Citronella spray no-bark collar??? sigh...

heatherk · 01-22-2013, 12:26 AM

I hate that it has come to this - Ceylon has always been GREAT when left home alone. I took so much care from the beginning to make sure that he wouldn't have separation anxiety, and I think I succeeded in general - after all, he did great for almost 2 years. And I generally take him everywhere with me that I can. But lately, like within the last month or so, he has apparently started howling. Usually when, after being left home alone all day (normal for him, generally), and then my daughter comes home from school, spends some time with him, and then has to leave again for soccer practice before I get home.

I've gotten 3 complaints from my downstairs neighbor in the last month (we only had one complaint in the year before then). The bottom line is, I will do everything I can for him, but there are some days when he just has to be home alone - and he absolutely cannot be howling, or I will be risking eviction. I KNOW that it's hard for a dog to be home alone - and I hate leaving him home alone - but I've done everything I can to make sure he was OK with it! Special treats when I leave, kongs filled with peanut butter, leaving music on, etc. etc. And he's generally been OK with it. And I'm STILL doing those things -I'm still doing the best that I can for him. But he CANNOT be howling - my downstairs neighbor works the night shift.

By the way, he can and does come to work with me a few times a week. I just can't be bringing him every day. And he does go to doggie day care some other times. Simply put, I do everything I can for him, but there are just some times when he just has to be OK with being home alone. The frustrating thing is, he has always generally been OK with that. Until lately...

Sigh. I'm thinking, Citronella spray bark collar for the short term, and for the long term, I just need to start saving up for a second hav. Seriously! I HATE having Cey unhappy and I know that the spray collar is just going to make him stop howling, not stop making him unhappy. And I've been sort of thinking about a second one for a while now... but of course I can't get one right away, it's not like I have that sort of money just lying around haha. Anyway - am I a horrible hav parent for doing the spray collar thing??? I just don't know what else to do for the short term. Obviously a shock bark collar is out of the question. And I know that I have to find a better solution long-term. Not sure what else to do short-term... help!!!

Suzi · 01-22-2013, 07:38 AM

What about a kitten? Or cat

krandall · 01-22-2013, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatherk

I hate that it has come to this - Ceylon has always been GREAT when left home alone. I took so much care from the beginning to make sure that he wouldn't have separation anxiety, and I think I succeeded in general - after all, he did great for almost 2 years. And I generally take him everywhere with me that I can. But lately, like within the last month or so, he has apparently started howling. Usually when, after being left home alone all day (normal for him, generally), and then my daughter comes home from school, spends some time with him, and then has to leave again for soccer practice before I get home.

I've gotten 3 complaints from my downstairs neighbor in the last month (we only had one complaint in the year before then). The bottom line is, I will do everything I can for him, but there are some days when he just has to be home alone - and he absolutely cannot be howling, or I will be risking eviction. I KNOW that it's hard for a dog to be home alone - and I hate leaving him home alone - but I've done everything I can to make sure he was OK with it! Special treats when I leave, kongs filled with peanut butter, leaving music on, etc. etc. And he's generally been OK with it. And I'm STILL doing those things -I'm still doing the best that I can for him. But he CANNOT be howling - my downstairs neighbor works the night shift.

By the way, he can and does come to work with me a few times a week. I just can't be bringing him every day. And he does go to doggie day care some other times. Simply put, I do everything I can for him, but there are just some times when he just has to be OK with being home alone. The frustrating thing is, he has always generally been OK with that. Until lately...

Sigh. I'm thinking, Citronella spray bark collar for the short term, and for the long term, I just need to start saving up for a second hav. Seriously! I HATE having Cey unhappy and I know that the spray collar is just going to make him stop howling, not stop making him unhappy. And I've been sort of thinking about a second one for a while now... but of course I can't get one right away, it's not like I have that sort of money just lying around haha. Anyway - am I a horrible hav parent for doing the spray collar thing??? I just don't know what else to do for the short term. Obviously a shock bark collar is out of the question. And I know that I have to find a better solution long-term. Not sure what else to do short-term... help!!!

