Two Maltese dogs

argentum

Hi

looking for some info please as I have never had a dog before never mind two.After 14 years of my family/kids begging for a dog I finally rang out of excuses and said yes.My wife got two dogs on donedeal from a lovely woman who had two maltese and wanted them to stay together as she had them both since they were pups.One is male and 18 mths old ,the female is 12 months old.I brought them to a vet and she confirmed that they were both in good health,neutered,chipped and fully vaccinated.
I didnt think that I would like the dogs but I have to say I absolutely love them,they are great with the kids and I like bringing them for walks in the evening
I need help with the following problems that I have so far with them

We are out during the day for about 5 hours and that was one of the reasons for getting the two so that they would keep each other company.They dont seem to mind and anytime one of us comes back to the house they bark when they hear the keys in the door and the alarm going off.I also stayed outside the house for a while after leaving them the first few times and they dont seem to bark.However my neighbour knocked on the door at the weekend and informed my wife that they are barking all day and when she works from home they drive her mad.we live in a semi detached house and I know that her dog barks during the day because I can hear it but I have never complained about it.I recon my dogs are barking when they hear her dog and so on.I also know that my dogs bark when magpies or cats come into my back garden or they hear car doors slam outside my house.We only have the dogs 3 weeks so I'm just wondering if they will eventually get used to the various backround noises in our house and stop barking I have started to leave a radio on during the day when we are out hoping that this helps.
They also seem to bark at about 5 in the morning every morning to let me know that they want to go out the back garden or that one of them has done a poo I let them out and they then settle down again until about 6.30am.Is there a good book that I could buy to teach me how to house train them as they either pee or poo at least once a day in the room that we keep them in but not usually during the day when we are not there.

thanks for reading this far

andreac

Are your dogs inside or outside when you go out?

Id be wondering how they arent house trained by this age, seems very strange as most dogs are well trained by the time they are 12 months old.

I suggest crate training, its great for house training and there are lots of advice if you do a search for crate training.

kylith

Set up a voice operated dictaphone, or a webcam, to see if they're barking during the day, that's what I did when one of my neighbours complained about mine barking (I got 40 hours of them asleep, btw).

Some dogs get used to noises, some don't. When mine are in the house unsupervised, at night, for example, I block access to windows because otherwise they'll go mad at cats passing through the garden.

argentum

The dogs are left indoors during the day and the woman did tell us they were house trained.Most days they dont wee or poo during the hours we are not in the house so thats fine,I just need to sort out the 5 am problem to give me a lie on .Does it take a while for dogs to get used to a new house

Whispered

Yes it takes a while for them to settle, but how you react to their 5am barking now will set them up for how they behave when they settle.

Do they sleep in a crate or a small room, or do they have the run of the house at night?

I would recommend crate training or taking a small room like a utility room for them to sleep in, try to have them confined to one area. Make sure they're sleepy going to bed, so a nice bit of exercise during the day will do that. Bring them out for the toilet just before you go to bed and wait outside until they go.

Then, you will have to go back to basics like they're puppies. Try to get up to let them out before barking starts, bring them out to the back garden and give them no attention, when they go bring them back to bed and go back to bed yourself. Bit by bit you can extend the time by 20 mins or so. This should get them out of the habit of barking to go out.

ABajaninCork

This sounds familiar....Didn't I read about someone who wanted a Maltese, and was looking at two dogs the owner didn't want any more??? Was about a fortnight ago if memory serves.

andreac

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80921119

argentum

Yeah that was me ,I didnt know how to link back to the thread but I wasn't trying to hide it.My wife persuaded me to get them and in fairness she was right.The main problem I have is with me not the dogs .I know I let them away with things when I first got them i.e I actually bought a cage for them but took them out after two nights because of them barking and I wanted my sleep .One thing I will say is that after all these years of me not really liking dogs ,it only took a few days before I understood how dog owners love their pets.I just have to learn to be a good dog owner

Whispered

argentum wrote: »

Yeah that was me ,I didnt know how to link back to the thread but I wasn't trying to hide it.My wife persuaded me to get them and in fairness she was right.The main problem I have is with me not the dogs .I know I let them away with things when I first got them i.e I actually bought a cage for them but took them out after two nights because of them barking and I wanted my sleep .One thing I will say is that after all these years of me not really liking dogs ,it only took a few days before I understood how dog owners love their pets.I just have to learn to be a good dog owner

Oh great, you have a crate. Did you introduce them to it or did you just stick them in at night. They do need a slow introduction. For now, leave it open beside their bed with a nice soft cushioned blanket in it and feed them in it. Try to incorporate it into games, like throw a toy in for them to retrieve or hide bits of yummy food in the blanket for them to find.

