[Andrea]

We have a five month old Vizsla who cannot handle being alone in the garden.

I am at home during the day with our newborn baby so the dog has lots of company. He also goes for a walk in the country with a dog walker (and with us on the weekends) so he is not lacking exercise and I only put him outside in nice weather. When I put him in the back garden for short periods he yelps and barks so loudly you can hear him down the street. We have tried ignoring this hoping it will go away but once he gets started he doesn't like to stop. When we want to bring him in we wait for a quiet moment and then walk into the garden ignoring him, distract him with something else after a few minutes and then bring him inside. We also realise if we don't take care of this now it is just going to get worse.

We are now concerned about our relationship with our neighbours and obviously our own sanity. Does anybody have any advice?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Crazy Kian]

They're not called Velcro Vizsla's for nothing.
My guess, if he is anything like our guy, he wants to be with you. Vizsla's don't like to be too far away from their owner's.
Do you leave him out there with toys to play with?

 

[jp]

We put a doggie door on our back screendoor so Penny can go out into the yard and come back in on her own. We can control it by shutting/opening the exterior door. By no means does she spend a lot of time out there, like a neighbor's hound, but she does enjoy being outside alone. Although we are a corner lot so there are always lots of people walking by and kids next door to watch. The barking is sporadic--sometimes something sets her off and it is quite obnoxious.

 

[Mercutio]

Sounds like he might just be bored. Does he have toys and things to do / chew while he's out in the garden? Interactive food toys like treat balls and kongs helped stop Merc barking in our absence.

Make them things he gets only when he goes outside so that going into the garden becomes a really exciting thing for him. Use special, smelly food in the kong like peanut butter or sardines (Merc's favourite). Even a slice of bread and peanut butter stuffed into a kong will keep him busy for awhile. Merc's dry food only comes to him in a treat ball (I have a few different types). You could even just toss his food out in the garden so that he has to run around and find it all rather than just getting it in a bowl.

You might have to spend some time showing him how to use the toys though. It took Merc a while to work out that if he pushed the ball, kibble would come out. Now anything that looks like it might have food in it gets a shove just in case. And i had to make the kongs interesting (strong smelling food) and not too difficult at first. But now he loves them and I make a few and freeze them so they're ready to go when I need one.

Good luck!

 

[Vincent]

If we put Vin out in the garden and shut the door he will cause what sounds like a mini riot by pawing at the door and barking/whining, but if we leave the door open he will sit out there up to a couple of hours sun bathing/chilling, he will then come in and say hi and play then pop out again. in the winter or when the sun is not shining he will not go outside at all on his own to play he will just be stuck to our side going in and out of every room when we do!! He is always stuck to our side unless there is a chance to sunbath!

 

[madaboutvizslas]

Ours spends about 4 hours in the garden Mon-Fri. Sometimes longer. She used to yelp just like you said. Luckily we have a big yard and my neighbours go to work. However as she got older she got used to the routine and now she just waits at the gate for us to return with no noise at all during the day. If anyone comes onto the property when we are out she barks at them non-stop. So if I lived in town this would probably be a problem.

It is separation anxiety. These dogs crave attention. Hang in there it may get better. Stick to your routine and let your neighbours know what is going on. Get them to squirt it with the hose over the fence it it won't be quiet.

 

[Andrea]

Thanks for the advice everyone- it has been very helpful.

We now have an outside toy stuffed full of goodies that I leave him with and it seems to distract him. Even when he finishes the toy he is entertaining himself for a good 15 more minutes. Hopefully we can build this up over time.

We also had a chat with the neighbours who are much more understanding then we thought. However, they must think we're abusing him since he sounds like he is slowly dying through cruelty and neglect when he gets going.

 

[sarahaf]

Can't really imagine Rosie alone in the garden at this point. She hurls herself at the door and makes verbalizations like you are torturing her if you put a door between you and her. We feel sadistic when we laugh in the face of her anxiety but the "bam! bam!" sound of her slightly porky 10 month old weight being self-propelled at the door (and the vocal sounds she is able to muster) make us giggle sometimes.