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Help! My Neighbor Complains About My Barking Dog

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How to React When a Neighbor Complains

Neighbor Complains About My Barking Dog
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As you arrive home from work, you notice a note taped to your front door. It’s from your neighbors, and they’re complaining about your dog barking constantly while you’re away at work. What should you do?

Don’t Ignore the Situation

Many pet owners simply ignore neighbors’ complaints; they assume the complaint is not true. But is it? Neighbors don’t complain just to complain—unless they feel ignored. Regardless of your past feuds, it’s important to take your neighbor’s complaint seriously. Call, email or leave a note on your neighbor’s front door, and acknowledge his complaint politely. Apologize profusely, and let him know you’re putting a plan into action immediately.

How Bad is Your Dog’s Barking?

Pet owners are usually very aware that their dogs bark when they’re not home, but how bad is it? It’s important to know if your dog is bored or suffering from separation anxiety. Set up an old smartphone or tablet in your home, and Skype yourself from your current phone. Or purchase an interactive dog camera system to check in on your dog throughout the day. Many camera systems will automatically alert pet owners when their dogs start barking.

If possible, record some of this footage for future reference with a professional dog trainer or veterinary behaviorist. Knowing what’s going on while you’re away will help you address your dog’s barking problem and neighbor’s complaint quickly.

Change Your Dog’s Behavior

Incessant dog barking behavior will not resolve on its own, so it’s important to take time to change your dog’s behavior. One way to change your dog’s behavior is to keep her indoors when you’re unable to keep an eye on her. Never leave a dog alone outdoors. Depending on what you find during your daily video sessions, it’ll be better to start changing your dog’s behavior sooner than later.

For dogs with separation anxiety, partnering with a professional dog trainer is the only way to successfully manage this issue. For bored dogs, hire a pet sitter to walk your dog while you’re at work. While this may seem like an unneeded expense, a pet sitter’s fee of $20 per day is much cheaper than animal control fines and lawsuits. Check out additional tips on keeping a bored dog quiet while you’re away.

Electronic Collars Don’t Work

Unfortunately, an electronic collar or anti-dog barking device is the first item that pet owners purchase when neighbors complain about their barking dogs. After polling hundreds of pet owners, many claim their dogs continued to bark or became aggressive after using an electronic collar. Many dogs are so frightened by the pain, they hide under furniture, urinate or defecate.

There are so many other options that work quickly and won’t cause your dog pain. For example, a Manner’s Minder or Pet Tutor will keep your dog busy throughout the day and prevent barking behavior. These items cost the same or less than an electronic collar, and work much better. If your dog still barks, hire a positive reinforcement dog trainer for best results.

Never ignore a complaint, and start changing your dog’s behavior today.

Separation Anxiety in Dogs

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Preventing & Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Separation Anxiety in Dogs
Is dog barking a symptom of separation anxiety?

Is your dog barking due to separation anxiety (SA)? Learn how to identify and prevent dog separation anxiety, and how to seek professional help if needed.

What is Separation Anxiety?

Separation anxiety occurs when a dog has a panic attack when left home alone. It’s like your dog freaks out and can’t control his terror or panic. He’s terrified to be left alone.

Dogs with mild separation anxiety usually pant heavily, vocalize, spin in their crates or at the back door when they’re left alone. Moderate to severe SA dogs will self-mutilate themselves trying to escape, such as ripping out their teeth or crashing through glass windows in an effort to escape.

Identifying Separation Anxiety

As a professional dog trainer, I can usually spot dogs predisposed to separation anxiety. It’s almost like they’re super sensitive and feel things at a deeper level than most dogs. Lovingly, I refer to them as “velcro dogs,” as dogs with separation anxiety are always by your side and looking into your soul. 🙂

Most dogs with anxiety follow you from room to room, watch over you while taking a shower or bath (I think they’re making sure you don’t drown), scream in excitement when you come home and crawl in your lap when you’re sad.

