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What kind of dogs are they? We have two and the one, our hound does exactly what you've explained. Running from the slider to the front large window to the bathroom window...anywhere. And he whines, nose whistles, barks. It does become annoying. Sometimes I'll call his name and bring him into the kitchen just to distract him and give him a treat (it's better than have him barking incessantly). But those times when he doesn't listen, he goes right to his bed and stays there until we tell him he's released. He also gets our other dog wound up. Does that happen with yours?
When your hubs is home alone with them is it more during the night when it's dark???
We have two labs and a beagle. The beagle is the instigator. DH is home at night, but even when I am alone I night, they are good. I mean they don't do it during the day on weekends, or during the days he works from home.
I'm living with my sister right now and she has 3 dogs that do the exact same thing. I seriously want to kick them sometimes and I've had to leave the house on several occassions because it drives me so crazy. They bark at everything. I set a cup down, shut a drawer, close a door and they go wild thinking someone is at the door! Whenever I mention it to her she just laughs, like I just told her a story about how cute her dogs are when in reality I want to buy them all shock collars!
Needless to say, I feel your pain.
This is brutal! I can't imagine you being home with a headache and having to deal with this.
I'm not sure as to what the cause of the behaviour would be but is ther anyway you could block off access to the slider by putting up gates or a ex-pen or something? That might at least give you some peace. You could also look at contacting a local dog obedience trainer that does one-on-one consults and have them come in and teach you how to get them to stop this behaviour.
Best of luck!
They may think of your husband as their master and therefore know better than to do it when he's around... Watch the dog whisperer and see if you can pick up anything from him, I know it sounds silly but has worked for us on occassion.
Our older dog, Louie, gets our younger dog, George, riled up by the same antics. I think, for Louie, it really stems from his nervous, unconfident personality. Louie barks at all times of the day, but he seems really sensitive during certain situations: like when my husband is working upsatirs and he thinks we're alone in the house. I think he sees my husband as a "protector," so he gets more worried about noises and things moving outside the window when it's just us.
For Louie, it often helps just to distract him. If I leave the room, turn on the tv, go into the kitchen, etc... he'll stop barking and follow me about 50% of the time. If he doesn't stop barking, I use the "quiet" command (that we taught with treat training, so all positive reinforcement training) and keep him sitting until he calms down. If he gets really excited, though, and starts getting George riled up, I just hold him/pet him and talk softly to him for a while. That seems to reassure him enough that he'll calm down and stop barking. Also, we try to do some confidence bootsing by taking him on lots of walks, introducing him to neighbors, etc... so he doesn't feel like everything out the window is a threat.
I grew up with a Beagle, and he always did this. He didn't stop until he was older (around 6 or 7), and my parents didn't have the heart to get him a shock collar, so we just put up with it. If he was really bad, we'd put him in his crate or the bathroom until he calmed down.
Get the book "Don't Shoot the Dog" and "Click for Joy" - you can clicker / positive trian your dog to do anything. The first book explains training theory and how training methods solve or don't solve problems.
Like someone else said, watch the dog whisperer! My dogs are hyper and super needy when I am home alone. When my fiancé is home alone, they are lazy and don't bother him. It's totally my fault because I don't discipline them, and let them walk all over me (sometimes literally). :)you're supposed to be the "pack leader" and let them know you're in charge by shushing (is that a word?). Good luck quieting them!
Get a dog-off! They are humane... I'm going to get one and use it on my neighbors beagle. :)
I agree that it sounds like they consider your hubby the boss and just don't feel they need to listen to you. I would either start watching the "Dog Whisperer" (NatGeo) or "It's Me or the Dog" (Animal Planet), and/or enrolling in obedience classes.
Our dog is quiet; he will go for months without barking at all so I can't really help you from personal experience. One thing I've seen work on tv for dogs who did this kind of stuff was blowing a whistle and feeding treats while they stood by you, then backing up, blow the whistle, and feed treats when they come. Keep backing up, go to different rooms, etc. so soon they will stop whatever they are doing and come running when they hear the whistle for treats. However, if you have bad headaches, a whistle probably isn't going to help YOU too much.
You could also try just plain removal. Bascially, if they bark/whine, they get put in another room for just a minute or two until they are calm and quiet, then get let back out. If they start making noise again, they get removed again. It can take a while, and you have to be consistent, but most dogs will soon understand "if I make noise, I get taken out of the room".
Good luck!
Heather- if you can't afford new sliders, what about just getting a curtain? Perhaps the stuff they see outside is setting them off? Or perhaps keep them away from the slider- keep them in a different section of the house?
Like Miss Apricot said- If you watch the show "It's me or the dog" that trainer says to remove the dog from the area when the start barking. Move them to another room and bring them back when they calm down/stop barking. Repeat, repeat until they learn that barking will get them removed.
My family has a cabin in the woods, and my parents black lab is a total whiney baby when my dad isn't there- she barks at everything and whines a lot. But when my dad is there, she's fine. We scold her and tell her "no barking" or "no whining" or "settle down!" But it doesn't sound nearly as bad as your situation.
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When I am home alone with my 3 dogs, they bark and whine at things out the back slider ALL DAY! They go nuts running around the house if they hear the slightest sound or see a squirrel, a leaf, a truck...anything. I have terrible headaches 90% of the time. They get a lot of excercise (running at the park all morning, and walks throughout the day)...so that is not the problem.
The thing that has me curious is the fact that they do not do this AT ALL when my husband is home! He has never seen it. It fustrates me because he can not see for himself how bad it really is.
Neighbors have complained. The spray bottle does not work. We would love to install glass doors with shades between the glass panels, but we can't afford them. I just don't have the heart to use a shock collar, but I am afraid that may be my last resort.
Are they protecting me because I am alone? I can't make phone calls, study, or do anything during the day. I often leave the house because I simply can not take it. How can I possibly have a baby napping?
Help!!!