Neighbor complaints about dog/considering rehoming

[Pea-n-Me]

https://whs4pets.org/dog-exercise/

 

[Pea-n-Me]

For those who enjoy dogs and might occasionally watch the dog shows for fun I recommend keeping an eye out when they broadcast the agility competitions. It takes a lot of training to get a dog ready to compete on changing courses and follow all of the rules. You have never seen happier dogs in your life. Nearly every dog finishes their run through with a full tilt run and jump into their trainer's arms, usually the trainer is the owner.

We nearly died laughing at the toy breeds competing, particularly on the see saw obstacle. Really entertaining to watch and it truly highlights a lot of what those announcers are blabbing on about each breed during the actual dog shows. It's so wonderful to see the bond of the dog and the owner -- even when 80 pounds of lab is diving in their arms at about mach 10.

I just wanted to respond to this. I agree, agility is awesome. Many years ago we had a dog who had endless energy, known as Ball Drive. All day he sat and stared wanting to work. (These are the types of dogs they often choose for police and other work.) We had to channel his energy. We taught him frisbee, and then agility. In fact, my husband built the regulation course our group used. (It was even portable so we could take it places and put on shows!) That dog was a natural, and once he learned how to do it, it was so much fun watching him just fly flawlessly through the paces. At the end, we would throw his frisbee up in the air and he would do a leaping, twisting, airborne catch, and the crowd would go wild! Fun times for all of us.

Interestingly enough, in light of the discussion here how dogs of the same breed can differ, we had a brother/sister pair of dogs at the time, so naturally we tried doing agility with the sister, too. Well, she just didn't have ball drive like he had, and was quite happy living life as a couch potato. She once fell of the dog walk (just toppled off, as she was not particularly coordinated, lol) and that was the end of agility for her, she avoided the equipment after that. She was content to watch, though, and that was it. (And we were fine with that. As I said, we mainly got into it to tucker the energetic dog out.) She did learn frisbee, and was pretty good at it, but she was mainly interested in stealing it from her brother. As I said, I'm always fascinated with dog personalities and behaviors! And agility is really a great way to channel energetic dogs if you have the time to do it. Thanks for bringing it up!

 

[Christine]

I just wanted to sort of "justify" my comment about medicating the dog after reading other comments. Medication is not my natural first step. My only concern here now is that the dog is 3 years old and seems to have some very deep-seated anxieties and behavior. I am unsure that with this anxiety and aggressiveness that the dog can truly be "open" to retraining. A short course of an anti-anxiety med (not a tranquilizer but maybe an SSRI) could get the dog in the right frame of mind to have a good experience with some new routines (walking, playing, etc). This type of approach is often recommended for humans that have experienced long term anxiety and need to get out and about to exercise and change routines. A 3 month course of something while the dog walker comes and the owners set up a physical routine isn't the worst thing in the world. As the dog adapts to the physical routines and positive rewards, the medication can be tapered.

 

[North of Mouse]

I have a couple of thoughts..... first, It's possible your neighbor can hear the dog in this situation, but I highly doubt it's all that troublesome considering the two separate houses with closed windows.

I disagree! We had a neighbor with a Rhodesian Ridgeback that drove us crazy with it's 'very' loud barking - and all their fault. They would let it out, then conveniently 'not' let him back in for an hour or more, so you could hear him all over the neighborhood and we have acre + lots.
Sometimes they'd put him in a room and lock the door, and yes, still too loud. Thankfully, they moved, but not before several issues. (different neighbors had Sheriff out a few times). We are County, with nuisance noise laws.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Is there some dog advice in here, or just criticism of how you think we should post?

I disagree with how you two interpret an owner's responsibility, and I commented on it. Surely you know that not every response on a thread is required to be an answer to the OP's question.

 

[wgeo]

This has been an interesting thread. FWIW I totally believe that the neighbor could hear the dog barking in their house. I work from home and can hear my neighbor's dog frequently. The owner is also home, so the barking stops pretty quickly, but if it went on for hours it would drive me crazy.

