Crate dog in house to curb barking
Dear Dog Talk: We have a 1-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever that has a barking problem.
My husband and I both work nights. We leave our dog in our backyard when we are at work. Our neighbors have teenage children and a pool. Our dog does not like strangers and will bark at them through the fence.
When we are at home and he barks, we bring him into the house or go we outside to distract him. Unfortunately, the majority of the time that this happens we are not at home. Our neighbor is not friendly with us. I would not expect that he would come over and talk to us about the problem.
The other morning when we got home I went to check on the dog and found an empty can of "Bark Off Dog Repellent" in the yard. The can had teeth punctures in it. It apparently had been negligently sprayed at our dog till it was empty. It was then thrown over the fence. I read the caution label on the can and it clearly states that if the contents are ingested, it can be fatal to domestic pets.
Our problem with this is that even if the dog was barking, which can be a nuisance, he was in our yard. He was no threat to our neighbor's child or to his friends. We believe that they are probably harassing the dog once he begins to bark at them. Then he will not stop barking.
The other problem is that we know that our neighbor is a postal carrier and that the spray was issued to him by the U.S.P.S for his safety. The teenagers are in the backyard drinking and they are underage. This sometimes goes on until 4 in the morning. We do not know what to do. Please help!
Dear Disturbed and Disturbing: You came to the right guy for advice. "Mr. Know-It-All" can solve your problem. (That's what my wife sometimes calls me!)
First off, no dog should ever be left outside unsupervised for long periods of time. Leave your dog in the house when you and your husband go to work at night. If he is destructive or he is not housebroken, crate him while you are gone.
Your dog is barking because he feels socially exiled from his pack. In the pack's den (the house) he will feel more secure. Provide him with an appropriate dog toy to chew while he is crated. Leave the TV on to muffle outside noises.
Even though your dog is fenced in and therefore not a physical threat to your neighbors, excessive barking is disturbing the peace. It is, in all likelihood, something that the police could fine you for. It is extremely inconsiderate of you to subject your entire neighborhood to a dog who barks night after night.
Probably the only reason that your neighbors have not dealt with the barking problem by calling the police is because it sounds as if they, too, are breaking the law.
Get your dog in the house at night and then get the cops over there to put a stop to noisy, late-night parties and underage drinking.
Get your Labrador enrolled in dog obedience classes. Also, get him on a regular exercise routine. Using his brain in a constructive way and channeling excess energy will help stop his negative behaviors.
Dear Dog Talk: This is a link to the "Greenies" website that addresses the issue about choking. Please note that these products have never been recalled. This is simply misinformation being passed on to you by a reader.
Dear Dog Talk: We are suing the company that manufactures Greenies. Our dog died. We hope you'll take time to educate yourself about the problem at hand. Here's why we're suing.
Thanks. www.burtscause.com
Dear It Ain't Easy Being Green: Readers, thank you both for contributing. I'm not real interested in getting into the middle of the Greenies controversy. Here are two websites representing both sides. Check them out and decide for yourselves.
