Barking complaints

[TalesTreadsTea]

I have a lovely and sweet little dachshund with the worst separation anxiety. She is usually silent, which is unlike her breed. No barking at all! But if we leave her even for 10 minutes she barks pretty much non stop. If we are out longer, she will bark non stop for hours until we are back. My poor neighbours are complaining and we have had a letter from the local authority. We live in a terrace.

Just to confirm we make all effort to never leave her alone, I work from home. We try to do family days out that are dog friendly and take her with us, but sometimes we need to be all out together, albeit this is only for a few hours. Like visiting parents, cinema, soft play etc .

She is otherwise a lovely dog and my daughter would be devastated if we had to rehome her. So would I honestly I love my little sausage 😭

I cannot even go to the shop without her staying up.

I cannot get her into day care for those occasions we are out and about as she is terrified of other dogs and it's not fair on her. No one in our families will dog sit as she is not great toilet trained wise.

Has anyone got any tips? Desperate here! Thank you 🙏🏻

The obvious one is not to go to the cinema / soft play as these aren't essentials. Longer term have you tried to work with a trainer?

From what I understand, SA really does manifest itself in this breed.
Join Dog Training and Advice Group on Facebook, they have a book on Amazon and read the guides, there’s one on SA. You’ll need to go back to basics but leaving a pupper with SA for hours will add to their stress bucket and they will keep barking. The group is force free, positive reinforcement and the group admins will help if you get stuck when following the advice. It took us around 6 months to build up to leaving our rescue spaniel for a couple of hours and we now can leave them for 4 but no longer. Good luck

I've got a 2yr old dachsund. Strangely enough he's absolutely fine on his own. We've checked and not a peep.
However if he's in the front room and someone walks past, comes down the drive, or there is a fly in the front room he barks like a bastard. We're semi detached and our attached neighbour is deaf but she's also 87 so not going to lie there forever.
They are strange little creatures. Hope you find an answer.

How old is she, was she a rescue? It sounds like basic training hasn't really been done if she also isn't house trained so going back to basics is probably your best bet. Find a force free trainer, and join the Dog Training Advice and Support FB group and read all of their guides.

What have you tried so far?

How old is she?
If she's young enough to not be house trained yet then you have time.

Five or ten minutes and back home to reassure.

Though I've got a Weimaraner who is a Velcro dog and we've only recently been able to leave him for any length of time.
He's 18 months but don't have the additional issue of house training

I think working with a trainer is only way. Hope you can sort it

Have a look at resources by Julie Naismith. It really works if you apply it correctly. Sub threshold training is the only way to treat it.

Thanks for all your replies, I will reply when back from running. Dog is with my DW in the meantime!

How old is she? The fact she's not toilet trained makes me think she must be very young (under 6 months, being generous?).

And if so, that is the problem - you have to build puppies up to being left alone, not just vanish for a few hours from the get go. These things take months to get right, particularly with breeds prone to SA. Right now you're doing more harm than good for her and if you're not able to make lifestyle changes (like leaving her alone for several hours) then realistically no amount of training or money spent on a behaviourist is going to fix her issues.

Also unsocialised, terrified of other dogs.

It sounds like this poor doggo needs lots of work in order to live a full life.

Another vote for Julie Naismith. You have to be very regimented and follow it to the letter. It is hard work & very restrictive during the training period (you cannot let them get distressed for even one minute or you're back to square one)) but it honestly does work.
My dog couldn't be left at all, at the start of the year but can now manage two hours without barking. Before we did the training we just resigned ourselves to never leaving him alone, which did mean making some significant compromises & sacrifices

She is 8 years and yes she is a rescue. Former breeding dog poor thing. Never lived in a house before, not toilet trained. Never walked before. Really sad situation. We have tried building her up slowly, leaving her in different rooms alone, rewards when we come back, leaving music on. Toileting a lot better but still had sneaky wees in the house, usually on our soft furnishings! But she was never taught otherwise. But she just will no go out for a wee if it is raining. Flat out refuses! The toileting is a pain but we can manage it. It's the barking. I just need to be able to go to the shop without worrying about her and my neighbours kicking off.

I will try her thanks. And for those suggesting a trainer I have reached out to a local one for an initial assessment 🤞

In that case I would start by asking the rescue organisation for help, they'll have loads of experience with this. They vary in the quality of 'after service', some have volunteer trainers who will come out but at the very least you should be able to get some advice over the phone.

ETA They generally do their very best to help if there's a chance the dog will come back to them otherwise!

Do you have any neighbours/friends who you can leave her with if you all need to go out together?

Try borrowmydoggy for dog sitters?

Because she is not 100% toilet trained my family and friends are not keen. Can't blame them. For those saying don't go out at all as a family that is difficult as you can imagine. I agree leaving her alone for any extended period is not going to help her and that these times should be minimised absolutely. I really want her to be happy we all love her to bits she is a sweetie ♥️

Is there a space yu can leave her in with no soft furnishings with a safe corner? Ours stays in the kitchen. He's just upgraded from an open crate to a covered bed. If she feels safe she may get used to being left. Start small. Nip upstairs for five minutes till she's used to that.
As for toilet training just go back to basics. Out after food, water, a play or a nap. And don't forget to reward.
She sounds lovely by the way.

Thank you, yes she is a darling. I have tried crate training but stopped as she still barked. But maybe I will go back to that and leave her for 5 minutes while I am still in the room and then work from there.

Here she is ❤️

Oh she's lovely!
Our boys crate was covered with a blanket. He just felt safe in there ( no windows in our kitchen as so nothing to bark at)
We've had him since 7 weeks so we started really small like 2 mins with us in a different room with the door shut then lots of fuss and rewards. You've got to be so consistent though. I walk with a dachsund group and the one thing I've learnt is they are stubborn and like to do their own thing.
Ours will only pee in the rain because he can use the covered decking. Do you have anywhere sheltered for her?

She’s a real sweetie.
Bit basic I know, but would leaving a radio on loud help when you’re out, so it doesn’t seem quite so empty & lonely for her

This. Sorry but you can't indulge yourselves at the expense of the dog and your neighbours.

I've tried talk radio, classic FM, music for dogs on Spotify the lot!

I will see what the trainer says and hopefully there can be improvement.

She is definitely stubborn and I am going to have to sort a shelter for her!