So I've got a new dog...

[Olgar Shiverstone]

KC gives great advice.

One thing that has worked well with our dogs is positively reinforcing the behavior you want. We reward the dogs when they go into crates -- so they'll excitedly run into their crates. Especially if the dog is staying in the crate while you're gone, reward him for entering. When you do this, though, you should occasionally put the dog into the crafte & reward him when you aren't going to leave -- that way you separate "crate" from "leave".

If your dog barks the moment you're out of sight, don't reenter the house/room when the dog is barking -- you're reinforcing "bark and owner comes back". However long it takes, wait for a lull in the barking before you return. Then as KC said, don't make a big deal when you first come home. Ignore the dog for a minute or three until he calms down, and then give him attention -- reinforcing that only calm, not-anxiety-prone dogs get rewarded with attention.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I'd hold off on the drugs until a very, very later date. This doesn't sound like separation anxiety to me, or at least not like a permanent behavioral problem.

I didn't mean to make it sound like we were going to put him on drugs right away, just that it's something we know is out there if we can't get him to stop barking.

First thing to do is to get back to an obedience class with him, and work lots of commands and tricks into his daily life. More structure makes dogs happy and stable. Agility classes are a great idea, and build confidence and dog/owner bonds. Springers are great at agility.

We are looking into obedience classes now, I think the earliest we we can get him into one starts the end of the month. Agility is something to think about next spring.

Second thing is to add more excercise. There are few behavioral problems in dogs that can't be cured with a good dose of "pooped out". I know it's hard to tire a springer, but get him out and running.

I'd love to tire him out in the morning, but he seems to want nothing to do with excercise at 6:30am. He doesn't even want to chase a ball, much less go running. He is certainly not a morning dog. Which I suppose is a good thing in some ways, as I'm not a morning person either. This morning Laura took him for a long walk, I'm not sure what else we can do in the time wbefore we leave for work, since we get up at 6, and have to leave by 7:30.

Third, try leaving something entertaining in the kennel area with him. A kong filled with cheese, dog food, mashed potatoes or other squishy food and then frozen will keep him busy. Or take some kibble and tie it up in knots in a rag. Let him work the food out of the knots and then chew the heck out of the rag. Soak the rag in Chicken broth and freeze it. Look into a Buster Cube or other dog toy that dispenses treats. Anything to keep his mind off the fact that he's alone.

We tried the Kong with peanut butter, and it kept him occupied for about 10 minutes, then he left it alone. This in the first dog I have ever seen that isn't food driven. When we feed him, he sniffs the food and then goes and lies down. Yesterday he left his food in the bowl for several hours before he finally finished it. I don't know about the rag trick, he chewed up a rawhide bone and ate most of it, so he would probably eat the rag too.

Finally, keep your leave taking as calm and simple as possible, and don't make a big deal when you return.

Yep. We are trying to be calm.

If you want to PM me, I'll be happy to expound at great length on this stuff.

Will do. Thanks for the advice you have offered, I hope something works, as it's similar to other advice we have found online and in books.

 

[devilbat]

I get a sinking feeling that I may get roasted for this, but here it goes.

I have fairly intolerant neighbors, and we rescued a three month old husky/lab cross.

Max is a fantastic dog, great with people, especially kids, very smart and loves to play. The only downside is, he's a barker. We attempted many training methods with no luck. When he is outside, he barks at people passing by, and god forbid if he hears another dog barking in the distance. He is crate trained, but when he's in the crate, and we leave the house, it's non stop barking.

After a few noise complaints from the neighbors, we decided to purchase a training collar. It is activated by the vibrations of the animals vocal cords. When he barks, he receives a small shock.

Now I was worried about the device, so I tried it out on myself before putting it on the dog. It was noticable, but not very painful. More surprising then anything else. We put it on the dog, and after being shocked one time, he no longer barked while wearing the collar. Were at the point now, where we can put the collar on him, but cover the prongs that deliver the shock with rubber divets that are included, and he won't bark.

It's kept are neighbors happy, and allowed us to keep are newest member of the family.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

One thing that has worked well with our dogs is positively reinforcing the behavior you want. We reward the dogs when they go into crates -- so they'll excitedly run into their crates. Especially if the dog is staying in the crate while you're gone, reward him for entering. When you do this, though, you should occasionally put the dog into the crafte & reward him when you aren't going to leave -- that way you separate "crate" from "leave".