Once they're comfortable going in and out you can leave a normal blanket in place of whatever comfy bed they have at the moment so the crate is more comfortable. They will probably choose to snooze in it themselves then. Once they're going in themselves shut the door when they're eating, but stay in the room, then when they're happy with that shut it and leave the room for a minute. Build it up bit by bit. Even if you decide not to use it in the house it's a great idea to have them used to it for travel.

ShaShaBear

Whispered wrote: »

Oh great, you have a crate. Did you introduce them to it or did you just stick them in at night. They do need a slow introduction. For now, leave it open beside their bed with a nice soft cushioned blanket in it and feed them in it. Try to incorporate it into games, like throw a toy in for them to retrieve or hide bits of yummy food in the blanket for them to find.

Once they're comfortable going in and out you can leave a normal blanket in place of whatever comfy bed they have at the moment so the crate is more comfortable. They will probably choose to snooze in it themselves then. Once they're going in themselves shut the door when they're eating, but stay in the room, then when they're happy with that shut it and leave the room for a minute. Build it up bit by bit. Even if you decide not to use it in the house it's a great idea to have them used to it for travel.

Whispered, would this gradual introduction have any hope of working on a senior dog with bad separation anxiety? My boy panics if you even close a door on him and usually poos immediately. I was told to try crate training him but hes 8 now and has always had the run of the house (hes confined when we have to go out)

Whispered

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Whispered, would this gradual introduction have any hope of working on a senior dog with bad separation anxiety? My boy panics if you even close a door on him and usually poos immediately. I was told to try crate training him but hes 8 now and has always had the run of the house (hes confined when we have to go out)

It might but it would depend on the dog. If it doesn't seem to be working, try with even smaller steps. Don't close him in it until he's comfortable being inside it, and even at that, close it over while you're right beside it for a few seconds only, and build it up. Just keep a close eye on him and go at his pace.

You could be surprised and he might love it.

If he does have really bad separation anxiety it might be an idea to speak to a behaviourist. DBB I think could give you excellent advice on separation anxiety. Maybe a thread of it's own? It's a big subject

borderlinemeath

Whispered wrote: »

It might but it would depend on the dog. If it doesn't seem to be working, try with even smaller steps. Don't close him in it until he's comfortable being inside it, and even at that, close it over while you're right beside it for a few seconds only, and build it up. Just keep a close eye on him and go at his pace.

You could be surprised and he might love it.

If he does have really bad separation anxiety it might be an idea to speak to a behaviourist. DBB I think could give you excellent advice on separation anxiety. Maybe a thread of it's own? It's a big subject

I had a dog staying that didn't like the crate at all. The owners had one but never used it as the dog used to go crazy in it, also didn't like being left alone at all, persistant barking and whining and some destructive chewing. His owners used to have problems getting a full nights sleep with the noise at night and used to give in and bring him into the bedroom.

I used the crate as a room divider in the kitchen/diner at night with the door open to get him used to it and put his bed in it. He had no problems going in as it was closer to the hall door where the humans were! For the first couple of nights I left the door open and even during the day he used to potter in and out to his bed. Closing the door took a while, because this dog wasn't really motivated by food so treating wasn't the way forward with him. (it was hard enough getting him to eat his dinner!). His toys didn't work either, he just wanted company. By the end of his stay he was much more comfortable with the crate, he was ok with overnights but he still got a bit huffy with day time use but the key is patience and not to force the issue.

Whispered

borderlinemeath wrote: »

the key is patience and not to force the issue.

Absolutely, keeping a close eye and going at the dogs own pace is the only way. Same with all training really, patience of a saint is needed

argentum

I just want to say a quick thank you for all the good info from you guys ,I don't feel so bad now and I'm going to start work on the crate tomorrow

ABajaninCork

Put a ticking clock and something with your scent on too. Helps them to settle...

Good luck!