Diablo

Hi all,

Both my wife and I have had large dogs all our lives when living at home, and have had pets of some description all of our lives.

Having given the matter a huge amount of thought and research, including speaking to various breeders and owners, we recently had the opportunity to take on a 2 year old Rottie bitch on a trial basis.

She has a lovely personality and took to us very quickly. She is brilliant around the home and great with other animals. House trained, and used to being in a (large!) crate when left. She is, however, a bit nervous of some people and places, but not at all agressive with it, hence the reason the breaders who had her asked us if we would be willing to give it a go as they do not want to breed from her due to her nervousness. She is also being used to being left for long periods of time, although the longest we will be leaving her is for about 4 hours.

Although nervous, she is very happy around the home and has settled in well. Vet is confident, as is breeder, that she will build confidence with time and routine

The only problem we have is that she howls for a short time after being left. Breeder suggests that she will get over this when settled into our routine, and it doesn't appear to last too long, but (as well as her well being, of course) we are concerned that neighbours will either complain about any noise or think she is being maltreated.

Being in a flat (albeit fairly large - breeders seem very responsible and they were quite happy with our circumstances and her her new home) this could be a problem.

Anyone come accross this, and any suggestions or ideas as to how to calm her when we leave?

Cheers

D

[Edited by Diablo - 10/30/2001 12:07:20 PM]

DavidRB

Don't make a fuss of the dog when you're about to go out and especially when she plays up. Dogs have no concept of reassurance, there is only "reward" and "no reward", so you have to reward good behaviour (i.e. not barking).

See if this helps: http://www.dogschool.co.uk/article7.htm

Diablo

Cheers David.

Been working on the good behavior = reward, bad behavior doesn't and its working well.

Wife was home at lunchtime and it seems she was quiet when she left, so hopefully she's a fastlearner. But then, I'm probably talking too soon

Helpful site.

D

Markus

Diablo,
have emailed suzyq to tell her to read this thread as our weimaraner, maggie, sometimes howls when we leave her, me not being that well versed in doggies I don't want to comment, but suzy will. hope that's ok.

Diablo

Cheers Markus.

Look forward to hearing from Suzie

Yup, was talking too soon.

D

[Edited by Diablo - 10/31/2001 9:57:50 AM]

IWatkins

D,

Dirk at Powerstation has a Rottie bitch which must be about the same age (if not a little more). I don't remember him mentioning this problem at all, but might be worth a chat. The Rottie is deffo. a fast learner though.

Cheers

Ian

SuzyQ

Hiya read this and first dont justify yourself using a crate maggie had a crate till she was a year old they are brill and i would recomend them!and living in a flat should not be a problem aslong as the dog is exercised daily until recently maggie and myself lived in a flat!
now as to your problem explain to your neighbours that your dog is young and nervous and needs time to settle appologise for any noise she may make while you are out and ask them to let you know if it goes on for long!that way your will know if she doesnt settle down.
now one theory i have learned is this.....the dog is not missing its mum or dad but its child most dogs are not treated as the lowly pack member they should be but as alpha dog and this leads them to gettin confussed if your child was to go out and you didnt know where it was you would get upset wouldnt you ?well this is how dogs feel when we leave them,there are steps you can take to change the status quo but they are lifetime changes not a short cut!
ok other things to consider are does the dog have toys to play with to releive bordom? does she have the radio to listen to?i used to leave maggie with the tv but unfortunately some programmes upset her but radio of tv no matter just something.
one thing i now do with maggie is that i leave her with a really good chew that gives us enough time to leave the house so she is busy eating while we leave when she has finished eating it she is ready for a lie down!a good smoked bone is a good idea too but only leave it when u go out and make sure its big so the dog cant swallow it whole
and done make a fuss of her when you leave i leave with as little fuss being made at all i dont say bye or stroke maggie when i go out this seems nasty but its best for her i also ignore her when i come in aswell that way she learns to be quiet and wait for my attention!
i suggest the best thing you can do is go out and buy a copy of the dog listener by jan fennel(think thats her name) its an amazing book and if you try to follow some of the guides in it you may find your problem improves!!!...only maybe tho
dogs are dogs
if you want any more help then mail me hope this helps a little ...the main rule of dog ownership.....every day you take one step forward but every other day you take two steps back!

Diablo

Thanks for all that info Suzie

It seems just in the mornings - other times she is not so bad.

She is settling really well otherwise, eating, sleeping, etc as she should and seems to know her place in the pack - waits to be told, sits quitely when we eat, stands back at the door, etc. Neighbours seem ok just now, so will definately be keeping them sweet

Will give that book a go - and lots of time and effort

D