unfortunately, it only takes 2 or 3 times for him to figure it out. So, you do it so that he always wonders if you are waiting for him. That way he will learn.