While most dogs will bark and whine when they’re alone, especially when left in a crate, it’s important to differentiate between a dog that isn’t crate trained and a dog with separation anxiety.

When in doubt, revisit “Crate Training Tips” to brush up on your crate training skills. If after putting those dog training tips in practice and your dog still stresses out, then you need to seek professional help from animal behaviorists.

 Still not sure if your dog has separation anxiety? Record your dog when left alone.

If you don’t have a dog monitor camera, use Skype or FaceTime.

How to Prevent Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Our behavior is critical to preventing and managing separation anxiety in dogs. Many times, pet parents reward separation anxiety behaviors because it’s really reinforcing us to be unconditionally loving and we don’t want to upset our velcro dog.

Trust me, I totally understand the feeling and emotion when coming home to your dog. He celebrates with unbridled enthusiasm and vocalizes as if his heart is full again. He’s thinking, “You’re home!” Be careful though. It’s not fair to your dog when you reinforce his excitement for your arrival. He needs to learn coping skills when left alone.

  • Make leaving uneventful
    • Give your dog a yummy food stuffed toy about 5 minutes before leaving.
    • Get your car keys, say nothing to your dog and leave.
  • Make your return uneventful
    • The moment you step into the door, ignore your dog. Trust me, I know it’s hard! Not only are you preventing SA, you’re teaching your dog not to jump on you.
    • Set your keys down and then take your dog out to potty.
    • Once he potties, then reward your dog, but keep celebrations to a minimum. No more happy dances. 🙂
  • Teach your dog that alone time is good
    • When taking a shower:
      • Give your dog a food stuffed toy.
      • Close the bathroom door to separate you and your dog.
      • When opening the door, don’t celebrate.
    • When leaving for 5-10 minutes:
      • Get the mail alone every other day.
      • Work in the yard alone for 10 minutes, then bring your dog out to enjoy yard work.
    • Close a door between you and your dog for a few minutes every day to teach your dog how to be alone.

Additional Valuable Tips

  • Exercise your dog or puppy daily. Most tired dogs will sleep when left alone.
  • Pair yummy food stuffed toys with leaving. This redirects his attention rather than worry about being left alone.
  • Turn on calming music for dogs. Personally, I use and recommend Through A Dog’s Ear CDs or downloads. They’re very relaxing—even for me. 🙂
  • Invest in pheromone plugins or sprays. These emit pheromones mimicking a nursing mother dog and have proven very effective with dog separation anxiety cases.

Yes, in the past and currently, I share my home with SA dogs with variable degrees of anxiety. It’s a tough road, but with professional help, this can be successfully managed and your dog can learn to be alone. 

When Separation Anxiety is Serious

If your dog displays moderate-to-severe separation anxiety symptoms, you need professional help.

Your dog’s behavior will only worsen. It won’t resolve itself, and your dog won’t get over it. I’ve witnessed dogs de-gloving their ears trying to escape from their crates. One client’s dog amputated his own tail, trying to escape his home when left alone. It can get that serious.

What are your questions about separation anxiety? I’m listening!

Request Dog Barking

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How to Stop a Dog From Barking

How to Stop Dog BarkingDoes your dog wake you up at 5 a.m. for breakfast? Or remind you it’s time to eat at 5 p.m.? Ah, this is “request barking” at its finest!

Request barking is pretty close to “attention seeking barking” except a few minor tweaks when teaching dogs to stop barking.

This is pretty easy to fix. You’ll just need patience. 🙂

Dogs thrive on schedules. They are pretty dependent on us so having a set schedule predicts when they will potty, eat and when you arrive home. Funny how dogs will wake up from a nap at exactly 5 p.m. because their person is due to arrive!

