Hi. I have a female Weimaraner who turns 5 this month and also a 3.5 year old male Great Dane.  My husband and I have lived in a house for the past 4 years and the dogs were kept in cages in the basement.  This year has been rough, we both lost our jobs and eventually had to sell the house and move into an apartment.  We have been in the apartment since Labor Day weekend.  Initially when we left them in the apartment (roaming free - we felt it was time to get rid of the cages), they would bark as soon as we shut the door.  This stopped after about a week, as they got used to the apartment.  I've had a fulltime job since June and my husband just started his this past Monday.  The problem we are having is apparently the dogs are now barking "all day," according to our apt. office.  The dogs are left alone from 8am until noon, then I come home at lunch for an hour and walk them, then they're alone from 1pm to 4pm when my husband gets home.  They are walked 4 times a day, anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes each walk.  I truly believe the Weimaraner is the one barking the most since she tends to bark at every noise outside, and we had left our windows open cause we're on the 3rd floor and the weather's been nice.  What I think is happening in the mornings is they are curled up on the bed when I leave, so they nap a bit, then they wrestle (cause the bed is a mess when I get home from lunch) and the Great Dane probably barks cause he usually does when they play when we're home, and then the Weim barks at outside noises and the Dane may or may not chime in.  I truly don't believe they are barking "all day," which would mean 7+ hours, cause when I come home at lunch and when my husband gets home, the apt. is quiet.  I have a feeling it's being exaggerated by those complaining.  Both of our next door neighbors said they don't hear anything, so I don't know who is really complaining - that's probably a whole other issue for a different forum.

Anyway, my main issue is how do I stop the Weimaraner from barking?  We brought their cages with us at first and tried that as a security thing, but she went ballistic, even worse than having free roam.  So I do not believe it's a cage issue.  With four walks a day the Weim is getting enough exercise (I think?) so is it possible she is just barking out of protectiveness and not knowing what those sounds are?  We bought a spray collar last night but have not used it yet, because we are hoping another method will work.  This new method is to close all of our windows, turn on the apartment duct fan, the TV, and two other floor fans in the house, therefore creating a muffled white noise that will hopefully block the outside noise, so she won't bark.

I just don't know if this is really solving the issue of her barking at outside noises if we're just blocking the noises.  If that makes sense.  I don't want to be evicted, but apparently there is someone moving in above us in a month and they were there the other day and our dogs went nuts the entire hour.  We didn't have the fans on that day.  I would hope the dogs get used to having people above them and the strange odd noises apartments have, and I sure hope these new neighbors will not complain at every single noise. 

I guess I'm just at a loss at what to do because from reading these forums, the spray collar may only upset her more and cause other damage.  Please help!  Thank you.

Beth

Hi
I think you have some seperation anxiety issues with your dogs and the amount of time they are alone is not helping at all. I know we all have to make a living but I would never sell a pup to a family that worked all day as you do. An hour at lunchtime is just not enough. I am sure you are giving plenty of walks but wonder if you could maybe find a place you could drop them off in the morning and pick them up lunchtime, a sort of dog day care centre, therfore cutting the "Home alone " time in half. Or get a dog sitter to stay with them for half the day? It looks to me as if they are getting into a habit that will be hard to stop.
Sorry not a lot of help but it really does come down to just too much time alone. They don't apear to have a garden/yard to run in during the day? so it really is too long to leave them alone.
Aileen

this must be very difficult for you both but i agree with the other post that your dogs are being left too long and just not used to it. they are becoming bored and of course a bit stressed because of the new flat and noises to get used to.
the only answer is not to leave them so long but if you havn't got anyone who can pop in or look after them then it's going to be a hard problem to solve.
just giving them exercise will not be enough as they need mental stimulation and company. they will not get used to the strange noises of other people if your not there to teach them not to bark or for them to see there's nothing to get worried about.
so to not be much help but no ones around to correct the behaviour then they want learn it's not acceptable. 

When we are home, they will bark once or twice and then we tell them to stop and they do.  But if we're not there, there is no one to tell them to stop, and the Weim is very stubborn!  They went from being in cages for 9 hours and no walks, to having free roam for 4 hours at a time and multiple walks a day, so in a way this has been better for them.  Doggie daycare is extremely expensive ($50 a day), but we may end up taking them 2-3 days a week, or figure out a way to do mornings like you've suggested.  We've only been there a month so maybe it will take a little longer for them to adjust.  My hubby has a chance to work second shift the end of December, so then they'd only be alone for about 3 hours an afternoon, so that might work better, but it's three months away yet.    Thank you for your help.

Plenty of people leave their dogs for 4 hrs, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford to stay at home all day with their dogs. At least they are now getting 4 lots of exercise. However, to shut them in cages for 9 hrs (no walks either) was cruel, you really should have considered that before you got them. Nobody in their right mind would let a puppy go to a home where they would be kept under those circumstances.

Dogs are usually much more territorial left in their home without their owner, you can't blame them for being that way, it is easier in a house by getting away with putting them in a room where they can't look at passersby etc or by simply closing the curtains, in an appartment that's not really possible for you as you have upstairs and downstairs noise as well as outside, a dog that is worried or unsure or just territorial will automatically bark at every sound. I would expect the Weimer to be like that most of the time unless asleep or playing with your Dane.

