Thread: GSP Barking

I have a 12 week old Labrador doing exactly the same thing and does not like being left alone.

In the mornings after his play, training and breakfast he will get into his crate 10-15min before I leave. I don’t acknowledge him at all during this period, simply ignore him even if he’s barking and just leave. I’m lucky I have understanding neighbours who also have dogs though.

At lunch and evenings when I return I will park down the road and sneak up on him (to make sure he’s not just being silent as a car pulls in the driveway) he is usually silent. I let myself in and again I ignore him if he starts barking and only let him out of his crate when he’s silent. The first few days he starting grizzling and barking as soon as he heard the key or knew someone was home and it took him along time to settle down. Now I can get 10 – 15min of complete silence from him before I let him out for being well behaved.

One thing I’ve found really useful for keeping his trap shut is a Kong. It’s a ball thing that I stuff with peanut butter and he will spend hours trying to get every last bit of peanut butter from it. Has worked wonders in the mornings as a distraction.

He still doesn’t like being left alone though and I’m slowly increasing the time I can spend away from him without him feeling anxious and starting to bark. I would appreciate any advice from the more experienced dog handlers on this forum.