Let’s get back to your dog breathing in your face at 5 a.m. on Saturday asking for breakfast. 🙂

Try this:

o   When your dog tries to wake you up, ignore him.

o   Turn over and go back to sleep. Cover your head — whatever it takes to disengage from your dog.  I know it’s hard to ignore a dog demanding breakfast, but this is the first step to teaching him to sleep in.

o   Once your dog ignores you and lays down, sit up, put your feet on the ground, bring him potty and serve his breakfast. Now, I know you’re thinking you’ve just rewarded your dog by feeding him at 5 a.m., but actually you rewarded quiet behavior instead.

o   Now practice every morning.  Slowly add duration, meaning wait until your dog is quiet and it’s later than 5 a.m.

Start to finish, this usually takes two weeks to teach so hang in there. 🙂

What if my dog never stops barking?

If your dog has practiced request barking for a long time, the barking will get worse before it gets better. We call it extinction bursts, and they are very normal. 🙂

Think of it this way:

  • Your dog barks.
  • You ignore your dog.
  • Dog barks louder and longer. Maybe you did not hear him bark the first time (very big grin!).

Whatever you do, continue to ignore your dog. Even when barking worsens, your dog will think, “I need to scream for 10 minutes while standing 2 inches from my owner’s nose. Then, he can hear me.” Your dog is  learning that any type of vocalization does not work. When the dog is quiet, then you’ll wake up and feed him.

If you live in an apartment or townhouse, begin the training process by sleeping in a room furthest away from your neighbor. Once your dog understands “quiet” means “breakfast,” then move back to your main bedroom. This really helps for extinction bursts. Again, this usually takes a maximum of two weeks to teach your dog.

Dog Barking Constantly to Go Outside

If you’re potty training a puppy, then acknowledge his request and bring him outside on a leash. Once he potties, he earns playtime in the yard so unsnap the leash.

However, if your adult dog is constantly asking to go outside, attach a leash and walk outside. Once he potties, then take off his leash so he has plenty of yard playtime.

If once you bring your dog indoors and requests to go back out, ignore him. If you’re not sure if your dog needs to potty, put him on a set schedule so he will predict when he will potty again.

Personally, my dogs have a specific cue to tell them they need to potty. Stella Mae, a mini Bull Terrier, decided to use her “potty alert” over and over again because this means I’ll open the door. After the third “potty alert,” I caught on real quick and ignored her requests. It took a few days, but she now knows this no longer works. 😀

Bark back! I’m listening! Any questions about request barking please add in the comment section below.

More:
Dog Barking – Finding the Trigger
Dog Barking at Sounds
How to Stop a Barking Dog
Attention Seeking Barking
Barking When Excited

How to Stop Excited Dogs from Barking

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Barking Dog

Stop Dog Barking
Learn tips to stop your excited dog from barking.

Dogs will bark when excited or nervous. This is very common. Many times, if your dog is really excited or frustrated, his barking gets much worse. He’s usually dealing with his frustration or excitement by vocalizing it, as people do. 🙂 Exciting places can be your vet’s office, dog training classes, your home and the park as well as when they can see dogs or people walking by.

Dog Barking at Other Dogs

Many dogs become excited and start barking when they see other dogs approaching. Remember, not all dogs want to meet other dogs. Do you shake hands with everyone at the park? I think not so your dog does not need to meet every dog at the park. (This is socialization gone wrong.)

Instead, if your dog becomes too excited as a dog is approaching, turn and walk the other way. I like to teach dogs: when you’re on leash, you focus on me and not other dogs. Bring treats and reward your dog when he looks at you instead of the other dogs. Learn more about socialization and greeting dogs at Dog Behavior: Learn to Speak Dog.

     Just because a dog is approaching does not mean your dog must meet that dog. Stop, turn and walk the other way. 🙂

Barking When Excited

Next time your excited dog starts barking, teach your dog to do something else instead of barking. You’ll need pea-sized yummy treats, a clicker, leash and your dog’s collar or harness:

  1. Attach a leash to your dog’s collar.
  2. Tether your dog to you or a piece of heavy furniture when at home.
  3. Click/treat your dog when he’s:
    • Not barking (even for a nano-second)
    • Looking at you instead of your guests
    • Standing still instead of pulling on the leash

Continue to practice at home so your dog learns barking does not work. Standing still, looking at my pet parent and keeping quiet pays with lots of treats. 🙂  If your dog does not improve within 2-3 minutes, your timing is off a bit. If your dog is confused, learn to prevent this by reading this article.

