Barking

[Holly Paterniti]

Our Labradoodle is crated when my daughter is awake......but when she is at daycare or sleeping he is let out. My husband does take him for walks daily in the evening, which both enjoy greatly.

Now, when he is placed into the crate again he begins to bark and bark and bark constantly. He does stop when I come over with the squirt bottle with water inside of it. As I use the sign of quiet and say it, I spray him with the water. I was told to try this and it really does work, but as soon as I walk away, he starts back up again.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am asking for a lot of suggestions, huh? Thank you ahead of time for all of your suggestions and advice :) I really do appreciate it :)

[2hl9mp3c2fuam]

I would have to agree you need to start working on the relationship between your dog/daughter...I don't believe the crate is the answer. I KNOW that has to be hard and you are worried, but the problem will never get solved this way. I have a family member that crates their dog practically all day...why??...well because she is too hyper when they let her out...well she is hyper because she is always in the crate!! Not sure what all of your time frames are, but if your pup spends more time out of the crate...it won't be such and exciting experience and he/she will calm down eventually. You will have to keep constant watch on them both for a while, but I think in the end they will both learn. I wish you the best and GOOD LUCK!!

[Stephanie]

I have to agree with pretty much all the other posts. I think crating Bear is not a good solution to your problem, in fact it is probably making it worse! If Bear is crated whenever your daughter is awake, then they have no time to bond, get to know each other, or learn how to behave around each other. Bear needs to know that his behavior is unacceptable, and you need to show him that. I think leashing him to yourself is a good idea, or maybe somebody always be with Rylie to "protect" her from Bear... making sure he doesn't pounce on her, and correcting his actions when he does ("No Bear!" "No jumping!"). Teach him to "Sit" for attention and let your daughter give treats when he does good and sits for her to pet him.

Do you have a fenced yard? If so let him out to play and go sit outside with your daughter and have her help throw toys for him to chase. If not, find a dog park in your area and take Bear and let him run off some energy...this should help some with his jumping when you get back hom to Rylie.

If you don't work on this now...its just going to get worse, and you're going to end up with a dog who is crated most of the day...which really isn't fair to Bear. If you just can't get things worked out between Rylie and Bear (which...you really should be able to fix this...its just going to take time and work) I strongly suggest finding another forever home for him. Its really unfair to keep him crated just because she is up.

I hope things get worked out. Let us know if you start using a new method...and how things are going!

[sbis0oszc95r]

maybe you should try some pet/baby gates and leave him out of the crate, but loose in the kitchen, so he has some freedom, but he can't get too close to your daughter....dogs are sociable and they just want to be near all of you...

good luck!

[Tegan]

I think the idea of leashing him to your waist is a great idea. Umbilical (as some trainers call it) is a great way of establishing that you are the leader and it also makes it possible for you to correct the dog if he tries to jump on your sister. I don't know if anyone has seen the show "At the End of my Leash", it's a little like the Dog Whisperer. Brad, the trainer pretty much gets everyone to do umbilical exercises. If he's attached to you, you could even have him in the same room as your daughter and you would be able to control where in the room Bear would be. I've found with Kali umbilical with a martingale collar works very well.