Barking

Hi all. I have a german shepherd that is a year and a half old. She
is an outdoor dog and has plenty of room and shelter. She is the
sweetest thing and I adore her. I also have another dog that lives

Janet B...

Too bad not enough to let her live in the house.

outside with her. Ludo is about 3 years old. Shadow, my shepherd
barks at night. All night. I could maybe understand if she was an

t...

I grew up 2 doors down from people that left a german shepherd outside
in a cage all the time. Fuggin think barked incessantly. The
neighbors grew to hate the folks that owned the dog because it was
such a nuissance and the dog was so clearly being ignored and not
being well cared (aside from feeding) for by the owner.

Is it possible your dog wants more interaction with their master and
is stone bored?

Paula...

I also grew up next door to a GSD who was left outside all the time
and she barked every night for years. Until she died. She never got
over it. Now being a GSD owner, I can see that they are one of the
worst breeds to leave outside all the time. They take their job of
protecting their people very seriously. Molly not only needs to be in
the house to keep an eye on us, she follows us room to room. She
sleeps in my room at night, but has to check on the girls at least a
couple of times nightly and doesn't like it if their bedroom doors are
closed because she can't make sure they are okay. She doesn't even
eat unless we are downstairs. She can be wolfing down food in the
kitchen and definitely hungry, but if we head upstairs, she goes
along. She'll only go down and eat or drink by herself after we are
all safely tucked into bed. She likes to keep an eye out the front
window to make sure intruders are not coming into the yard and barks
at everyone who comes to the door. If they are a friend she knows,
she does a deep woof and then wags her tail waiting for them to be let
in by one of the humans in the house. If they are unknown, she barks
until told that it is okay. This is her job and her life. She would
be a wreck banished from her people's "den" and unable to watch over
and protect them. If you want to have a GSD, you'll have to have it
as a house dog.

only child, but she has Ludo. I thought at first it was because it was

Janet B...

Oh joy! Must be great to be your neighbor.

a new home for her and she would have to get used to it. She had been
outside in her 2 previous homes as well. She is happy and friendly.
She just barks. I have tried working with her to teach her "hush" and
rewarding her when she is quiet. It doesn't work. The only thing that
does work most of the time is a bark collar. The static correction

Janet B...

Why not just LET HER IN THE HOUSE?

type. I hate to have to use that, but I can't have her barking all
night. I have heard my neighbors yell at her. Does anyone have any

Amy Dahl...

Why do you hate to use the bark collar? If it works, in
preventing her from barking, she is successfully avoiding
corrections from the collar.

If, on the other hand, you believe it is unkind to prevent her
from barking when she has a desire to bark, then it makes
sense to address the desire to bark, instead of punishing her
for barking. Others have suggested bringing her inside at
night, and that is probably the surest, quickest way to stop
her annoying the neighbors.

"Rewarding when she is quiet" is probably limited by her
recognition that you're not going to come out and reward her
in the middle of the night.

Amy Dahl

advice on how to quiet her? I have tried putting her in a smaller pen
with the dog house so she didn't feel she had so much room to protect
at night, but all she did was escape and bark. Please help! Thank you.

flick...

The best way to keep an "outside dog" from barking is to make it into an
"inside dog."

Is there some reason you think the dogs can't come into the house at night?

Why must they spend the night outside?

flick 100785

pfoley...

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Bring the dogs inside with you. The dog might feel that it wants to do its
job protecting you and is unable to do that job, if kept alienated outside.
Obviously, the dog is miserable being kept outdoors, so bring both dogs
inside with you. No one wants to hear a dog barking all night; it will make
the dogs , you and the neighbors a lot happier if you let them sleep indoors
near you. Sooner or later the neighbors are going to report you to the
police for disturbing the peace and the dogs might be taken away, so bring
them inside.