8 year old Lab barks constantly in small apartment building - desperate

[Anonymous]

I have an 8 yr old Lab mix who has always been anxious. Barking at the doorbellnorbstairwell noise (constants in an city apt), lunging at most other dogs on walks, too distracted to be taken on 1-3 mile runs. We haven't tried medals but have a walker take him for a long walk with a group of dogs he's ok with 5x/week, and in the past spent $1k to try and deal with the leash aggression and doorbell/barking issue. It didn't make a dent which even the trainer saw, she said it was ultimately his nature.

I'm a SAHM to a 2 year old with mild SNs. I have struggled for a long, long time with the barking specially but I am at a breaking point. He goes crazy when picked up by our dog walker, often waking the baby from a nap. When the time gets closer to when DH might get home, the barks are intense and frequent for 1-3 hours, M-F. I can't take it anymore. I'm tense and screaming at him and crying; it's noise torture and my dog walkers have observed how loud and booming the barks are, and they do their best to grab him fast for walks but it's impossible. It's even worse- our downstairs neighbor have a crazy-assed barking dog too, so they will occasionally set each other off, but theirs is a little bichon type pup so the inter-apartment noise is nowhere near where it is for us. So I hate a dog I have loved for years, and see no way out. DH will not consider rehoming him. I am at home where my child gets crucial therapies. I truly don't know what to do. Please, any ideas? Reviews for efficacy of a Thundershirt for this kind of barking are poor, and an OTC thing callled "quiet moments" that's supposed to help anxious dogs did nothing. If you have any impulse to be mean to me or harsh, PLEASE don't and ignore the post.

[Anonymous]

^^. Sorry. "Meds" for medals. So many typos, god.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried crating him, especially at times when you know he may bark. You can crate him and throw a sheet over the crate to create a dark, calming den for him. Use a fan on high next to the crate to keep him from hearing every noise.

Barking can be maddening, OP. I feel for you. I have two German Shepherds who almost never bark. They will bark if someone knocks on the door, but are trained to hush on my command. My sister's beagles bark constantly. It really, really bothers me. I can feel my blood pressure rise when I am at her house.

[Anonymous]

That sounds awful and overwhelming, OP, I'm so sorry. We have two dogs that reactively bark (so not just to hear the sound of their own bark or entertain themselves but will bark when they hear other dogs or people outside). What has helped is having white noise going to reduce the amount of ambient noise they can hear. I'd estimate it reduces the reactive barking during the day by about 60-70%.

I know people hate them for being "mean" but have you tried a bark collar (shock or citronella) or something like the sunbeam ultrasonic bark egg? The bark egg and other ultrasonic devices either work extremely well or not at all for dogs, unfortunately, and no real way to know in advance what kind of dog you have, but they're not super expensive.

[Anonymous]

If the dog cannot stop barking and your husband will not rehome, you need to find a doggy daycare and your husband needs to take the dog there in the morning on his way to work. You can pick the dog up after nap so that your husband doesn't have to deal with both. You need to do this until your child stops napping. After your child outgrows napping, you can bring the dog back and just take the dog to doggy daycare less often, maybe once or twice a week.

[Anonymous]

Wish we'd kept his crate! For this week I will lock him in a room with a white noise app and convince the baby he's fine, and see if we can budget doggy daycare in a month. I just am in serious distress and appreciate the serious suggestions very much!

[Anonymous]

You really should not have this sog in a city apartment. I am sure your neighbors are not happy. My advice would be to move to a single family home with a yard or rehome him to someone who lives in one. A different dog would probably be fine in your apartment, but this one is not.

[Anonymous]

At the moment it's not remotely possible, and please believe I have discussed this with all impacted parties. I need solutions that don't require an imminent move.

[Anonymous]

To be more clear: in our 4-unit bldg the only people who hear our dog are the ones below us, with the bichon. We have open communication and this is well-covered ground. We have no neighbors at all on one side, and the ones on the other do not hear him. I have gone into this to be clear, it's an issue that concerns me.

[Anonymous]

Prozac. And if necessary Xanax. We did this with our older beagle who had similar barking issues. It worked wonders.

Please don't continue like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prozac. And if necessary Xanax. We did this with our older beagle who had similar barking issues. It worked wonders.

Please don't continue like this.

This! And be consistent on his meds. They should help so don't skip doses or stop because his behavior improves.

[Anonymous]

I remember a trainer once saying that 80% of behavior problems are exercise-related. We have a 6yo shepherd that still has high exercise needs, along with a 5yo. In the mornings, we've always traded off--one gets kid ready while the other takes dog on a long walk; one of us also walks him at noon and after work for 30 min each time.

The other day I "skimped" on his morning walk and only gave him 30 min. My telework was constantly disrupted because of him barking at everyone that passed the house, the mail carrier, etc.

On days neither of us can do his noon walk due to work schedules, he goes to doggy daycare (1-2x/wk). We aren't able to do a dog walker--he's very wary of strangers at "his" house, true to the breed.

Good luck! This sounds very frustrating. Hopefully some suggestions on this thread will help.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PPs - why not meds and more exercise? Have you tried a bark collar? Like the PPs, our Lab mix is highly reactive if he's not well exercised. A single long walk a day isn't enough. He has have at least a 3 mile run and a 45 minute walk (or another 3 mile run) every day - and he's 8 years old. As long as he gets that, his barking is far more manageable. He's got a high prey drive that we ended up using an e-collar to manage. We worked with Off Leash K9 trainers http://www.offleashk9training.com/.

Oh, we bike with the dog to get him his 3 mile run. It goes pretty quick. We do it rain, snow or shine.

[Anonymous]

I agree that daycare might be part of the solution. Even part time daycare would help because 1) You'd get a break and 2) He'd likely be more tired and amenable to solutions such as being locked in the bathroom.

Could you have your DH (since he's the one advocating for keeping him) do a really long walk or dog park session on Sunday with him, and then take the dog walker money and send him to daycare all day T/Th? Schedule as many of the at home therapies as you can on those two days, so you can get out and away from the noise on M/W/F This will be easier in a month when spring is here and you can spend the morning at a park or something like that.

Add in some prozac or whatever the vet prescribes, and hopefully it will be manageable.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is in an apartment with a reactive, barking dog. Zylkene has worked really well. She tried taking her off to see if it was still necessary. She went back to being very agressive, so she's back on it and much calmer! Other suggestions here are great too, but the Zylkene just made a world of difference. Her walks are better and she's a happier dog! She uses the thundershirt for fireworks, also a calming cap made by Thundershirt. The calming cap might help during your child's naptimes.

I use the Sunbeam sonic egg to stop my dog's barking. It works well, but she's calmer to start with. The egg emits sound with other loud noises so you can only use it when everything else is quiet or it isn't fair to the dog. It flashes a green light to show you when the sound is going.