The trouble is, this is likely to make him much MORE anxious and upset, which kind of defeats the purpose, and can lead to other, and worse behaviors.

Zarika · 01-22-2013, 08:07 AM

I'm not sure if this is an option for you, because it's all day, but maybe you could use it when your daughter leaves for soccer practice. Hobbes had bad seperation anxiety. It is getting much better, still not perfect, but better enough my neighbors can't complain because they're not silent either.

I use a sentry calming collar on him. It lasts for 30 days. They say it's pheromones, but it just smells like lavender to me. I also have one of those plug ins for the wall. And what seems to make the most difference, because he goes to a stay at home mom's during and the day when i work and thus is only alone long enough for me to work out or get groceries or go out with friends, he goes in his crate with a blanket on top when I leave. Just the crate, he still howls and barks. But I've video taped him and with the blanket on 3.5 sides he finishes his chew bone or his kong and then goes to sleep.

Good luck!

TilliesMom · 01-22-2013, 10:30 AM

awwwwww, I am so sorry to read this Heather! When there are issues with our fur babies it is SO stressful!

I really like the idea of getting a kitten!! CHEAP, and company for Cey!!

Momo means Peach · 01-22-2013, 10:41 AM

If this is a recent behavior, is there something, anything that has changed? Perhaps there might be something physically wrong with him?

Do you think a ThunderShirt would work?

Just throwing out suggestions.

heatherk · 01-22-2013, 10:48 AM

A cat might work, I've just always had bad luck with cats. I'm just not really a cat person!

Anyway. I haven't done anything yet. I think I will have my daughter put him in his crate with his kong when she leaves the house again this afternoon and see if that does the trick...

Thanks everybody!

Zarika · 01-22-2013, 11:11 AM

Like you, Hobbes can't bark/howl when I'm gone. I would also be risking getting kicked out of my apartment, and I'm a student with two friends for roommates, so that couldn't happen. If I couldn't get Hobbes to settle down, he would have needed to go back to the rescue and find a forever home that was stand alone, so he could have time needed to get over seperation anxiety.

As such, I've done a lot of reading on the topic. If it's true SA and not just boredom another animal won't help in the least.

It took Hobbes about a month to get better, which is apparently very short. I was lucky that it was the right temp, I could bring him with me in the car (where he didn't bark) and he could stay in the car for that month while I slowly built up the time he was able to be home alone. Once we got to about 20 or 30 minutes, I read that he should be okay and I found that to be true.

Zarika · 01-22-2013, 11:12 AM

Oh yeah, Hobbes also does have a thundershirt. Lots of aids!

heatherk · 01-22-2013, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zarika

Like you, Hobbes can't bark/howl when I'm gone. I would also be risking getting kicked out of my apartment, and I'm a student with two friends for roommates, so that couldn't happen. If I couldn't get Hobbes to settle down, he would have needed to go back to the rescue and find a forever home that was stand alone, so he could have time needed to get over seperation anxiety.

As such, I've done a lot of reading on the topic. If it's true SA and not just boredom another animal won't help in the least.

It took Hobbes about a month to get better, which is apparently very short. I was lucky that it was the right temp, I could bring him with me in the car (where he didn't bark) and he could stay in the car for that month while I slowly built up the time he was able to be home alone. Once we got to about 20 or 30 minutes, I read that he should be okay and I found that to be true.

I don't think it's necessarily true SA with Cey. As I said, he has typically been fine for the last 2 years - or pretty much all of his life!

One thing that occurs to me is that he will howl at certain noises, especially any sort of siren. He could be getting 'set off' by a siren and then continuing to howl without anybody there to interrupt him. I should also set up my laptop and webcam to be able to watch him again (I did this when he was little) to see if that's the case. Also, if I do that maybe I can manage to shush him; i.e., if he hears my voice through the laptop if and when he howls, maybe he will stop...