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



## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

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!!!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

What about a kitten? Or cat


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

heatherk said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


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.


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## Zarika (Dec 16, 2012)

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!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

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!!


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## Momo means Peach (Jun 7, 2011)

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.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

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!


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## Zarika (Dec 16, 2012)

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.


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## Zarika (Dec 16, 2012)

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


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Zarika said:


> 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...


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

i think the citronella collar might make him worse. I have a remote control one for my labradoodle and i wouldn't even use that on my havanese (she's really senstive and negative punishment isn't a good idea). one little spritz of that stuff and my big goofy doodle totally freaks out. I only use it when she won't stop barking even when i ask her to stop and she gets a warning beep (which means she knows that the spritz is coming). I think negative punishment on top of stress barking would be a bad bad thing, more barking, more spray, more barking, more spray... you get the idea. 

I hope you find a better solution to the barking problem. A filled kong might work in the short term.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

ya, I have found that if I leave Tillie OUT of her crate she is very nervous, pacing, drooling, barking, even if I'm only gone for 5 minutes!! I tried leaving her free roam for a 1/2 an hour once and she was a wreck for almost 2 hours after I got home!!
She ALWAYS goes into her crate (door locked) with a kong when I have to leave her, which is everyday for 3-4 hours...
If Cey is content in the crate just do that!!


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

Another thing to consider what is your daughter's routine when she gets home vs yours with regards to Cey? It could be part of Cey's routine is getting messed up and that's upsetting her - such as you walk Cey for 20 mins when you get home and your daughter just lets Cey out to pee or you leave without fuss and your daughter makes a big display of saying goodbye to Cey or any number of little things that's making Cey anxious . .


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

hi Heather. I would be very leery of spray collars. They can work but have many risks. They incorporate the two least favorable methods of operant conditioning . Positive punishment adding something aversive to decrease the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated example spraying the dog to decrease the likelihood that it will bark. And it also uses Negative Reinforcement by removing something aversive to increase the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated example ...ending the spray when the dog stops barking to increase the likelihood that it will remain quiet.

I have an article on the research behind this stuff , if you want to email me privately. It was done by a friend . And she is much against the use of this because of the potential risks.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Barking is a very difficult habit to deal with as it is very reinforcing, bringing in another dog at this point, the new dog is likely to pick up the howling/barking habit reinforcing each other's habit. The suggestions of the others that you should check your daughters routine. Our children go through phases in their lives, and their personalities are in flux as they are growing, our Hav's are a sensitive breed and some are needy. You and your daughter might sit down and talk about what might be different...is she really excited before scoccer, or busy getting ready, does she make it a big deal, let her have an active part in solving the barking. In the mean time if your dog is in a crate move it to a room that is not close to your neighbor, also if you have an inside room away from the windows that is better still. Try to get your pup into a room that will mask any howling or barking. Sometimes you can ask your neighbors to let you have time to solve this, but some neighbors are not reasonable. I know personally how hard it is when neighbors complain, my Lhasa years ago was a barker and I lived in a hilly area so any barking bounced and ecoed, the police can out twice. I managed to train him not to bark...today he does not bark like a normal Lhasa, he barks seldom. I regret that I had to stop the barking quickly...he did not bark while I was gone he would alert at all sounds at night, so I spent two weeks with a spray bottle and no sleep. A year latter I found out it was another dog down in the canyon that was causing all the problems...so I do undersand desperation. Hope you can get this solved without too much stress.


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## Sox (Jan 29, 2010)

heatherk said:


> 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...


If it is a noise that scares him and sets him off, perhaps a Thundershirt would help him. I ran into an elderly couple whose small dog was very fearful and "barky" in public places (loud noises bothered him) and since they started using the Thundershirt he is quiet and much more calm. I was surprised to see that Bed Bath and Beyond carries the Thundershirt - and they have those 20% off coupons too!


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