To really fucking hate our dog

[fuckingdog18]

Jesus.

Both dh and I are on the verge of killing him. He barks at fuck all at any hour of the night.

He wakes our own children up and also next doors as he sets their dog off.

The dog is ruining our relationship, our children’s sleep and our relationship with the neighbours

We are in despair.

Sorry OP but if you were yelling at 4am it's because you would have something wrong with you - like your dog.

I do understand the frustration I went through it with my own dog, but did I hate her no I bloody didn't. I love her and knew something was wrong and it took me months to figure it out. She was barky in the day anyway but always settled at night until she kept barking and I'd go downstairs and she'd quiet down then I went up and she barked again. I had many nights of a few hours sleep and then dragged myself to a 12 hour day at work plus the arguing with my partner who couldn't deal with it. I took her vet a few times who ruled everything out but thought it might be dog dementia and prescribed tablets but I didn't give them to her as i knew in my heart it wasn't that.

Turns out it was joint stiffness, honestly it wasn't really noticeable, she's older and has slowed a little but she still walks, plays etc. I watched her a lot from staying on the sofa at night and saw after hours of sleep she would get up to move and move a bit odd and make some noises, she would see I was there and be comforted. I put her on joint tablets called yumove and the difference in her in amazing, shes back to sleeping through the night now and I hope it lasts. I'm not saying your dog has joint issues but if he is a large breed 7 is classed as old. Something is obviously bothering him.

What is his exercise routine OP and how often is he left alone and for how long?

We had this, with our seven year old cocker. Got her checked at vets for everything and started her on this anti anxiety medicine... that and a change of bedding and room has done the trick for now, it seems...
https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/zylkene-reduce-anxiety-stress-relief-tablets-for-cats-dogs?gclid=CjwKCAjwtvnbBRA5EiwAcRvnplzgj2t7Eh5sB-AKKEtJ9PNEp7uEPtd2UQ814C-tcnRrTGe4ZTC3hoCqycQAvDD_BwE

@OctaviaOctober you're wasting your breath mate-it's one of 'those' threads 🙄

I agree with Frouby. You said you're going downstairs multiple times in the night to deal with the dog, but this reinforces the behaviour because the dog gets the attention it wants. You need to be walking the dog before bed, then a quick wee and send him to his bed. When he starts barking, ignore completely. It takes a few nights but they realise that you aren't coming to give them attention then stop. During this time you will want to claw your ears out but it's worth it. Ours whined when they needed a wee so we could tell the difference, if they whined, we go down, don't speak to them or fuss them, let them out, then straight back to bed. No reward for misbehaving. Something triggered this behaviour, and you accidentally reinforced it. It's now your responsibility to train him out of it.

Don't use a bark collar, it's cruel. Even the spray or noise ones. We did always use crates, they can be introduced to older dogs by leaving them open in the day so they can investigate at their own pace.

I use these for one of my dogs. These had a better effect on him than Zyklene. It's for separation anxiety which I think your dog is showing signs of.

Can't you put his bed on the floor in your room?

My dog used to bark at everything - it was anxiety I think, - anxiety about being left on his own (I don;t mean left for hours, I mean like me going upstairs for five minutes)
He is naturally jumpy aorund noise, and I live on a noisy street.

But he is way way better now, a much quieter chap.
Firstly I never shout at him if he barks (he'd just think i was joining in) I keep my voice very soft whenever Ispeak to him.
If he started to bark, I would immediately distract him and get him to pay attention to me and reward him for being 'quiet', gradually the periods he was quiet became longer until I only neede to say 'quiet an he'd shut up.

It's also help him be much calmer and more relaxed.
I've also done one or two things to minimise the things that agitate him (for example - I put a curtain over the front dor because it has a glass panel and he got worked up when cars put their lights on when it was dark outside)

I'm no dog training expert, but those things worked for me - just helping him feel relaxed and safe.

Dog behaviour is very complex, it really is best to either re-home or get a behaviourist.

My dog (2yo schnauzer) started barking loads, we ignored him thinking he was attention seeking but it got worse and worse. 1 day he barked constantly for 3 hours despite being constantly ignored.

We got in the professionals ... A behaviourist. She assessed his behaviour (after making sure he was well at the vet and was well stimulated enough with walks/agility etc) and he wasn't barking for attention so us ignoring him wasn't helping. He was barking because he was stressed and panicking. Us ignoring him made it worse.

We started the training plan she put in place, to reassure him when he was barking and he stopped almost instantly. Feel sorry for the poor dog now, we should have got help sooner because we were doing the exact wrong thing.

I'll say behaviourist and training again, just in case you notice this time.

It's funny and cute that you clearly love the 'twat' , but seriously, what has been done to address this behaviour? It isn't as simple as doing it for attention.

Feel for you OP I have a very needy collie and he can’t stand being alone. He was away from his mum too young so simply never learnt to deal with it.

Does he snooze when you are in the room? Because if he will settle and sleep then trying him in your bedroom might work. Mine sleeps directly under me in bed (under the frame - I’m not a monster) and if you met him you would think he would never settle but he does cos he knows I’m right there if he needs me.

I’ve had some success by concentrating on his other behaviours. So training him to heel meant he was more disciplined and calm when I told him to stfu so I could take the bins out without his nose stuck to my arse just in case something happened- he really responded to being training to heel 😂😂. . It might be worth consulting a dog behaviourist.

But first you need sleep and maybe to be a bit calmer in your responses to some people on here. Although you’ve answered most questions you haven’t gone into a massive amount of details.

I feel sorry for the effects the behaviour is having on you OP but more sorry for the dog. Please just acknowledge that you will consider the idea of a behaviouralist???? That's just one of the things that's getting on my nerves here is the seeming lack of trying to resolve the dog's problems.

Do NOT get a bark collar, they're very cruel. Train him and get a behaviourist involved. As OODLES of people have already suggested.

Can you get something for dogs like the Feliway plug in's? That has really helped my cats

Muzzle as last resort

You need a dog behaviourist. A good one.

I wouldn't bother with all these so called anti bark devices etc. Pay for a behaviourist, if you have pet insurance it can be covered on here. So worth it.

I think OP really just wanted to vent.

If you've had him since a puppy and this is new behaviour then something has changed. You should be doing everything to work out what it is.

You say he's been to the vets recently but something like an ear infection could have started since then, you need to take him back.

Failing there being a medical problem to address, you need to ensure he is getting enough exercise and get a behaviourist in.

One of our dogs is very barky. If we didn't keep him in our room overnight he'd be barking at every fox, cat, car, gust of wind he heard. He's 9 and we've had him since he was 9 months. He was a rescue and is still very anxious. Being near us helps.

I'd be concerned about a dog if it suddenly changed its behaviour. Certainly wouldn't be referring to it in such unpleasant terms.

Muzzle as last resort

And the prize for worst advice goes to Singlenotsingle

I think OP really just wanted to vent

Actually I think she wants some sleep.

Where did you answer the training question?

I sympathise. I hate dogs.

Op sorry for for the flack you're getting on here im totally with you when it comes to no sleep id be the same. Everyone feels cross the next day at the source of their sleepless night whether it be dp snoring, kids, animals, neighbours or car alarms no real advice as I'm not a dog owner but I read this and felt for you esp when I saw the bashing you were getting.. Oh and if I see one more person telling you go answer questions I'm going to scream! So frustrating!

*Does it for attention" explains all.

You shouldn't have a dog.*

LOL! Of course dogs do things for attention! 😂😂😂 what a comment.

OP, I sympathise, what a shitty situation. I don’t really have any advice sadly but just wanted to offer some support x