[cuddleparty]

Sometimes, I feel as if maybe Snoops and I spend just a wee bit too much time together. I love being with him, but sometimes I feel as if we probably both need some "alone" time... for the sake of both of us and our sanity.

The past few days we have spent ALOT of time together. I think we are both getting a bit testy. The past 2 or 3 nights he has been especially bark-y. Barking from 10pm onwards til I tuck him into bed. I have no clue what he is barking at... but it is non stop. Then he will go kinda haywire and run like crazy round the house. Then testing me by biting on certain things he knows he shouldn't. This behavior has been causing me a bit of frustration. I haven't lost it with him, but my patience has certainly been thin a few times. He walks at least 3x daily round the block, runs a whole bunch.. we play non stop.

Whereas I used to feel guilty about leaving him on his own, I think I may start taking him to half day daycare once per week. This will give him a chance to play with other dogs and socialize.. and it will give me a chance to do as I please, uninterrupted. It will probably be a good way for us both to work off some energy...

Any of you ever find yourself in a similar situation?

 

[Pamela]

our little Gaby barks at my daughter when she wants to go to bed.

 

[Pamela]

of course she wants my daughter to go to bed too lol

 

[mercymoon]

Mine aren't too big on barking, Scooter barks when someone knocks on the door and Cash barks when he is told to speak,or gets a little to into playing. Sometimes I feel like I need time away from them too, it gets a little annoying when they HAVE to follow you everywhere and even try to go to the bathroom with you.:quiet:

 

[spoospirit]

My spoos don't get demanding for constant attention so I don't have that problem.

I do have a problem with Billy going into barking fits now and then when he is outside. I believe he hears the neighbors dogs up the road and he barks with them. It does get annoying so I make him come in the house for a little while to take his mind off of it.

My spoos are very quiet in the house and tend to sleep most of the time. They have a lot of free exercise during the day as they are let out frequently to run our 10 acres. Most nights we have tuggy wars with their toys or I toss their little rubber ball down the hall for them. When we are done playing, they go back to quietly play by themselves or go back to sleep.

It sounds like Snoops needs to learn that he can't take up all of mom's time by demanding constant attention. It should be on your terms, not his. I hope doggy day care helps you get started getting this problem under control. I wish you luck.

 

[cuddleparty]

Thanks Spoospirit... Snoops is actually a very good boy and I don't blame him. I do realize that it is my own fault because I always insisted that I be with him 24/7. I love the time that we have, but I am now realizing that he cannot demand ALL of my time and I realize that I really don't need to take him EVERYWHERE with me. It just doesn't work, always. I need to start getting him used to the idea of being independent every now and again. And I need to let go of the separation anxiety.

I'm still not sure why he barks so incessantly every night. He and I have a similar routine to yours so he does get to burn off alot of energy. Really, it's just late at night that he starts to test my patience, and I can't quite figure out his behavior. He doesn't bark during the day... it starts up every night at 10pm. He does his little run around and chewing...
Odd isn't it?

I've wondered if it is the antibiotics that he is on? I did a bit of research and read that novo-lexin can cause hyperactivity in dogs? Anyone experience this?

 

[spoospirit]

ooohh! Now that sounds like a problem. I have taken med for myself that have caused my skin to crawl and given me restless leg syndrome. I wanted to crawl right out of my skin and run 100 miles an hour. I wonder if that is what is happening to poor snoops?

I hate to admit it but I had to use a shock collar on one of my dogs because of an incessant barking problem. I tried other things but nothing was working. I did it as a last resort as there was no distracting her from the barking. It worked in a short amount of time and the senseless barking stopped. I had considered an anti-bark collar but the customer service rep told me that they are not reliable and sometimes so sensitive that just bouncing around and playing can set off an unnecessary shock. That was a definite NO. At least with the other one, I had control of when to use it.

My dogs are allowed to bark when they are alarmed about something, when someone comes to our home to warn me, and when they are playing. Other than that, I discourage it.

 

[BFF]

I don't know why Snoops would start doing this all of a sudden. Do you think it could be his teen hormones acting up? It also seems like it could be related to the antibiotics.

