Venting a bit--the whole household is stressed

Oh bummer. You did everything right, esp talking to the neighbours. When we move (some time this year) I had planned on doing the exact same thing so that's really worrying that even making the extra effort didn't help. Didn't you set up an agility course and fun yard in the back for the dogs? I guess they don't get to use it much now.

I can sympathise how awful it is to be trapped in your own home.

I have a bird house - it only works for Deska, doesn't bother Tully and definately makes no difference to the dogs that walk past my back fence barking, except that it upsets Deska.
 
I know you are looking for hug:hugs
bit of advice- if you are not going to move anytime soon you might as well give up and start training your neighbors dogs too:winkgrin: are they nice dogs besides being barky? do they lack attention? will they be quieter if you throw a ball for them?
Another thing and it is VERY important- your dog's biggest distraction is your dog's biggest reinforcement. Again, your dog's biggest distraction is your dog's biggest reinforcement. I do not need to motivate Leo to chase rabbits, he is over the top when he sees one. Problem with it is your puppy is self reinforcing and there is nowhere you in that picture. So start tying it up to you- release Bentley to go bark and call back, give heaps of highest treats, release again, when call back ask for sits and down etc , give treats, release again, play with it. It is not speediest road but you will achieve transfer- it will be much more reinforcing for Bentley to have permission to run and bark than action of barking itself. Coming back to you will be more value than standing at the fence barking. It might be difficult to work with both of them at once, although I have done that with both of mine. Che LOVES to chase kitty, kitty is very savvy so it is totally safe, esp that he really does not even reach kitty, it is thought of chasing the kitty counts.... so I release them" Where is the kitty?" and they run like crazy, but before they even reach second floor where the kitty usually sleeps I call them back and they run like crazy again, then I ask for sit or down.... wait.... wait... wait..." go find the kitty!!!!!" it has become a game now...
I did the same with window barking and fence running at dog park. It is really powerful tool. When you really want something and then you allowed to do it, anticipation of event often much more attractive then event itself. Works for humans or animals:yes:
 
You are making me rethink moving back to town. This is exactly the type of situation I worry about and you are now living it. While I am sure you feel sorry for the neighbour's dogs you probably also wish they would get rehomed. I wonder if you started throwing treats their way if they would start to shut up and look forward to your visits. At least you might be able to get some outdoor time with your own dogs. Have you spoken to the neighbours about maybe them coming and learning some fun things to do with their dogs or are you long past that?
Big hugs anyways.
 
That is such a frustrating situation to be in. :( I can relate to the reactivity and the unintentional biting. Romeo has done that to me before. It was very upsetting even though I knew why he did it and he didn't mean to hurt me.

Lotsa virtual hugs from me and licks and cuddles from Romeo and Juliet. It's can be really difficult dealing with a reactive dog when you can't manage the environment. I hope you find a solution or some way to bridge the time until you can move! :hugs
 
Unfortunately, I can relate as well. I always knew Bailey was a little dog reactive and sound sensitive, but I had no idea she would be this bad until I moved into an apartment.

The worst is when the neighbors enter and exit their apartments and when the obnoxious skateboarder skate on the building stairs across from my building.

It's very stressful trying to mange and reduce her reactivity. I can only turn the fan and Tv so loud or get waken up so many times at night before I get frustrated. There are nights that I have to stay up an extra hour or so because when I want to walk Bailey the skateboarders are outside, so I try to wait for them to leave.

I had a trainer over last week and one of the things she said to do for when the skateboarders are outside and we are inside is to play tug or fetch, whatever Bailey's favorite toy is. This means she is not allowed to have a basket full of toys anymore. Her toys only come out when the skateboarders are outside.
 
take4roll10 said:
Unfortunately, I can relate as well. I always knew Bailey was a little dog reactive and sound sensitive, but I had no idea she would be this bad until I moved into an apartment.

The worst is when the neighbors enter and exit their apartments and when the obnoxious skateboarder skate on the building stairs across from my building.

It's very stressful trying to mange and reduce her reactivity. I can only turn the fan and Tv so loud or get waken up so many times at night before I get frustrated. There are nights that I have to stay up an extra hour or so because when I want to walk Bailey the skateboarders are outside, so I try to wait for them to leave.

