Neighbour complaining about dog barking in morning

[Gizlotsmum]

Our neighbour has just mentioned he is being disturbed by our dog barking. He initially said through the night ( which he doesn’t, we had 1 2am bark when he needed the toilet this week and that was unusual) then admitted it was more like 5:30/6:00 which I accept as that is when we start the day. How do I stop him barking for toilet first thing? We are working on quiet by ignoring and rewarding when quiet, but not easy esp as he is barking for attention sometimes. We struggle to be up before him as it can be anytime between 5:15 and 6. Is it just a case of getting up at 5:15 ( or will that mean he will think that is his new wake up time?) as he will go happily till 6 some mornings.

Dog is crated downstairs and it can take us a few mins ( I’d say max 5 but will look to start timing it) to get him out ( he stops barking when we are downstairs). I appreciate this is annoying but need to find a way round it. Dog is nearly 1 yr old. Has 2 decent walks a day, chew toys etc. am starting to write down when he barks to see if there is a pattern. He doesn’t bark at the doorbell or people waking past. He barks for attention, especially if new people come in but settles after a short while.

Will ask our trainers advice after the holidays but just after opinions in the mean time

neighbour admitted he struggles to sleep and I want to make it better for us all.

If you really don’t want the crate or dog in your room then fair enough, but can you move him closer eg right outside your bedroom? That way you can get to him a lot quicker. Then as others have said, get up and outside much faster, and move this time forward each day - no speaking or acknowledgement as he goes out and does a wee, then straight back in.

I don’t think you need to rehome him just yet 😂 Ignore the maddies, they always crop up on the Doghouse.

Nor is she refusing to consider all suggestions, she has just said that keeping the dog in their bedroom isn't viable

Its completely viable. She is just choosing not to out of preference.

Re-read the thread. She bats away all suggestions as they would inconvenience her. Can't take the dog out of a crate as it will chew a teatowel. Can't have the dog in her bedroom as, well, there is no reason other than her H does not want to.

All the while the neighbour is never able to get a proper night's sleep. So apparently his boundary (of being able to sleep properly) can wait whilst OPs and her H's can't,

Doesn't sound like you are in a suitable home for a dog if neighbours can hear it barking .
Could you make a toilet area in the house to train him to go there so he didn't need to let out.

Its completely viable. She is just choosing not to out of preference.

And? You don't need to have your dog in your bedroom to train it or to stop it from barking at 5am.

There are a few things you can do to reduce or stop the barking, so the good news OP is that this isn’t the end of the world or impossible to stop.

It does sound as though he is mainly barking because he is awake and he wants company/everybody else to be awake too. The obvious solution to that barking is to create a sleeping situation by which he doesn’t have to bark to get attention. Whether that means he sleeps in the bedroom or even on the landing, if he is able to get attention without having to bark, he won’t need to bark.

There are other ways to prevent/stop barking by teaching an alternative behaviour instead but the problem is if you’re going to keep him crated then he’s not going to be able to do anything else when he wakes up because he has very limited space. For example you say he NEEDS to bark to say he needs the toilet, that’s not true. We trained our Labrador to either wait at the back door for toilet quietly if one of us is downstairs, or if there’s nobody in the room then he pushes a button we have at the back door which alerts us that he’s there. No noise, no fuss, no barking. It takes awhile to train that so you would possibly need to speak to neighbour and say “I’m doing this, there will be barking for x time while we train this apologies but it will then be over” give them a bottle of wine or takeaway voucher etc to try and sweeten the deal, and you would need to get a trainer in and be very consistent, but it does eliminate the need for barking. We have a few different buttons now around the house which our dog uses to tell us what he needs/wants, he doesn’t need to bark because we have given him these other ways to communicate. There are different methods but the buttons work well for us

Difficult to stop the early attention barking if it's rewarded by being given attention though, different if it needs the toilet.

I was replying to someone who claimed it was not viable for OP to have the dog in her bedroom.

Do HTH

Do you fuss the dog as well ?

someone above said the same as I do - there’s no fuss, stroke, talk at all ! Dog needs to learn this is not morning …..

Absolutely ridiculous that your faffing and waking up the neighbours seems okay to you.

It’s unkind to crate a dog that has a full bladder / need to poo. Dogs should only be crated for travel / to recover from an operation!!

also 2 walks a day us no where near enough, whatever the size.

This thread is hysterical

OP hide the thread!

Go for a good dog walk and leave the nutters to it

And if you'd RTFT, you'd know there's also no room for the crate in her room.

HTH.

Youve not mentioned children, but do you have another bedroom you could let him sleep in that’s nearer to you. Leave your bedroom doors open, so he can see you and not need to bark to get your attention.
Also, get him used to a regular time he goes out in the morning for toilet, instead of him barking to let you know he wants to go. Put puppy pads in the cage for first few times. I’m not suggesting leaving him to sit in his waste for long periods, just the short training period between him getting used to a set time for toilet and his usual barking time.

How would you like that?!

Treating his basic biological needs as an inconvenience to be eradicated is just beyond the pale.

I actually didn’t say I didn’t want to get up earlier, I was concerned it would lead to him thinking an earlier start would mean that then became his normal wake time. I am going to do the getting up earlier and see if that helps

Exactly.

OP, did you consider any of this before you acquired a dog?

It really is! There have been more nutters than usual in the last few days. I suspect it's people who had a shit Christmas and are taking their anger out on internet strangers.

How would you like that?!

Treating his basic biological needs as an inconvenience to be eradicated is just beyond the pale.

His basic biological needs are an inconvenience, when they’re waking up the neighbours early in the morning. I was suggesting trying to get him used to a set time for toilet, instead of barking to get them met, not letting him sit in his own piss for days in end.
Noticed you completely ignored my initial suggestion to crate him near to the ops bedroom, so he could see her in your fervour to admonish me though.

Oh, don't be so daft.

Two walks a day is more than fine!

Except that wasn’t what I was suggesting.

That must be loud barking, if the neighbour also sleeps upstairs in his house as not only does the noise travel upstairs in your house but it travels across and up in his house.

Tho of course it will sound louder as in both properties there is no background noise i.e. people chatting / children / tv on / radio on etc.

Any idea of how long the dog is awake for before it barks ? or does it bark instantly saying I'm awake and need out to go toilet.

And the barking continues all the time while you are getting ready / going to the toilet ?

I appreciate all the comments I have lots of things to consider. Thank you all

@Mrsttcno1 makes good points - if you want to keep the crate, could you put a doggy doorbell or those jangly bells in it and teach him to alert you that way?

It’s not the dogs basic biological needs that are the inconvenience, it’s the way the dog is communicating those needs to the OP that is causing the issue for the neighbour.

The neighbour couldn’t care less what time or when the dog goes to the toilet, just that they don’t bark when that happens.

It is harder if OP is insistent on keeping the crate but the best way to get around this is to train the dog, give them an alternative way to communicate that they need the toilet so that they avoid barking.

In addition, basic toilet training for both animals and humans involves holding it in until convenient where I come from.