We have a goldendoodle right now - 1 1/2 years - super energetic, so we do everything we can to get her lots of running, playing and walking. At a minimum she gets 1/2 hour each morning and evening as a walk and lots of play inbetween since I'm home. However - she still had the most severe seperation anxiety that I've personally seen. I had read that this may be common for the breed and thought I was ready for it,but was still surprised at how bad it was. We crate trained her, yet she would still injure herself when left in the crate - no matter what we tried. Through much trial and error and training, and probably age on her part she has gotten better, but she's still miles different than our previous dog. That dog followed me everywhere I went so I figured I understood seperation anxiety, lol no. My current dog freaks out when I'm in the shower even though she sits directly in front of the glass shower door.

Sooo - I have a huge amount of sympathy for the OP. I am super impressed that you are taking your neighbor's concerns seriously and trying to figure out what to do. In my opinion, exercise is super important - but really that is a seperate issue than seperation anxiety. Not sure if your dog has issues with both or not. My recommendation would be to try adding in more exercise first because, honestly that's the easiest thing to try. A quality dog walker or even training place MAY provide significant help. Somewhere like a Dog Wizard where they take the dog for 2 weeks can really help, but that's an expense that not everyone can afford.

After trying that I would talk to the Vet about medication for the seperation anxiety specifically. We did get some "treats" that would calm our dog down, they weren't prozac, they were a notch lower than that. We thought they were worked a little bit but not enough that we bought a second bag of them. But I did enough reading to believe that certain dogs really could benefit from the real anxiety medication.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I disagree with how you two interpret an owner's responsibility, and I commented on it. Surely you know that not every response on a thread is required to be an answer to the OP's question.

Yet you offered no real dog advice of your own.

Us two, huh? Seems rather personal since many people offered some of the same advice "we" did.

Did you read all of my posts here before you jumped to criticize?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This has been an interesting thread. FWIW I totally believe that the neighbor could hear the dog barking in their house. I work from home and can hear my neighbor's dog frequently. The owner is also home, so the barking stops pretty quickly, but if it went on for hours it would drive me crazy.

We have a goldendoodle right now - 1 1/2 years - super energetic, so we do everything we can to get her lots of running, playing and walking. At a minimum she gets 1/2 hour each morning and evening as a walk and lots of play inbetween since I'm home. However - she still had the most severe seperation anxiety that I've personally seen. I had read that this may be common for the breed and thought I was ready for it,but was still surprised at how bad it was. We crate trained her, yet she would still injure herself when left in the crate - no matter what we tried. Through much trial and error and training, and probably age on her part she has gotten better, but she's still miles different than our previous dog. That dog followed me everywhere I went so I figured I understood seperation anxiety, lol no. My current dog freaks out when I'm in the shower even though she sits directly in front of the glass shower door.

Sooo - I have a huge amount of sympathy for the OP. I am super impressed that you are taking your neighbor's concerns seriously and trying to figure out what to do. In my opinion, exercise is super important - but really that is a seperate issue than seperation anxiety. Not sure if your dog has issues with both or not. My recommendation would be to try adding in more exercise first because, honestly that's the easiest thing to try. A quality dog walker or even training place MAY provide significant help. Somewhere like a Dog Wizard where they take the dog for 2 weeks can really help, but that's an expense that not everyone can afford.

After trying that I would take to the Vet about medication for the seperation anxiety specifically. We did get some "treats" that would calm our dog down, they weren't prozac, they were a notch lower than that. We thought they were worked a little bit but not enough that we bought a second bag of them. But I did enough reading to believe that certain dogs really could benefit from the real anxiety medication.

I like your post, but I'm going to add that I also have symptathy for the OP, and the dog, and have also, as I've said, had a dog with lots of "issues" (including being reactionary), and those issues included separation anxiety, too. I have written many times here that, based on my own experiences, I believe that crating is not right for every dog, because I saw one of my dogs severely injure herself in her crate, too. (Although I've successfully used a crate with several other dogs.) I'm talking lots of blood and self-harm. So I get it, believe me. But none of that changes anything I've said here. I continue to put forth that every dog is unique, and needs have to be met based on that uniqueness and whatever it may bring.

