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.

I'm not entirely convinced the dog barks because it needs to go out for a pee.
I suspect is because he wants to be out of the crate when he wakes up ir because he is lonely. If he had the freedom to move, he would most likely settle himself.

As it stands, he barks, you turn up and interact and he thinks that's great.

Your training priority should be chewing/eating random things. Then you can leave the crate door open overnight.

As an aside, you mentioned feeding as quickly as possible because the dog barks for his feed. You need to address this issue as well.

Unfortunately I don't have any practical training advice but these would be my priorities as regards training. I suspect the dog doesn't need the toilet ir feeding at 5:30AM.

Until you get the trainer involved after the holidays, you still have to wake up to stop the barking. Instead of letting the dog out and feeding, try letting the dog out of the crate, no eye contact, no talking, no touching no interaction and you go sit on the sofa and ignore the dog while keeping an eye on potential chewing. If he starts chewing then you quietly remove the chewing item or the dog. I would hope the dog would want to settle with you on/near the sofa for quiet time (after a few confused mornings).

Not feeding straight away, so he barks/wakes up we take him out he weed/poos resettles for a bit we then take him out for a walk ( need to do this as fits around work) then back and gets fed.

yes def need to work on the chewing.

Not easy on you at all OP 😔

Yes, chewing. Ask the trainer to address this as a first priority and also to advise if there is any way to address the barking.

It sounds like the type of dog who would bark easily so there might not be an immediate or forever solution especially as you under pressure to get into action to stop the barking. This reinforces the barking. 'I bark, my owner gets going doing stuff I might actually enjoy (go in the garden, food etc).'
If this is a cockapoo type of breed, they do have the most irritating bark unfortunately- not the dog's fault but it doesn't help your stress.

@Branster he’s an English Setter, they can be a vocal breed but he doesn’t bark at the door/ cats/ cars going by, people coming through the door ( although as soon as they enter the front room they are barked at!) he doesn’t get food if he is still barking ( he is made to sit and wait for a release word and he does), but yes the chewing/eating stopping would def help the situation!

You can't ignore the barking and hope it will stop! Your poor neighbour!

I trained one of mine to get up later by doing the following...

She was getting up at 5.30 (not barking but whining).

Day one I got up at 5.15, crept down and sounded the wake up alarm on my phone in the kitchen before letting her out and taking her for a wee. Did that for day two as well.

Day three I moved it to 5.25, then moved it forward by ten minutes at a time. It was a few years ago now but I'm sure after ten days or so she was just waiting for me to go down at my normal time of 7.30 ish.

I’m not early in the morning, but during the day it is a recognised training method and I am looking for alternatives. He only mentioned anything the day I made the original post and we have had no early morning barking since then. By ignoring in the first post I meant during the day in the aim of treating the quiet command as soon as he pauses the barking, it’s not constant barking. The neighbour has never said anything before and I have asked as I am aware he can be loud

Also - do you have a cover/blanket on your crate? I have a zip up cover for mine which would A. Muffle any barking and B. Make your dog less likely to react to any lights from outside that might be disturbing him early in the morning.

For those saying 2 walks aren’t enough, how many walks do you recommend, bearing in mind this is still a young dog.

We’ve never done more than 2 walks. Also do brain games, and when younger dog classes like agility.

We did but he ate it! So currently don’t crate is in a corner with black out curtains in the room

Train him not to bark plus let him out when you know he will need to go rather than waiting for him to alert you.

I would let him out later if he can only go a maximum of 8 hours (it may get longer, by ddog happily goes 12 between 10pm and 10am - ignoring the open door to carry on snoozing!)

That’s what we are trying. Any tips on how to train not to bark?

Ignore the "sleep in the bedroom" brigade btw you can teach dogs not to bark downstairs! But I would expect chewing to stop by now - that's actually more concerning that you need to lock him up still

To teach the quiet command wait for him to bark then say quiet, wait a second then give him a treat. Repeat over and over then gradually increase the time he is quiet before giving him a treat.

Some people will recommend teaching him to bark on command first but I wouldn't do this as you don't want to encourage him to bark under any circumstances.

And please ignore all the you are a bad owner, you need to rehome him comments. It's crazy and just not accurate.
You sound like a lovely owner for him.

