Dog will not stop barking last chance

jacknife

I've a 12 year old german shepherd, and he will not stop barking when he's outside.

He's in a large pen with 4 other dogs, he's execised, fed and waterded and still he's barking away for no reason.

Its come to the stage now where if he does not stop the neighbours will be complaining, i would hate to have to bring him on a one way visit to the vet, but if he continues barking i may be forced to take action.

He's neuterded.

Some one told me it may be a problem of him going deaf and just barking?

He's in good shape for him age his joints are fine

its just this constant barking for on reason its creating a stressful environment for my family as well as were just waiting for the neighbours to complain, i've often gotten up in the middle of the night jsut to tell him to be quite

Any advice would be very welcome

crotalus667

jacknife wrote: »

Any advice would be very welcome

First thing to do would be a trip to the vet to see if there is a medacil reason for his barking

jacknife

crotalus667 wrote: »

First thing to do would be a trip to the vet to see if there is a medacil reason for his barking

thanks worth a try

morganafay

Has he barked all his life or just recently?

Please don't get him put down because of it, would you think about trying to rehome him or taking him to a shelter? Or, I dunno if it's a good idea, but can't you get dogs surgically "de-barked"? It'd be better than putting him down . . .

Chloroplast

go after him with a garden hose, and wet em, that will shock him and give a big "NO" when you do. then after , when he barks again, just go out and pick up the hose, without even turning it on, it should be enough of a signal to say if you don't stop barking you will get this...works on my staffy, and anyone that owns a staffy KNOW what a handful these dos can be with excitement,

something i might point out is that you never said if you've had him from puppyhood or not. if you havent and hes adopted then its hard to know what his past history is as regards behaviour etc...

ISDW

Can you not keep him in the house, rather than outside in a pen?

lrushe

Please don't put your dog of 12 years down for barking, you say your neighbours haven't even complained yet. As suggested could you not bring him indoors or at the v.least try rehome him to a home without neighbours. With the greatest of respect dogs shouldn't be disposable as soon as they become an inconvenience, what lesson is that to teach your family???

namurt

We were in a similar position recently. Our dog hated being outside. We got her from a rescue and tried to give her time to settle in but after 2 neighbours complained it was just too stressful. I was getting stressed out every time I left the house worrying about her. We eventually gave in and now keep her and our first dog inside. She still hates being outside and will literally just run out, go to the toilet and run back in, but at least now she's much happier.
We didn't think it would be feasible to keep them both in but with a bit of thought and some diy we managed.

iguana

Another thing you should do is contact your neighbours. Apologise to them for any disturbance and tell them you are working on it. You might be surprised, the barking might not be bothering them too much.

GERMAN ROCKS

you dont have rats or anything like that outside that hes barking at

michael999999

why dont you get the collar that sprays a stream of water into the dogs face every time it barks.should stop it pretty humanly.

Sigma Force

This is a newish thing I take it so not some bad habit he's gotten in to from puppyhood?

Have the vet check his hearing, also watch him closely as you are his owner and know the dog best you should get an idea of what is setting him off not even a vet can tell you if it's not a medical reason because you know him well you need to figure out (after anything medical is ruled out) if there's something in the garden bugging him, something new, new cats wandering around, are other dogs setting him off, is he barking when you leave. Does he stop barking when you go to him.

Once anything medical has been ruled out, and you have an idea of what may be causing it there is no reason why he shouldn't be taken to a humane dog trainer to help solve the problem. Only use a trainer that uses humane methods of training.

This is not a valid enough reason to put a dog down how that can even be considered is beyond me but hopefully you will reconsider and look at other choices that you have from training to rehoming.

Those spray collars don't always work and I certainly wouldn't be spraying an elderly dog with water. Getting a proper dog trainer that can work with you and help you is the best and most humane thing for your dog.

Noopti

jacknife wrote: »

Its come to the stage now where if he does not stop the neighbours will be complaining, i would hate to have to bring him on a one way visit to the vet, but if he continues barking i may be forced to take action.

