Expert: Have4Paws - 8/3/2011

Question
QUESTION: We have a 3-year-old beagle that we got as a puppy.  He is an awesome family dog which is great since he lives with me, a 2 year old, and 8 year old, and a cat.  We recently moved from a large home with 1/3 acre yard to a smaller home with a much smaller yard.  He gets very excited anytime we leave or come home which is a minor annoyance but I figure it is being reinforced by the excitement of the 2 year old during transitions and will reduce in time.I am off in the summer months so he is going on walks & jogs 2-3 times per day.

We now live in a great neighborhood with many families & sometimes the kids and I want to be out in the community without the dog.  Anytime we leave the house he begins to get anxious but if we get in the car & leave he doesn't bay or howl or he stops after the car is out of sight (according to the neighbor).  

If we leave the house & don't drive away in the car I can hear him howling/crying/baying the entire time we are out & from several blocks away.  This behavior causes me to cut our outings down to 15 minutes or less so the neighbors don't report him as a nuisance.

What can I do to reduce this behavior?

ANSWER: Hello, my deepest apologies, I got a notice from AllExperts today that this hadnt been answered, I thought I did but it must not have gone through. I will attempt o do so again now....

This is a classic case of Sep. Anxiety. So... when you are going to leave the house 1) you need to do so in a very calm and nonchalant way, do not make eye contact with him, do not tell him to be good etc, just walk out the door. 2) when you are going out and ONLY when you are going out supply him with a stuffed KONG  or a Buster Cube(both can be bought anywhere pet products are sold)which will become his "treat" for you leaving. It shuld not be given at any other time, he will begin to assoicate your leaving as a good thing because he will get the special treat. These two in particular are chosen because they will occupy him for quite some time. 3) When you come home do not make a big deal out of it either, jsut come in the door and dont say anything to him, ignore barking, jumping etc and turn your back on him, when he is calmer put him in a sit and then praise him, this begins to reinforce to him that calm behavior gets attentionnot crazy wound up behavior. Remember that like kids, even dogs can learn to thrive on negative reinforcement. Lastly, if his barking only a problemw henyou are gone, does he bark when you are home at things in the back yard too? You said you take him on several walks/jogs a day so this shoudl be enough to tired him out and stimulate him which leads me to believe that the behaviors he is exhibiting are more related to the way you come and go. You may be inadvertantly reinforcing neg behaviors by paying attention to him or trying to reassure him when you do these transitions. Please try the above, remain vigilant of your behavior, not so much his and it will turn around. Feel free to contact me again anytime!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: He barks in the backyard when our neighbors are out on their porch but they are an elderly couple and encourage his barking by baby talking him over our fence.  Other than that he is a fairly quiet beagle except when we leave the house and play out in the neighborhood.

I don't give him any attention when we leave/return but my kids find this more challenging.  I have tried a buster cube, a kong, and several other dog toys/treats/puzzles but while he will happily receive a treat the first time I give it for our outings he will turn away from the same treat the next day when we try to leave.  Yesterday we left him with a chewy edible treat when we went out for a bike ride which he seemed very happy with but today when I offered the same treat when we were leaving he refused to take it and it was still on the floor untouched when we returned home.  I could hear him baying while we were out two blocks away. Should I be changing his "treat" so that it is novel each time?  Seems like it would become quite pricey.

Thanks

Answer
Yes you are right it could become pricey and also you will soon run out of options of things he hasn't had. i still maintain that something about the coming and goings is keeping him engaged and he somehow gets inadvertent reinforcement from it, the neighbors talking to him over the fence is absolutely neg reinforcement!! They teach him if you bark, we will come. Instead they need to perhaps shake a "shake can" when he barks or bays, he will not it is them but it will scare him and interrupt his attention. You can make one easily with a soda or beer can with pennies in it. Years ago I had a beagle boy who did the same and armed them with shake cans. It really helped and it gave them the picture that I was doing everything I could to correct it.