Hey guys,

I live in a condo with with my boy Elf, and I was just served with noise violations for his barking. He only barks when I leave to run errands for the day and is by himself otherwise he is a quiet boy.

Any ideas on how to keep him calm and quiet while I'm gone otherwise I'll have to move out of my place

Is he in a crate? Do you know why he is barking?

This is hard. Danzig used to whine in his crate, but we live in a house so no one ever heard. Do you know what's making him bark?

Maybe leaving a tv on low will comfort him. We do this on the 4th of July.

I can only assume he doesn't like being alone..I do crate him while I'm gone, do you suggest leaving him out? He gets into all kinds of mischief but if thats what it takes.

If the condo allows dogs, then barking has to be expected.
You can't really have one without the other.

Whoever is complaining is being unrealistic - they want to live in a condo that is pet friendly but then complain when there is noise????

How much crate training have you done with him? If he were truly crate trained, he wouldn't be whining. He would be calm and comfortable.

Do you leave a TV on for him? Or radio?

Does he get treats in there?


You can try leaving him in a bathroom or another safe room that you can puppy proof and he can't get into any mischief in.

Ultimately, you have to find what works for him, but I would start with the basics of crate training.

That is what I wanted to say to the administration but I thought I'd rather be polite first.

I got him when he was already 10 months old but he voluntarily walks into his crate if its open for him, so I assume he's ok and that its not the fact that he's uncomfortable in the crate but that he get anxious when no one is home. I do give him a treat before I leave and sometimes i'll leave the radio on for him. However I'm not home to know if its working or not.

EDIT:: does anyone have experience using a thundershirt to help stop howling?

I would give him a longer lasting treat like a marrow bone or frozen peanut butter or yogurt filled kong.

He probably IS anxious that you are not home, but you have to work on that. It doesn't just happen over night.

Try desensitivity training. It's explained in a few threads about separation anxiety.

Maybe doggie daycare could help?

I wouldn't leave him in a bathroom, I did that with Embry and he dug up my whole vinyl flooring in front of the door.

Mine need to be ran for at least an hour before they're kenneled.

One thing we tried was the sonic egg, whenever they bark it makes a high pitch noise. It worked for Embry. They sell them at Petsmart.

I was looking at the egg thing but does it work with howls? He howls and groans more than anything

When we moved into our apartment we were still training Anna and if Elf is anything like Anna then I pray for whoever has to stay home and hear it. SHE IS LOUD! She has gotten better over time. And she goes in all by herself finally but we had to tough it out. We live in a corner apartment so the only one she could have really bothered was my upstairs neighbor and I know she had to have heard her. But when I moved in and it came time for us to go to school I told the lady ahead of time. I told her Anna had separation anxiety, hated her crate and would probably scream and cry at the top of her lungs. I told her if Anna gets to loud to let me know and we will work on other methods. We make sure she has her kong, she gets two goodies, her marrow bone or antler, her dog food, since we leave in the morning and she never eats it before we leave and she has a water bottle thing on the front of the crate. The few times we come home and Anna is crying we think it is because she has to potty also it isn't as loud as she used to be. We don't leave the tv on anymore because it didn't seem to help when we tried everything. We did everything we could to desensitize it, just never seemed to work for her. We also moved her crate from our bedroom to the living room so when we come in the apartment she can see us. I also open the blinds by our sliding glass door so she can see out, since she likes looking outside. We looked into the thundershirt and that was going to be one of the next things we would try but she eventually was fine with going in the crate. Took probably a few months for her to stop crying and screaming when we left, not pant like crazy because we left, not whine when we put her in, and not make us chase her around the apartment to put her in the crate. Like Tori said it is not going to happen over night. Maybe you can try informing your neighbors and maybe they can be a little more considerate. I don't know if you live in a high rise apartment building or an apartment complex like we do. That's the reason it was a little easier for me to inform my one neighbor. I'm sure other people can hear her but she probably isn't as loud and have to be outside to hear her. I hope this helps some and you can figure everything out!

Edit: I just read where you said condo. Maybe you can still try talking to them?

Yeah I think I'll make a print out and put it on some of my neighbors doors. However I just found out they someone attempted to report me to animal control since I let elf nap on the balcony or sit out side even though I'm still home. I have the best neighbors

dinhpete wrote:

Yeah I think I'll make a print out and put it on some of my neighbors doors. However I just found out they someone attempted to report me to animal control since I let elf nap on the balcony or sit out side even though I'm still home. I have the best neighbors

That is crazy. I am jealous of you and your wonderful neighbors. Whenever I talked to my neighbor I made sure to say that we weren't irresponsible owners we just had to leave Anna in her crate for her own safety. I think people seem to understand a little more once you explain it. I really don't see why they would complain if it's during the day, they all don't work?

Ezio barks AT us for food, to go outside, attention, ANYTHING lately, so I've been sort of dreading this idea of someone reporting us too. He barks initially when we leave, but I think once we've been gone long enough he either naps or finds something to chew on. It's a shame your neighbors aren't too tolerant. I think most of ours are college kiddos, so as long as we don't report their noise violations over the weekend they might not mind our puppy being a jerk. We usually give Ezio his kong with some peanut butter and treats before we go for any extended period of time. It keeps him distracted for a little while and makes us leaving sort of pleasant.

I live in an apartment and worry because Roxy can occasionally get some anxiety when I leave and she starts to whine and howl. I've started putting a stuffed kong or bone in the crate with her when I leave and it seems to cut the anxiety caused by me leaving. I haven't heard any complaints so I think she's quite through out the day.

Josie yeah I don't think you will have to worry too much about them complaining about you.

That is very good that Roxy is quiet after awhile. The problem with Anna is we know she wouldn't be quiet even after a couple of hours. We would come home and she would still be barking but it was such a hoarse bark that we knew she had to be barking the whole time we were gone. But now she is awesome it just took time. She still barks but it is usually when we come home to tell us she has to potty. But she goes in on her own and actually enjoys the goodies I give her now.