If the dogs had been in your new apartment from puppyhood they probably wouldn't be bothered by the noises and movements but as they were used to the cellar when you were out in your old house this is all new and not normal for them.

As suggested the best idea is to kennel them or get a family member or friend to spend time with your dogs whilst you are out.

What you could try if neither of those things are possible due to finances or no-one available are to leave the TV or radio on to block out some of the outside noises and close your blinds/curtains, it may work or at least decrease any barking. I would also suggest a 3 hour tape to record what exactly is going on and for how long, often dogs are used to our routines and the barking may stop a little while before you are due home, they are good at recognising our cars aswell so you may be fooled into believing there is no barking going on.

Someone is obviously being annoyed by this, I would certainly tape the dogs yourself that way if they are not barking hardly at all you can show the proof also that they are not.

Thank you Carrington, for being extremely helpful with your suggestions!!  We have left the TV and multiple fans on to create white noise and block outside noises.  We are also going to tape them like you said.  I looked at prices for morning daycare and it will run $145 a week, but maybe that's the choice we need to make.  Thank you everyone for your concerns and suggestions. 

may i add my best wishes and good luck with this.let us know how you get on!

I don't think it is uncommon for adult dogs to be left alone for more than 4 hours at a time (lots of people work all day), so i don't think that is the main issue.
Maybe anxiety and strange noises in new home is the main problem.
I think masking the noises and closing the curtains will help.
You could also try a DAP diffuser, and possibly zylkene (to reduce anxiety).
I also feel that 4 walks of 10-30 minutes may not be enough exercise for a weimeraner. That is a big energetic dog.
My lab/collie cross-breed dog gets 3 walks per day 30 minutes running in morning, some off-lead, about 1.5-2 hour walk mostly free off-lead and playtime around midday, 20-30 minutes walk, mostly on lead evening.
With that amount of exercise he mostly sleeps at home between times, but we did have a barking issue with him a while back which has now been resolved by the use of Dap and zylkene medication for a month and avoiding him being able to see out the windows , together with training him to only bark once when he barked when we were around using a soft muzzle and a house-lead - he now doesn't bark excessively.

We tried the fans and TV on Friday, and the office said they could still hear the dogs "often."  Now what exactly "often" means, they couldn't tell us.  We put a spray collar on the Weim all weekend, and when the collar worked, it worked.  By that I mean the battery ran out one day, and then the collar seemed to turn itself on and off at random on Sunday.  So the hubby is exchanging it today but that means yet another day of them barking.  I am seriously considering going home for the afternoon just to keep the peace.  I truly believe it's just the strange noises setting her off and us not being there for 4 hours at a time.  Last week was just week one, so maybe it will take a few more weeks for her to get used to it.  The new neighbors move in above us Oct. 31, so then of course there will be another few weeks of them getting used to people above us.  Argh!!  Will keep trying...

Be careful with the bark activated spray collars.  Firstly, they can be activated by either dog barking not just your Weim - which rather defeats the object as she won't learn to associate the spray with her bark.  Secondly it should really be used only under supervision as you need to reinforce the learning.  Also some dogs can panic and will simply continue to bark until the spray runs out.

Have you been to talk to the neighbours?  Try to involve them in your solution if you can and ask them if they'd be willing to help you understand the precise nature of the problem.  Could you trust them to keep an accurate diary for you?  Tell them you understand that no barking is acceptable but that if you understood when it starts and what it might be triggered by you'll be better able to put a stop to it.  If they can make a note of timings and list the events occurring in the vicinity, even for just 2/3 days you'll get an idea of what to do to fix it.

Good luck

Hi

I just wondered whether your dogs are fine with big meaty bones together or would they fight?, i go to my horses in the morning and one of my dogs will bark at everything, postman, kids walking to school etc etc, she is just natually gobby, i close the curtains turn the tele up and bingo she knows she's getting a bone, nothing else seems to matter then, i come home about 2 hours later all is quiet and the neighbour who use to say 'i always know when your out' has never complained since.

My other dog who is crate trained goes running into his crate for his bone now and sits and waits for me every morning

(Not a small one where bits could get stuck in the throat tho)

Hello, I ended up staying home yesterday afternoon to see what kinds of noises they were hearing. It was a thud from a side neighbor, someone running down the hallway, and then voices in the hallway. No outside noise of any kind. The dogs would bark once and I would correct them and all was fine. I talked to another neighbor last night (diagonally to us now) and he said he couldn't hear anything. So I don't know where the office's claim of "several of my neighbors" came from, cause so far everyone we've talked to can't hear it! Or they are lying to us, but if we're making an effort and apologizing, why would they lie? The more neighbors I talk to, the more I'm convinced it was a few days of us leaving the windows open and also the people who were above us for an hour - and mostly the office. Grrr.

We got a new spray collar and it's working great. The Weim is only making a low "muff" sound when she hears something now. We don't give them lots of treats, so if they were given big meaty bones, they'd eat them in one sitting and then our trips outside would be often and messy. I praise her and give a treat when I put the collar on and I really think she knows not to bark. I'm going home at lunch today and I'll measure how much spray was used. I also alerted the office to our plan and we're going to check with them later this week.