I just wanted to sort of "justify" my comment about medicating the dog after reading other comments. Medication is not my natural first step. My only concern here now is that the dog is 3 years old and seems to have some very deep-seated anxieties and behavior. I am unsure that with this anxiety and aggressiveness that the dog can truly be "open" to retraining. A short course of an anti-anxiety med (not a tranquilizer but maybe an SSRI) could get the dog in the right frame of mind to have a good experience with some new routines (walking, playing, etc). This type of approach is often recommended for humans that have experienced long term anxiety and need to get out and about to exercise and change routines. A 3 month course of something while the dog walker comes and the owners set up a physical routine isn't the worst thing in the world. As the dog adapts to the physical routines and positive rewards, the medication can be tapered.

It sounds like that was a well-thought-out and well-executed plan.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm going to add this, and it's not in response to anyone's post, necessarily.

It is very important when you have a dog, especially a young, impressionable dog, that you deal correctly with problematic behavior, because if you don't, the behavior can inadvertently be reinforced, and therefore increase.

I've seen it a lot. Dog is anxious. People cuddle dog like they would a fearful child. "Aww, poor baby!". Problem is that a dog is not a child, and doesn't think or respond like a child would. A dog thinks, "Wow, there must be something to be afraid of", and, although it wasn't intended by their person, their anxiety has now increased.

This can be true of rescued dogs, too. I guess I'll call it the "Poor baby" syndrome.

It's not good for the dog.

When a dog acts anxiously, the best thing you can do for your dog is to act like everything in the world is fine and you and your dog non-chalantly continue on with your day. This tells the dog, who takes his cues from you, that all is fine, rather than that there is reason to worry.

That is also part of socialization. Bring the dog out into the world, whatever that world is, and teach him how to act. Reinforce the behavior you want, not the behavior you don't.

Sure, it takes a lot of effort, oftentimes years, for dogs to feel comfortable, and perhaps they may even always remain a nervous type of dog. But with repeated exposure to "normal", many dogs can come around.

So be very careful not to inadvertently reward negative behaviors by coddling.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This is a good article from the ASPCA on Petfinder.

It offers lots of insights from licensed animal professionals - including veterinarians and animal behaviorists - into the subject at hand.

Dogs Who Are Home Alone All Day:

https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-care/dogs-home-alone-all-day/

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

While I completely agree with you that walking (a good distance) is a basic need, I do not think it is the norm for most dogs.

Hardly anyone I know walks their dog daily (and many of those who do consider 15 minutes to be a “walk”). Many dogs are never walked their entire lives because people consider letting the dog out in a fenced yard to be adequate exercise.

And just for the record, I’m not simply talking about “lazy” pet owners. I’m including people working with various rescue organizations (volunteers and fosters), people involved in training (both class participants and instructors), and other therapy dog owners/volunteers.

I’m usually considered to be a freak because I walk my dogs for a minimum of two hours daily (5+ miles). And, there are definitely occasions where I would like to have the option of just letting the dogs out into a yard rather than walking them.

My neighbours walk their pets at least twice a day and many have dog walkers come in during the day. I know because I live directly across the street from a big park and it's teeming with dogs and owners, from the crack of dawn all the way into the late evening. I live in the city. I don't know anyone that doesn't walk their dog daily.

 

[tzolkin]

My neighbours walk their pets at least twice a day and many have dog walkers come in during the day. I know because I live directly across the street from a big park and it's teeming with dogs and owners, from the crack of dawn all the way into the late evening. I live in the city. I don't know anyone that doesn't walk their dog daily.

Most people I know have fenced yards and that’s where their dogs spend 90%+ of their outdoor time. A walk, hike, or trip to the park is an occasional thing when the owners feel like it and the weather is nice.

Some even have dog “walkers” come to their home, but even they just check on the dogs and play in the back yard.

 

[Christine]

I live in the suburbs on 1/2 acre wooded lots. We actually don't have a lot of people walking their dogs. I never routinely did it. Like the OP, I was out for 9-10 hours a day and had kids stuff going on in the evenings. Not ideal for the dog. We did more walks in the summer when I had more daylight as well as always doing walks on the weekends. My dogs were all pretty good about enjoying the backyard and exploring the wooded area. We'd throw sticks and balls out back also.

