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Whining and barking but neighbour will help. what can we do?

2K views 28 replies 14 participants last post by  Kayree 
#1 ·
My neighbour is home all day due to health issues and tells me Griffin (16 weeks) barks and whines at the gate from about 4:15 on and off until we get home from work. This starts about 2 hours after the domestic worker leaves.
The old chihuahua gets through the gate to the front of the property so she has some safe space, it seems she is not with him in the back when he's performing. She generally goes to sleep on the patio out of his sight.

My neighbour is being very understanding and helpful. Is there something she could do to make him quiet while we are not around?

I will do some separation training while we are around too (putting him in the back for periods of time and treating him when quiet). Any other suggestions welcome. Is this a phase he will outgrow?
 
#4 ·
He's in the house when we are home and when the domestic worker is around. In the afternoons he is outside for 3 to 5 hours. The domestic worker feeds him before she leaves.
He has a kennel outside for if it rains and we aren't in, he and the chihuahua climb in it and get cosy.
 
#5 ·
We don't generally do that in my country - the weather is mild, properties are large and just about every property has dogs. He does sleep in a crate in the kitchen at night. Do you think he would bark and whine less in a dog safe room than in a dog safe garden?
 
#6 ·
Dobermans dont do well outside. Their bodies just cant handle it. Your puppy might be whining or barking because he is outside. When inside, they can relax, there is less stimulation to trigger barking, and much more comfortable.

When the puppy is out there for hours, are you not worried he will ingest something that can perforate, or block in his intestines? What if wildlife gets into the yard and he goes nuts for it, and exerts himself and injures a leg? What if he got bitten by an infectious animal and contracts a disease? What happens if a storm rolls by and he makes a run for it? What if someone decides to try and steal him, or throw things at him?

Just a thought.
 
#7 ·
Try it and see if he just settles and goes to sleep. I'd have the housekeeper let him out for a hour before she leaves so he can run around, and then crate him when she goes.

Do you have a kong/toys/bones or something for him to chew on when crated? I assume the neighbor would not hear any barking if the dog is inside if he DOES protest a little?
 
#8 ·
He probably would settle if crated inside for the afternoon but I would prefer that he settles outside. One day of the week there is nobody around from 7:30 until 17:30 and I couldn't crate him all day so I would prefer to work with the outside situation than with the crate. He spends lots of happy time outside, he has lots of toys to play with and I rotate them so he doesn't lose interest.
If we leave early on a weekend morning for a cycle we will crate him to avoid noise so early in the day, and he sleeps while we are out, so this is an option but not my preference.
 
#9 ·
i take it you don't have issues with people poisoning or stealing pets in yards? we have a massive problem with it, here.

not to mention, an unsupervised puppy can get into a LOT of trouble if they're left alone and unsecured...and yes, in the case of a dog in the yard, the dog is unsecured. what would you do if you came home and the dog was missing after digging under the fence?
 
#10 ·
We do have issues with poisoning - all the cases I know of the dogs ate the bait after being let out in the morning. Dogs are poisoned to make housebreaking easier and it would happen if the dog was inside or out, seeing the house breaker wants to be inside anyway. Stealing pets does happen too but hopefully the high walls, electric fences, motion detectors, street security and private security will work for our pets as it does for our belongings. I also hear you on the unsupervised puppy trouble. We have done our best to puppy proof the garden, there will inevitably be a hazard we don't think of until it happens - I'm more concerned about when he's big and strong than now. We have also had big dogs on the property for 12 years, previous house owners had big dogs too, few incidents (a cut paw, pooh breath). You raise valid risks and we try to mitigate them but always crating when we are out is not a long term solution for us.
 
#11 ·
it's not necessarily a long term solution for anyone, but it should absolutely be a solution while you're training the dog. it's a puppy - it doesn't know any better - and it will get itself into trouble.

i honestly believe leaving the dog unsupervised in a yard for hours at a time is borderline negligent.
 
#13 ·
Freeze a raw bone with the marrow inside. Have housekeeper give them to pup when she leaves. Or you can stuff a bone with peanut butter and yogurt then freeze. I leave daily and my pup is outside all day long. Actually he has a huge privacy fenced in dog area with a dog door into the climate controlled pool room/bird area. He gets a frozen bone with I leave daily. He was about 6 months when I began to leave him all day, before that I had a pet sitter come at noon. My doberman and aussie have a dog door into the house and can in and out at will all day long. The pup doesn't have house alone time yet nor do I want to leave him unsupervised with the doberman (both males) so I got pup used to the outdoor/pool room area slowly. He is doing fine at 8 1/2 months. Recently I had the flu and put pup out there for the day, he didn't bark one time. He has many fun toys and chewy toys in his area. I wish I didn't have to leave and work but for 1 1/2 more years I do. The other option is to leave him in a large crate or xpen or corral in your home. He should be fine with that for the few hours you are gone no?
 