Video Demo

Bark back. I’m listening! What questions do you have about dog barking?

More: 
Dog Barking
Dog Barking at Sounds 
How to Stop a Barking Dog
Attention Seeking Barking

Attention Seeking Barking

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Barking Dog

Barking Dog
Dog seeking attention from pet parent.

Attention seeking barking means your dog barks for your attention, and we’ve all been there (very big grin). Let’s roll up our sleeves and get clicking to fix this behavior!

Attention seeking barking is quite common. When a dog barks, we look away from the TV, computer screen or visitor and look at the dog. Your dog just learned how to get your attention! And yes, just by looking at your dog, you can reinforce his barking. It’s very hard for people to ignore a loud sound, especially a barking dog, because it’s instinctual to look toward the sound.

Instead, try:

  • Reward your dog when he is quietly laying at your feet, enjoying a chew toy or being calm and quiet.
  • When he barks, ignore him. Don’t look at him or laugh (yes, laughter is reinforcing too). 🙂
  • When your dog is quiet, turn toward him and reward with treats and cuddles.

The Barking Will Get Worse

So you just tried ignoring your dog when he barks and it’s worse! Ah, brace yourself, this can happen. This means you’re making progress — happy dance! If your dog’s been practicing attention seeking barking for a long time, the barking will get worse before it gets better. We call it extinction bursts, and this is very normal. 🙂

Classic Example of a Barking Dog Extinction Burst:

  • Your dog barks.
  • You ignore your dog.
  • Dog barks louder and longer. He keeps getting louder, louder and louder. Ride it out. Your dog is learning that attention seeking barking is ignored.

Whatever you do, please continue to ignore your dog even when barking is at its worse. If, accidentally, you glance at your dog while an extinction burst is happening, your dog will think, “I need to scream for 10 minutes while standing 2 inches from my owner’s nose. Then, he can hear me.” He needs to learn any type of vocalization does not work. Only when he is quiet does he have your undivided attention. I recommend walking away when your dog starts barking. This way you will not accidentally glance at him. 🙂

Don’t Give Up

Many pet parents, especially those in the beginning of the “no barking” process, are concerned their dogs’ barking never ends. However within a few minutes, you’ll witness the power of positive training. Trust me, these methods work. 🙂

It’s physically impossible for a dog to bark and breath at the same time even if your dog learns to breath fast in between barks. 🙂 All barking dogs must take a breath, which means they are quiet for a nano-second. Reward! Your dog will learn that barking does not pay, but it is ignored. When your dog is quiet, he gets attention and treats — woot woot!

Some pet parents are concerned they will inadvertently teach their dogs to bark instead of quiet when using this training method. I promise, if your timing is spot on, your dog will totally understand that barking does not pay, but quiet behavior does!

How do you know if your timing is off? Your dog’s barking will get worse. Or he’ll bark and look at you, which means you’ve accidentally rewarded barking (we can fix this, don’t worry!). Plus, if your dog will bark a few times then look at you while not barking, take advantage! Instead of clicking the moment he is quiet, wait for your dog to be quiet for one second, then click/treat. Continue until your dog is quiet for longer periods of time. 🙂

If you’re not using a clicker, I would add this into the mix because the click sound is much faster than our voice or showing our dog a treat. Learn more about clicker training at Clicker Training Tips.

RELATED: Clicker Training for Dogs

You Can Stop Your Dog’s Barking Forever

Yes. If you continue to practice the behavior of ignoring him when he’s been vocal, then reward for quiet. This is a new skill for both of you, but I promise it’s worth it.

It’s your turn. Bark back! Add your questions about attention seeking barking in the comment section below. 🙂

More:
Dog Barking
Dog Barking at Sounds
Request Dog Barking
Stop Dog Barking Next Door

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