I spend most of the day Sunday doing this, in preparation for leaving him in the crate on Monday. I put him in the crate for 15-20 minutes at a time, gave him treats, praised him, etc. He was fine with it as long as we were in sight or he could hear us. But leave the house for a minute and he stated barking. Now he won't go back in the crate at all, after being left in it for 3 hours Monday morning. I think crating is going to have to be a long term goal. I'd love to be able to leave him in the house alone uncrated, but I'm afraid that he will chew things once we are out of sight and he is alone.

If your dog barks the moment you're out of sight, don't reenter the house/room when the dog is barking -- you're reinforcing "bark and owner comes back". However long it takes, wait for a lull in the barking before you return. Then as KC said, don't make a big deal when you first come home. Ignore the dog for a minute or three until he calms down, and then give him attention -- reinforcing that only calm, not-anxiety-prone dogs get rewarded with attention.

Yep, we're trying this. I think that we've found all the right things to do with him, between advice here, online, and in a few books. It's just getting over the initial hump thats so hard.

 

[KidCthulhu]

Thanks CL. Sounds like you're doing all the right things, as I figured you would be. You know your dogs. Give it some time. As you said, you've just gotten him.

I know what you mean with not morning dogs. My boy wants his food in the morning and then he goes back to sleep. When I get him up at the crack of dawn for agility trials, he sleeps all the way there, and barely wakes up for his first run of the day. His sister is revved and ready at 6 am. I can't win.

If he doesn't want to run in the morning, five minutes of training (tricks or obedience), especially if you use a clicker, might work too. I find 10 minutes of training and mental excercise is as good as a 1/2 hour walk to tire my guys out, if we're really learning new stuff and asking them to think. Except Argo. She could train all day as long as there's food!

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

After a few noise complaints from the neighbors, we decided to purchase a training collar. It is activated by the vibrations of the animals vocal cords. When he barks, he receives a small shock.

I looked at info on both the shock collars, and the ones that spray citronella as a deterant to barking. What I found was that the shock collars have a less than 50% positive response rate, while the spray ones have a greater than 85% rate. I'm not going for either one yet, but if it comes to it, I'm going with the citronella one, which works by distracting the dog with a smell that they find to be unnatural, but not painful, so it distracts them and inturrupts the barking.

From what I read, the shock collars cause some dogs to bark more, as a reaction to the shock. It's sort of a negative reinforcement, causing the dogs to get angry, and doesn't always corect the problems.

So for now, I'm going to work on positive methods of training the dog, and non painful methods if it comes to doing something more.

 

[the Jester]

Good luck, CL! There's nothing quite as cool as a good dog...

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Good luck, CL! There's nothing quite as cool as a good dog...

thanks! Yeah, I'm really looking forward to when we have all the quirks worked out.

So, I have another little story to tell regarding Logan. I just got an email from the DM of our current campaign (Emergent here on the boards, he's mostly a lurker), who wants me to tell what else happened on Monday night. Due to Logan's high ranks in escape artist, we had to cancel our Monday night game session this week so I could deal with getting him a new kennel. And not only is this our weekly game session, but this was to be the wrap up session for the game for a few weeks. So my new dog, on day 3 of living with us, managed to not only disrupt my life for a little while, but my gaming group as well. :\

 

[Captain Howdy]

Kid Cthulu pretty much said everything that could be said on the topic, but just in case, I have a kind of weird story...
I got a Boxer puppy a while back, he is about a year old now, and at about the same time a got him, I broke a couple of bones in my foot and couldn't do much for a while. I had to take a long leave from my job (which requires me to be on my feet), and it was my driving foot... So I was at home pretty much all the time for about three months.
The dog probably thought that this was how it would always be, so needless to say that when I started to get back to my life, he was upset. He had pretty bad separation anxiety for a while. But, here is my point; he eventually just grew out of it. It was kind of weird... My neighbors used to say that he barked the whole time I was gone, they recently asked me if I had any device to prevent it, because they didn't here him bark anymore...
I know it is weird, and it might not be the case with your new dog, but maybe he is just distraught over the change. Keep up all the good things you are working on now, but maybe all he needs is time to get used to things.
I am no dog professional, but that may just be the key...
Oh, incidentally, someone recommended getting a second dog. It may sound like double the work, but usually it's the opposite. They keep each other entertained and tired. Just a thought.

Best of luck.

 

[barsoomcore]

I just want to say that dogs are very very good, and people who are good with dogs are pretty good, too.