I had a trainer over last week and one of the things she said to do for when the skateboarders are outside and we are inside is to play tug or fetch, whatever Bailey's favorite toy is. This means she is not allowed to have a basket full of toys anymore. Her toys only come out when the skateboarders are outside.
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Leo chases skateboards too, there is area right next to dog park where we go. I have been using recall/ send to chase as I described above. Funny part about it, the more you send the dog away the more they tend to stay with you:yes:
Advise about tugging is great as it redirects arousal easily, it is excellent for doggies that chase cars too.
Is there way for you to borrow skateboard and possible human with it too and make it controlled situation? i.e. see skateboard, get a treat, do a controlled behavior when skateboard passes you- heaps of treats, then chase mommy and tug etc as a release... I also think what if you teach Bailey to skateboard too?
 
I understand your frustration. Shelby is very reactive to bouncing balls and skateboards. And at times there are upwards of 10 kids playing in the street across from us. I must then take her out on a leash otherwise she will run the fence and not do her business. It is very frustrating especially because they know how much she hates it. We have a dog instead of kids for a reason:biggrin2: We have just recently got her to the point where we can keep her distracted in the house so she is focused on it, but outside forget it.

I too would love to live far away from any neighbors, but I don't see that happening until we win the lottery.

Here are some hugs:hugs hope you get some relief soon.
 
Ashley I am so sorry you are going through this. You may recall my frustrations with all the off leash dogs in my complex. Both Chandler and Gypsy became so stressed and reactive after being charged at and injured too many times. I just hope you can find some peace until you move. I know there were days i would just cry thinking what happened to the great place I once lived in.

Now living in my new home Gypsy is so happy and at peace. I hope you will soon have that for Bentley and Lexi as well.

Hang in there. Here's your hug. :hugs
 
Ashley, hang in there!! I can SO relate! We have new neighbors with 3 dogs. When they first moved in, if Sadie (my youngest, a puppy) was outside and they barked, it would TERRIFY her and she would fly back into the house. It was so bad that she regressed back into peeing in the house by the front door! She totally refused to go out back! It took several months for her to get used to them.

I can't offer any advice, other than crating them when Bentley gets excited. That's the only thing that works for me. When one of mine get stressed, they ALL do and I just crate them till they calm down....:uhoh:
 
Thanks, everyone.

I guess the one positive is that this is temporary--I just don't know for how much longer (might be here another year). But--at least it isn't forever. We're lucky that we have opportunities ahead of us.

Anyways, I did want to thank each of your for your support and suggestions. We are really trying hard to manage this, but it is so hard when it happens all the time. Bentley is NEVER out in the yard without a leash unless we are armed with delicious treats and have someone act as a "look out" because our neighbors let their dogs out pretty much whenever we are outside because their dogs bark to be let out (:gaah). We try to pre-empt Bentley noticing by calling him immediately to give him a treat. But, he now knows the sound of their door opening, so it's even harder.

I like the idea of allowing him to chase on command--this has worked well for Lexi who chases for fun. But Bentley is a bit different. Once he starts chasing, he doesn't hear or see us at all. I could be holding an entire raw chicken coated in peanut butter coated in beef coated in cheese (:lol:) and he doesn't care. So that makes it really hard. Even if I have him on leash on the other side of the yard, he really doesn't want a treat unless I cram it in his face. He is clearly anxious and stressed.

So the yard thing is managed by just not allowing Bentley out when the weims are out, but it's almost impossible to pre-empt when we're in the house. The dogs bark at random hours and we don't always have treats (or time) to sit and work with him. Plus as soon as the treats run out, he's back to barking.

I know I am making excuses--but a lot of the suggestions I read on the forum just don't work for him. They work for Lexi, so I know they are good suggestions, but he just doesn't seem to think the same. For instance, just nuisance barking--the idea of feeding quiet behavior. He just doesn't get it.

I am lucky in that this really could be a worse issue to have--I just wish we were in a better place where it could be more easily managed!

Oh and the neighbors dogs are semi-friendly...it just depends. I think they are just over-excited all the time. I don't even know if they would chase a ball, or bring it back. We don't really have a great relationship with the neighbors (because of this) so I'm not sure how they would react to us playing or training their dogs. Not to mention that I feel like I don't spend enough time training my own dogs!

I don't think their owners are interested in talking or training of any kind. It has become a stress point because as I mentioned, as soon as we go outside, their dogs bark to be let out and they let them out--complete disregard for us or what we're doing.

Again--thanks for all your comments. :hugs
 
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