Now, my mother lives close to me in a townhouse neighborhood where people's yards are pretty small. LOTS of dog walking going on there.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We do both. We have a big fenced yard and we also have a lot of great places to walk and dog parks. We are fortunate, too, in our household someone is almost always home, between my mother living with us and our atypical work schedules. Our dogs also come out with us a lot when we go out and we stop somewhere to do something fun with them, often near the water.

Right now we're in a deep freeze so I imagine a lot of dogs are housebound. The lucky ones, anyway. I've read about a lot of dogs frozen to death who were left outside, even a whole litter of puppies.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I almost forgot we also have a very active dog in our neighborhood who's couped up a lot, we have her over to "play" sometimes, and she's stayed with us when they went away. When she gets into the yard she runs and runs circling the whole yard multiple times as fast as she can go for the first few minutes. And thanks for the reminder I might call to see if she wants to come over for a few minutes, my dog is getting antsy too. (But it's too cold for longer than a few mins right now!)

 

[LSUmiss]

Yes, your post made me think of something I often hear in regards to choosing a dog, that often makes me scratch my head. Someone will talk about their lifestyle and ask others, "What would be a good breed of dog for our family?" And the majority of people who answer will say, "Dog breed doesn't matter, each individual dog is so different that you can't tell what type of dog you are going to get by choosing a breed". And I always think, "Really? Sure, there are exceptions, but I think it is VERY important to consider dog breed and one's lifestyle!" I would never recommend that a couch potato family buy a Husky. Or that someone wanting a running partner or a dog to go on long family hikes with them, to get a Shih Tzu.

Anyway OP, I am sorry you are going through this, but I commend you for trying to find a solution, for the sake of your dog, and for the neighbors. I agree that Labs need a lot of exercise and mental stimulation, so I would start there, to see if you can get a dog walker or take him to doggie daycare to burn off some of that energy.

Another thing we do is look at the temperament of the puppies (if you get a puppy) when we go to pick one out. Even at 5-6 weeks you can tell their little personalities. I always get the laid back, quiet puppy in the litter. A lot of ppl think it’s cute to get the playful one, but that usually translates to hyper or energetic at home. Maybe it’s just a fluke, but in the 4 times we have picked a puppy over the years, this theory worked. One time I let my DH pick & he picked the biggest male b/c he was the prettiest. I told him that was gonna be trouble & guess what...

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Has anyone seen this? It sort of illustrates what I've been talking about - that some vigorous exercise a couple of times a day can go a long way to letting a dog expunge some energy.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/greyhounds-in-the-snow?utm_term=.nkpjazPpVE#.hfR2b71p5O

 

[CarolAnn856]

Yet you offered no real dog advice of your own.

Us two, huh? Seems rather personal since many people offered some of the same advice "we" did.

Did you read all of my posts here before you jumped to criticize?

I'm not quite sure if you're misreading my posts accidentally or on purpose, but it's quite clear that my issue was with the sentiment expressed in the two comments specifically quoted. I made no mention of other advice you, the other poster, or anyone else had given, so I really don't see why you would assume that my post was directed at anything other than what I quoted. Anyway, since I have my doubts that this post will be interpreted correctly by you as well, I'm disengaging.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm not quite sure if you're misreading my posts accidentally or on purpose, but it's quite clear that my issue was with the sentiment expressed in the two comments specifically quoted. I made no mention of other advice you, the other poster, or anyone else had given, so I really don't see why you would assume that my post was directed at anything other than what I quoted. Anyway, since I have my doubts that this post will be interpreted correctly by you as well, I'm disengaging.

Not sure why you continue to post here in the absence of giving dog advice and seemingly just to admonish about I don't know what. Whatever.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

https://whs4pets.org/dog-exercise/

OMG PEA! Thanks

You know my situation with the 2 dogs and cat moving in together. Come to find out the dogs LOVE the CAT TOYS, esp. Butters.

I have been playing with the DaBird with them.

Also, this morning took them out to go potty (no fence in the rental house), and the 2 bull dogs next door did NOT even get his fur raised.

I am going to get this or make it.