Unbelieveable.

Anyway, there is a lot of good advice here. Like others have said, try and find out why he is barking -also a trip to the vet is a very good idea to rule out any possible medical reason.

At the end of the day, this is your dog and your responsibility. You need to ensure he is ok medically. If he is then you need to find out why he is barking, and try and rectify the situation - at least you have come here for some advice, that's a start.

If, for whatever reason you cannot get it sorted, then for Gods sake don't have the poor dog killed for barking. There are plenty of other avenues you can take....

paultf

jacknife wrote: »

I've a 12 year old german shepherd, and he will not stop barking when he's outside.

Just got this in the email today...here is a response from a UK vet to a query similar to yours http://www.dfordog.co.uk/askthevet_barking.htm

Here is the full Q and A:-

"Question

We have a 13 month old miniature shorthaired dachshund that is very nervous and barks all the time at the slightest thing. We have tried everything to stop this. Would you suggest the use of an anti-barking collar? Our dog was born premature and his two siblings died at 7 & 10 days after birth (he weighed just 3 oz when born), the other three dogs in the litter were bigger. Last month we had him castrated for health reasons, as his testicles hadn’t dropped. His nature has not changed either way (good or bad) since the operation. He is a beautiful dog and we love him to bits and would appreciate any advice on how we can reduce/stop this barking.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Iain Samson - London

[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Answer

Hi Iain,

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I would advise talking to a professional dog behaviourist as this problem is much more of a behaviour one than a medical one.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In most cases problems like this can be resolved using behavioural modifications such as counter conditioning and confidence building to address the underlying reasons why he is barking, which could be stress or fear of some kind.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I would strongly advise against using an anti-barking collar as this is not addressing the underlying cause and will simply lead to more frustration and behavioural issues of another kind.

Kind regards,[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

Joe Inglis BVSc MRVCS"
[/FONT]

liah

I'm definitely in agreement with a few posters here in wondering why on earth you think a dog should be disposed of after 12 years just because it's barking.

I have a german shepherd back home in Canada of around a similar age, she's 11 now I think. She's gone a bit round the bend. She was always a very chatty dog, as sheps tend to be, talking back etc. She was kind of barky but it was never a major issue. The last few years she wanders around the yard and just.. barks. We think she probably is going deaf. She shows no signs of pain or discomfort, she's just.. getting old, and a bit senile.

The barking is annoying, but I seriously am having trouble with the idea of putting a dog down just because of it. 12 years with you and your family as its companions and family. Dead for a bark. Makes no sense to me.

ghost_ie

michael999999 wrote: »

why dont you get the collar that sprays a stream of water into the dogs face every time it barks.should stop it pretty humanly.

Where can I get this collar? I have a problem with my JRT crosses who bark at other dogs when they are on leads. I'm becoming paranoid watching out for other dogs so I can cross the road so they hopefully won't see them and start barking. They're great off the lead in the park and won't bark at all but walking them to the park is becomeing stressful

jacknife

Thanks for all your replies, i never intended on having the dog pts, it was said in a means to get some good solutions.

Someone mentioned a good reason due to a rat, i did catch a rat in the shed last week and as far as i know its free of them now, hopefully.

i love the dog but i do not want problems and solicitors letters from the neighbours, they are not dog people.

he will be sleeping indoors at night, but its during the day he'll be out, i just cannot understand why he wants to bark for no reason as he's fed, exercised with company and still he just barks.

He's in good shape for a dog of his age and my wife threatens to get rid of him but i know she will not really

i was told that travel tablets for dogs helps??

lisar201

ghost_ie wrote: »

Where can I get this collar? you can get them in argos on online

goat2

try the calmin tablets you get at vets, give him good big dose for first few weeks, then reduce the dose, this thing could be all a habit
failing that
get the bark collar
it will fix it fairly shortly
when he learn what the collar does
get him a dummy collar after a while

morganafay

I'd guess that if there was one rat there could be more around. My dogs only bark if there are strange cats around, so it could be something like rats.