I remember my little Katie would drive me nuts a few times. She would want out of bed. I thought ok, that means you need to go outside. She goes outside and looks at me, like, why am I out here? OK, I take her back to bed. Nope, she wants out of bed. Hmmm, is she thirsty. Nope. Hmmph! Back and forth we go. It gets frustrating when they can't tell you what's wrong.

One time, I was asleep and she wouldn't stop barking. I couldn't tell anything was wrong, so I just told her to go back to bed. She was insistent. I was mad and went to put her outside. There was a man standing on the back porch wanting in the door!!!! I could tell he was drunk and didn't mean any harm. The neighbors had a party and I think he got lost. We later confirmed that is what happened. It was scary though. I felt bad getting mad at my little girl and hushing her when I didn't take the time to figure out what was really going on. Funny thing is....we also had a boxer in the back yard. Guess who (boxer) found a new friend (the stranger). Sweet dog, just not the guarding type. I had a lot more respect for my girl's barking after that.

Keep us updated on little Snoops. Like Pamela said, I also have a feeling he just wants to go to bed and wants you there too!

 

[MericoX]

What do you do when he barks?

 

[cuddleparty]

Aww BFF - sounds like Katie and Snoops had some traits in common. He would do all that when he was a wee little pup.. he has much improved! We have a pretty good routine down now. I don't mind when he barks if someone approaches the house, or if he senses some "danger". I appreciate that he is looking out for us all.

When he starts barking for no apparent reason, I take a look first to see what's up. I ask him to show me what's going on. He will usually lead me to the reason for barking. If nothing, and it doesn't stop, I tell him "no" and "cchhttt" which is our sound for "no". If that doesn't work, I've been holding his mouth shut lightly and telling him "no, ccchhttt". Then he goes nuts and runs around the house.. does he think this is a game? As a last resort, I just tuck him into bed and yes.. I follow. This all happens around our bedtime anyway. It is also about the time that he has his antibiotics. He just finished the last of it this morning so let's see if the weird barking improves.
He usually perches himself up on the couch tho, and looks out the window as he barks. Perhaps he is seeing shadows? Hearing the neighbors cat? The wind? I dunno...

Snoops has also started begging round the table and scrounging for scraps. He never used to do this. I know that I am most likely to blame since I would invite him to sit with us at the table and would give him little nibbles of lettuce. Oh heck.. I even order him his own salad plate at restaurants. So I know that I encouraged this behavior. But now his begging is getting really out of control and I need to correct it. Can't there be a happy medium? Can't I teach him that when he is invited to the table, it's ok but if he is not invited, begging is not permitted... or is this too confusing to dogs? Like, am I sending him conflicted messages?

 

[MericoX]

When he barks... I would first check it to see what he's barking at (don't talk to him) if he keeps up go in the other room and ignore him.

And yes, letting him eat at the table sometimes, and sometimes not... he doesn't really know the difference. Again, I would just ignore him. Don't look at him, don't talk to him.

Good luck!

 

[spoospirit]

Yes, the begging problem is sending conflicting messages. I let my spoos do this for a while and then it got to be constant and I had to correct an unacceptable behavior that I caused. Now, if they come to beg, I tell the to 'leave it' and they go away and lay down.

 

[cuddleparty]

So Snoops did it again tonight.

We went for 5 walks around the block today - the last 2 were consecutive walks at night. My neighbors watched us in awe "2 laps around? wow! Snoops will sleep well tonight!"

We got home and played fetch for about an hour.. he ran around the house and up and down the hallways. About 9:30pm and he started his barking, and nipping and chewing. He actually started getting a bit too rough. I put Snoops on his back and held his mouth shut. He got back up, stared me down and growled at me! Even my friend was like "oh my gosh! Snoops is really bossing you around! He just challenged you!"

Well, he soon gave up on all that and just started with his non-stop barking. I closed the drapes.. he ran around the house barking.

Ok - 1 of 2 theories:

1. He is getting sleepy and just like kids, gets in a weird hyperactive "bad" mood - this would be equivalent to sleepy grumpy kids having a meltdown just before bed.