#25 ·
I took your advice - I had been putting all of Griffin's toys away when I wasn't around to supervise but I selected some that are safe (i.e. unlikely to come apart or get swallowed, or get wrapped around him) and left them in the yard for him to play with. I also popped a frozen bone in his kennel and hid another for him to find later. The neighbors visited yesterday a said he's been an angel the whole week! They asked if I had been locking him indoors, I got the feeling I would have been berated had I said yes :lol2:
 
#19 ·
Dobes are not a breed that tolerate being left outside for long periods of time. You may prefer he settle out there instead of inside, but that's not typical of the breed. I don't believe any breed should be left outside unsupervised for long periods of time, but if that's what you wanted a Dobe was not the best choice. Also as a puppy he is much safer inside in his crate, or in a puppy proofed gated room, which is perfectly fine for a full day like the one day a week you mentioned. A safe place inside with lots of (safe) toys is much better for this breed.
 
#23 ·
Good thing I dont live in Africa cuz I let my dobie sleep on my bed!!! But my mommy is white so........... lol

We are an African American family and about 18 years ago when we got out 1st dog my husband (boyfriend at the time) was trying to tell me the puppy had to stay outside because only white people let their dogs inside.........

Needless to say - I WON!!! & last week when I was outta town...guess who let the puppy sleep in the bed with him.........yep, you guessed it!!! hehehehehehe;)
 
#26 ·
:p I don't really understand why the pets-in-homes-thing is seen as such a distasteful activity of 'white culture' (whatever that is...for another thread...). Could it be simply that animals are perceived as not being house-trained and could be carrying diseases and are therefore unhygienic to have inside? Or is it something else?

Mr Zuma was alleging that 'white culture' cared more for pets than for people, evidenced by carrying pets in the front of a pick-up while workers were sat in the load bed, and by spending thousands on vets bills but leaving workers to solve their own health issues. Needless to say, both arguments were shot down and mocked by both black & white people (show me a worker that wants to share the load bed with a boerboel, or explain why government hospitals are unable to care for people despite having state-of-the-art equipment and enormous chunks of the national budget...?), such is the power of our dear president's rhetoric. His reasoning aside, it was clear that having pets, and taking them to vets, really is seen as a 'white' thing!
 
#24 ·
During my stay in SA, almost everyone I met kept their dogs outside during the day when no one was home. The dogs enjoyed it and got to go to the beach after work. The couple I was staying with had a ridgie/boerbol/Dane mix that refused to stay inside. He would come in for a minute and then just want to go right back out.
 
#27 ·
I hope it was an enjoyable stay!
Ja, they love it. Climate helps alot, and suburban properties generally have fenced-in gardens. In fact, here it is seen as unfair on the dog if someone lives in an apartment and has a dog. Even if someone has an apartment with a fenced-in garden it is seen as unfair, then more because of the disturbance to the neighbors but also because apartment gardens are considered too small for dogs (when compared to suburban gardens).
 
#28 ·
I'm glad that the frozen bones have worked their wonders.

Recently poisoning has become a big issue here in Spain. Outside and Inside Dogs are being poisoned in order thieves can gain access to the property they live on either because the dog is dead or because the owners have rushed it down to the vets to try and save it.
My friend has trained her Mali's not to touch food offerred/thrown over to them unless it is accompanied by a secret command word.
In my opinion it is probably one of the best pieces of training you can do after 'come'.
 
#29 ·
My friend has trained her Mali's not to touch food offerred/thrown over to them unless it is accompanied by a secret command word.
In my opinion it is probably one of the best pieces of training you can do after 'come'.
That's an extremely smart idea. As far as I know, poisoning a dog to gain access into a house isn't a super common thing here but it does happen. My friend's house was broken into and they are pretty sure their lab mix was drugged in some way... scary what people do. I'd be mortified if I came home to find that had happened to Angus. Guess crating is a good thing for his protection in case someone DID come into the house. They'd be less likely to bother him as he's locked up...(I would hope).
 
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