Morning everyone Jack & Barney are doing really well, and very well behaved (most of the time) Barney has developed a habit which we are struggling to break now. When someone leaves the room he is in he cries, then barks very very loudly. He does this even when someone is still with him on the room, eg if I go upstairs and hubby is with him and vice versa. During the day we ignore him, and don't come back to the room while he is making a noise and whoever is with him tries to distract him to stop the barking. If no-one is with him, say I've gone in the shower, he just gets ignored. The issue we have is that my sons go out to the gym before work around 5.20 and as soon as they leave he starts again. At that time we have to get up so that the neighbours don't complain. We had de-crated them completely, but have started crating again at night as he does this if he wakes up, usually around 4am!! In the crate he sleeps til someone gets up. The strange thing is he doesn't so it when we leave him to go out, it's only when he knows there is someone still in the house, like he is demanding their company. It's starting to get me down now, and I would appreciate any ideas on how to stop this. (He also has Jack with him for company). Many thanks, A very tired Lou x
Re: Crying/barking for attention I have had a 'barking for attention' problem with Gypsy. Different in that she barked AT me for attention while I was in the room! Deliberate ignoring worked with her. Distracting her didn't work. Putting the newspaper in front of my face and sighing and totally ignoring her did work. Then I treated her for settling quietly. This didn't take long at all to train. My brother stays with us 4 days a week and gets up at 5:30, leaving the house at 6am. The way I taught mine was to teach them that 'humans getting up has nothing to do with you getting up'. So, in the morning, I put the kettle on, potter around, get my breakfast ready - then get them up. This method works eventually by slowly lengthening the time from just a few seconds to about 15 - 20 minutes. So, now, when my brother gets up the noises he makes are no signal to them to do anything, they just snooze on. I found it very useful when the pup arrived as Tatze would not be bothered by night time puppy wee breaks or early morning pup feeding etc - she knew her own 'get up' cues and waited for them This method takes lots of determination from you and quite a few weeks - but it's worth it!
Re: Crying/barking for attention Bonnie barks for attention if I go out of the room and she can't follow. First she cries, then howls, then barks! It was getting me down so I know exactly what you mean. I'm trying something new which (touch wood) seems to be working. It's the principle of telling the dog what you want him/her to do, rather than worrying about what you don't want them to do. So, instead of focussing on the crying/ barking, I give her an active command. When I go upstairs and she comes to the rug at the bottom of the baby gate to watch me ascend, I turn to her and say "wait". So far, she's stopped the crying, howling, barking (although we only started this yesterday!!) It seems that giving her something to do (ie to wait) makes her less anxious and - because she's done a good job of waiting - she gets a reward! Bizarrely this seems to be working. For shorter departures anyway. For longer departures (like when I'm in the bath), I ignore her and eventually she stops. I'm hoping that by getting on top of the small departures without a yelp or a cry, eventually the longer ones will stop too. Maybe you could try the active command thing.... I used "wait" because we'd been practising that yesterday and also it made sense to stop her constantly banging her head against the baby gate!!! Oh boy. Who said puppies were easy!
Re: Crying/barking for attention Thanks for the replies, some very good ideas! Things seem better after a couple of nights sleep lol. I had just started trying the command when I leave them, saying stay there which we use for them to wait while people go in and out of doors/dog gates so they don't barge through and run upstairs. It has been better, tho this morning I was feeling quite pleased with myself as there wasn't a sound when I went upstairs, and when I came down, Barney was sat there with that 'it wasn't me' look on his face, with an item of clothing he had stolen after climbing on the ironing basket and pulling off the windowsill - still an improvement on the barking tho Lou x
Re: Crying/barking for attention So glad there's some improvement there, Looby Lou, we're also doing better.... fingers crossed it will continue! I have been known to "accidentally" drop a sock as I go upstairs with the washing basket, so that Bonnie thinks she's snuck a cheeky treat, - this saves some of my more valuable chewables!!