2. He notices that everyone else in the house has turned in for the night and wants to wake them up (Snoops loves company). He wants the entire household to stay up with him until he is ready to hit the sack...

There were no more meds tonight, so I can't really blame the pills..

Dunno what else to make of it?...

 

[spoospirit]

It sounds to me like Snoops has taken on the Alpha position in the house and is doing exactly as you say and is bossing you around. You will need to take the top position in the pack or he will just continue doing this. It is disturbing that he challenged you after you put him in a submissive position. You may need to continue to do that until he realizes that he is not the boss; you are. You don't want him to escalate into aggression.

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

Have you ever just picked him up and put him in his crate?
I found if my guys got really crazy they were overtired from a walk and did not know how to settle themselves Once in crate for 5 min they were out.

Perhaps buy a good new bone or one of those filled cow hooves anything NEW dont let him have it till crate time. as soon as he starts say enough. if nothing happens pick him up put him in crate give him the bone and leave. Do not go back to him again while he is making noice at all.
Make sure he has pottied and everything for night.

Always worked with my guys and yes he does sound like he is bossing you around and needs some good NILIF Nothing in life is free.
Make him sit or shake or anything before petting treats even going out to pee.
Do not ever let him decide when it is cuddle time. He needs to do something for you first.

He is not a bad dog just a teenager that needs to learn his place in life. Much easeir then my 18 yo son as I can't put him in a crate though honestly I would love to some days

 

[spoospirit]

That sounds like good advice Mandy. I've never had my dogs get that out of control so I haven't had any experience in experimenting with disciplinary actions.

I resemble that remark about your 18 year old son and very much sympathize with you. It gets better. Sometime in their 20's usually they do an about face and realize that their parents aren't dummy's. I got a call eventually from all six of my children in their 20's to tell me that they were sorry and realized now how difficult life really can be and that I did the right thing by them. Hang in there.

 

[cuddleparty]

Thanks for the advice.. I do appreciate it!
Funny thing is.. we all refer to Snoops as "The Boss". I even bought him a little pillow where you can slip his photo into, and it's embroidered "The Boss".

Thing is... I don't really treat Snoops much like a dog. He does get alot of human privileges. He does not use a crate. If he is REALLY BAD, he gets a time out in the bathroom. I did actually put him in the bathroom a handful of times yesterday. He always sits and shakes hands before he gets a treat. He always sits before we go for a walk and before his feeding. So yes, I do instill discipline in him and require him to do certain things before getting something in return..

It's tricky to write a full description of your pet and their behaviors. If I focus on one thing here (his barking at night) he comes across as if he is a bad dog. He's not. He is a very sweet and obedient dog. I don't have any issues with him other than his evening barking. That's the only thing that drives me up the wall. He's not a brat, or a demanding dog... he just has this weird quirk that happens at night.

Maybe he's a werewolf? When night falls, he goes crazy... hmmmm... :hmmmm:

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

I still believe he is acting like a tired 2 yo who is ready for bed but doesn't want to at the point when he is barking like that.
What else do you have to loose then a couple nights then to take him and gate him in the bathroom then. If you don't use a crate but use the bathroom for time outs so be it into the bathroom have a mat or something give him a bone and say hush.

I myself love the crates and since I had 2 puppies last summer as Mandy is almost 2 and Casey is 17 months or so I had to use them for time outs of my sanity LOL.
Casey still gets a time out when he gets crazy and a romp in backyard doesn't help.

Good luck to you barking is not fun

 

[cuddleparty]

Crates are great! However, I don't regret not using one... i did try when Snoops first came home. That lasted about 15 minutes. lol!
I do have one, and he hangs out in there every once in a while... but other than that he doesn't really use it. When we fly, he sits in his carrier and seems quite content.

 

[cuddleparty]

Update...

so far so good tonight.. he is sitting here right next to me and not a peep.
my Dad was here just a bit ago, and for some reason Snoops always gets a rise outta him. My Mom and I can't explain it.. very weird. Mum says Snoops doesn't like Dad...

such odd behavior from this little guy...