My dog is driving me insane!! She is a 6 year old yellow lab. I am trying to work from home. If I put her outside, she barks and barks and scratches at the back door until I let her in. Understandibly, its cold outside. If I let her in the house with me, she paces and paces looking for things to chew on. I dont want her chewing our shoes or the kids toys so I give her a large rawhide bone. This soothes her for an entire 10 minutes, then she's back to pacing and looking for more to chew. I've already given her 2 large rawhides today but do not want to give her more because she eats them, and I dont want her chewing my house. I pet her and love on her but she just cant get enough of that and wants more (who wouldnt?) but I've got work to do. If I put her in her crate in the garage (she normally loves it in there) she barks and barks and barks. I have a heater out there turned on low to keep her warm, so I know she's not cold and she's not too hot and she doesnt need to potty. How can I get her to lay quietly so I can get some work done. My neighbors are home, so I'm sure her barking is annoying them as much as its annoying me! Any suggestions? I cant bring her crate in the house, my house is too small and we have no place to put it.
A kong filled with pb only lasted about 10 minutes. Once the pb was all licked out, she was looking for something else to chew on. I had my kids take her for a walk today. They took her twice for about a half hour each time. She's pooped and sleeping on the floor next to me. :) We'll just have to keep this up.
Sounds like she needs a trip to the doggy park. Might be a good way to start the day. Take her to the doggy park (Gateway park on Beach St, north of I-30). You might could get some reading done while out there, but I've never succeeded at that. If she likes fetch, it is a large enough area for you to throw and her to RUN! Then hopefully she will be worn out for the rest of the day.
You might want to discuss the behavior with your vet.
L., Been there, done that! I have 4 indoor terriers!!!! The ONE & ONLY solution to your problem is to take it for a walk, EVERY DAY, RAIN or SHINE!! I KNOW...I hate it too, but the 1/2 hr walk gives you a whole days peace! By the time they get home, they're too pooped to give ya any grief! :) Just buy out the time. You'll both feel much better. Watch Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer on the Nat'l Geographic Channel or rent his tapes! He's phenomenol w/all dogs!! Let us know how it goes! S.
Take 30 minutes (or more)in the morning to give her plenty of exercise. A walk, fetch or train her to a treadmill. She will expend the extra energy and leave you alone. Large dogs especially need an outlet for their pent up energy. She needs this both morning and evening and you'll find her a much happier girl.
I would call Wendy with Leader of the Pack! She helped us with our Labs and we love the results! Her number is ###-###-####.
Hi L. L,
1st thing, Have you seen the dog whisperer? I really think she needs to have a long ......LONG run every day. Not just from you but whom ever you can get to do the same. She is anxious and needs to to be worn out. The dog whisperer says that dogs need exercise, discipline, and then play and affection. Maybe you can get him to come help you? I really hope this helps. We have a smaller dog and she is happy to just lie down where I am all day long, of course after a good walk.
C..
My recommendation would be to walk her! Mornings are great for a walk because it'll take the edge off her...trust me, I'm a pet sitter and the trainer I work with, Aaron Stewart with The Educated Dog (www.TheEducatedDog.c om) has walking at the top of his list.
Take her on a nice long walk in the morning. It will help wake you up, give her the attention she craves, and make her tired enough to eat breakfast and take a nap when you return to do your work. If this isn't possible, I suggest training her to walk on a treadmill or possibly hiring a dog walker to walk her every morning.
Do you take her on walks? She is probably bored. Labs can be that way. Run some energy off of her. Check out www. ____@____.com might could give you some more advice. I love Labs.
Dear L.,
Your dog needs exercise. Not just in the backyard, but a good long walk/jog. We also have a lab. If the dog pulls, get a choke chain or a halty. If you get a halty get the one that attaches to the body, my dogs hate the one that goes on the head. Labs have a lot of energy. A good dog is a tired dog.
P.S. Watch the Dog Whisper on the Discovery Channel. I've got a lot of good information and have applied it to all three of my dogs. Ceaser knows what he is talking about.
Your dog needs exercise! She needs to be walked outside of her yard on a regular basis, this will settle her down and make her much less restless while inside. Crating her inside or outide will only make your situation worse. As far as rawhides, you should replace them with hard plastic chew toys. Nylabone makes several choices, but the hard plastic is durable for though chewers like Labs. Wal-Mart and Petsmart carry a large bone-style Nylabone that my dogs love. You may think that they are expensive, but they are a great investment, they last a long time and you will not have health issues like you might have with rawhides. Get one for inside and one for outside and she will always have something to chew, other than your house! I have 5 dogs right now and even the little ones like to chew on the big Nylabones and they never get rawhides!
Take a break fron working (I work part time from home, too) and throw a ball or frisbee for her until she wears out (it won't take long). Find a "ball launcher" so that you never have to touch a slobbery ball. Pestmart has lots of outdoor toy ideas.
My 11 year old has the responsibility of walking the dogs (one at a time) after homework after school and on weekends, too, it is great exercise for dog and child and a bonding experience for the walkers. Be sure to get a resistance collar- we had a Lab and could not walk her without it or she would pull. The "pinch" or "prong" collars work best for Labs. Avoid the thick chain "choke" collars and if you can't find a pinch collar, get the finest link metal choke collar you can find (also a wide variety at Petsmart).
A tired dog is a content dog is a sleepy dog is a quiet dog!
Good luck!
We got a bark collar for our beagle...because our neighbors we calling the police on him. But my mom has this sonar that you put on the fence and it stops annoying barks. But she hasn't set it up so I can't tell you how it works. She got it online. I would just surf the web for different ones. Good Luck!!
L.,
Well It's not going to be a popular suggestion but I suggest going to Pet smart and purchasing a no bark collar. Some use a high pitched sound that bothers the dog but not people when they bark or whine. But most do not work on barkers. Dogs that bark alot are usually frustrated and are demanding attention. The same holds true with being destructive. Alot of exercise would help her but I understand that it's not always something easy to do. Dogs that do this kind of behavior can be stubborn and need something more to get there attention to stop this habitual behavior. Like a collar that lets out a shock to pull them out of this state of mind. With that said some dogs in time understand that as long as the collar is on the barking stops but the secound the collar in removed the barking begins again. But most learn quickly and the habitual barking is quieted even with the collar off. In really sensitive dogs it can stop barking totally though I don't think your dog would do this. It just depends on your dog.
Most stores allow a refund if you are not happy with your purchase. Check the store before buying one.
I've been on both sides of the fence with this one. I had both the barker (She doesn't live here anymore) and have had to listen to one! It's not a good thing at all. And can cause all kinds of grief for you and your neighbors.
C.
Exercise and a nylabone...that's all our lab needs to be content. Also, if we put a sheet on top of our dog's crate, she will eat it.