He will probably eventually grow out of it but you do need to manage it for the sake of your neighbours

We had this exact issue with our ddog when he was adolescent apart from that he wasn't crated but he barked to let us know he wants to go out anyway and in the past this was at 6am and we had a complaint from our neighbours too. Unfortunately he gets excited about walks and he always barks a bit when he sees a walk is in the offing. It's not incessant for hours but even one or two big barks at 6am is not really OK.

We would have had him in our room but he is big and fluffy and he prefers the cold floor downstairs. He usually chooses to sleep downstairs and would whine in the night if shut in our bedroom

We managed it by DH and I tag teaming. One of us goes downstairs immediately in dressing gown to let dog out in the garden (on lead otherwise he barks outside) and get his harness, lead, poo bags, treat pouch etc whilst the other one has a wee and gets dressed. As ddog doesn't bark when there is someone with him.

This means both of us got up at 6am for a while but that was what needed to happen.

He is 2 now and he has a) stopped chewing stuff up so that he is allowed free run downstairs at night and b) stopped waking at 6am (I am about to take him out just now)

A lot of stuff is managing situations until they grow out of it honestly like having a toddler.

I felt slightly less bad about our neighbours because they have a baby that wakes me crying at 4am and 2 small children who make a whole lot more noise at antisocial hours than my dog but I also know that a dog barking at 6am daily is not acceptable and does need to be managed.

We also find a stuffed Kong the best thing for chewing. To this day I keep some of his kibble back and fill a Kong with it plus some chopped veggies and maybe meat scraps, top up with water or home made stock if I have some and freeze it. He will chew this for quite a long time.

Another thing he likes is to have some sanctioned things to rip up. We let him rip up recycling stuff and cheap or discarded soft toys. He now knows to ask for his own and not to chew our sofa cushions but for a long time it was just a case of managing (no sofa cushions or throws, everything out of reach) and redirecting to his own toys every time.

Just pop a dog bed in you room, why is it needs to be the whole crate?

He's clearly bored or badly trained and shutting him in the cage for a while night is just cruel and lazy.

Having a dog involves a lot of responsibility, patience, training etc.

Either you or DH need to get up earlier, dressing gown on, rush to let dog out to wee. Your wee/DH wee should wait until after your dogs. The dog at 1 is still a baby. You chose to have this dog now you must accommodate it. I'd be raging if I was your neighbour. My DH get up early to let his 2 dogs out every morning. Luckily they know he will come and don't bark but just wait for him but they are 5 now. When they were babies he got up during the night to let them out to wee. He comes back to bed for another hour after they are back in.

Yes. It's like a cat flap but bigger.

We are now doing exactly that, having taken advice from previous posters, I would l like to say as soon as it was raised as an issue I came looking for advice and have put stuff in place to stop it. Until 2 days ago I was unaware it was an issue as they had always said they couldn’t hear him when I asked and apologised for any noise

He’s really really young. He’s a big breed so nowhere near mature. He’s going to chew and create issues if he’s alone. It’s just the way it is.

Its management. I’d personally sleep with him one way or another as with puppies it’s about picking your battles. Yes there are things you can do but really it’s going to take weeks or months and huge effort and logistics. I’d bet if he’s got company at night none of this would be an issue.

FWIW our pup has had zero forced isolation. She now chooses to be alone and if we do have to confine her for whatever reason she is completely relaxed. We just waited until she was ready.

What do you bet one neighbour said to their OH, "What do you MEAN you said you couldn't hear it?!"
"Oh well I didn't want to cause any upse-"
"IT WAKES US UP EVERY MORNING! TELL! THEM!!"
?

I asked the attached neighbour ( both members of the household and they both said the same separately) they are the ones that have now raised it and I am addressing it.

Ah English Setter, they don't have that annoying bark sound, at least there's one positive OP! 😁

That's still a pup for the breed so really now is the time to put in 150% effort for the next 6 months in order to get the perfect pet.

I'd also suggest it's the type of dog that needs to feel free. Although the crate might be great as a safe space, it would be better to have the door opened so the dog chooses what to do.

Cat flap for dogs, absolutely not at this stage. The dog can't be in the garden unsupervised- there would be a lot of chewing, digging, eating with nobody to correct the behaviour.

Gorgeous dog breed!

Good luck with training for chewing.
Much more important than house training (which I assume has been in place for ages) and, at 1 years old I'm pretty sure he's not desperate for a pee at 5:40AM.
I think barking will subside once the dog has his freedom to choose what to do on his own in the mornings).