Question:
can anyone give me any suggestions on calming down an 8 month old golden
retriever who seems to be freaked out by the slightest little noise at
night? it's been windy here in sunny los angeles lately, so there's
lots of strange noises like branches banging against the house, and
windows/doors rattling.
for the past few nights he's kept me (and probably neighbors) up until
the wee hours of the night in barking fits every 20 minutes or so. just
when i think he's calmed down, something will spook him and he starts up
again - high pitched anxious barks and then a weird sort of growl.
also, my husband is out of town for a week, and it's not helping that
the right people aren't in the bed at the right times.
i tried having him sleep with me on the bed but he doesn't generally
like to stay there longer than a few minutes before settling down beside
me on the floor, but once the barking starts he's pacing around the bed
or in an aggressive stance in front of the door??? i've tried ignoring
it, tried praising effusively when he quiets down, tried putting him in
a down-stay by the bed, but once he hears the tiniest unfamiliar noise
it starts all over again.
i just feel very badly for him (and for the neighbors) as he seems very
very stressed by all this, and i don't know how to get him to calm down.
any ideas?
Answer:
what kind of medical problem could be the cause of this? it seems to be
such a specific behavior - it only happens a) at night, b) when my
husband is gone and c) when we're inside the house. otherwise he seems
fine. he's not fearful of people, and hasn't been showing any other
kinds of strange behavior (that i can see), which is why this surprises
me.
In my opinion your dog is just trying to guard his "pack" because the
Big Guy isn't home. This can be very stressful.
When Zelda used to start barking at night because the neighbors' dogs
were all barking... I would say " Good girl, Zelda, I here them" and if
she yipped or whuffed again I might even get up to see why the dogs were
barking. Once the dogs had a raccoon treed in our yard!
Once she realized that her "job" of alerting me was done, she'd stop
barking. Now she just ignores the dogs outside and only barks in the
house A) on command or B) when someone is here.
I have no stake or interest in the success of his business. I simply
want to thank him publicly for one of his tips, with regards to
separation anxiety. I thought it seemed far fetched to praise a
stuffed animal and then say good bye to my own dog, but I am
usually a very open minded person, so I tried it. Well, lo and behold-
the damn trick worked!
I'm not sure that I'm a 100% convert, or that I agree
with (or even understand) 100% of what you say in this
manual ... BUT ... we had "come" down pat in a few
reps and you could have knocked me down when I tried
the exercise with "drop" and, after a few reps in
different spots Darwin practically *threw* the rubber
ball at my feet on command. He's still not perfect
(just a pup, after all, and he's stubborn enough to
want to push and test me a little bit more).
For what it's worth, I can see (as no doubt you have)
how your usenet manner is likely to rankle a few
folks, but that woman who advocates ear pulling and
beating with sticks deserves everything she gets. Even
if that was the only method that would work, I'd live
with my dog not fetching rather than do any of that.
Has he been crate trained? For some dogs putting them in a crate will
make them worse, for others it is the magic security blanket. It works
that way for one of my dogs. Once or twice a year something will really
drive his anxiety levels up. Often I can find out why but not necessarily
change the situation. So I've found that if I lock him in his crate he
relaxes. You might also try bringing him into the bedroom and making
outside noise less obvious by having a few sources of your own. E.g.
leave a radio on in one or more of the other rooms to help mask outside
noise.
If he has not had much obedience training I would recommend that. The
structure and predictabilty that comes with obedience training is often a
source of comfort for the anxious and fearful dog.
Make sure he has adequate daily mental and physical stimulation. It is
important to a dog's ability to handle change that they get regularly
introduced to new a different things. Walks away from home, different
routes, training in different locations, playing. Exercise is a well
known stress reducer.
