"Comfy and tired equals quiet" - Eliminate excessive barking when you leave your dog alone.

We take our dogs everywhere! That is why we love traveling with our dogs. We plan our vacations around them and for them. Still, there are times when we go out without them. They stay behind when  we visit a museum or to have dinner at a nice restaurant that does not allow dogs. Our dogs need to be comfortable by themselves in our hotel room or vacation rental and be good dogs.

We have stayed in many hotels and heard dogs barking and howling. Same in RV parks, where we walked past someone's site and the dogs inside were barking loudly and excessively. We hear from vacation rental owners that guest dogs are not to be left alone, because they have had so many bad experiences with dogs disturbing other guests with their excessive barking.

There are a lot of reasons why dogs may be barking excessively when left alone. Most commonly the dog will be anxious or bored. Whatever the reasons here is a simple formula that has proven successful to eliminate excessive barking and destructive behavior in most cases.

The formula is: “Comfy and tired equals quiet.”

Consider these two areas: exercise and comfort. When dogs are given a comfortable familiar place to stay and properly exercised, they will likely be tired, quiet dogs who will want to rest and sleep while left behind when their owners are gone.

"A tired dog is a good dog"

Many dog owners do not realize the benefit of regular exercise for their dogs. Especially when traveling, a lot of dogs simply get walked to relieve themselves. Regular exercise is very important to drain energy and help the dog be balanced.

 Even if you are walking your dog on a regular basis, are you making sure you are exercising him just before you leave him by himself? This will only require a little preparation and time before you have to go out. Allow yourself enough time to take your dog for a good 30-minute walk, or  play fetch with him in a fenced area, or take the dog for a swim and run on the beach. The average adult dog spends between 14 and 16 hours a day sleeping. However, if your dog is not getting enough exercise, he will expel pinned up energy by barking and even destroying things around the house.

The beauty of the need for exercise is that it also makes you get out more!

Jaeger and Heidi play at the beach

"A comfortable dog will rest quietly" 

Now that your dog is properly exercised, give her an area that is both familiar and comfortable. Put down her bedding, or prepare her crate. I know you are tempted to buy all new dog beds for the special vacation so that everything is nice and fresh and clean. But honestly, that is the worst thing you can do for her. She wants to have the bed she uses at home, the one that smells like her and like you. The one that has all her dog hair all over it. Using her regular bed or blanket will transform the strange hotel room or vacation rental into a familiar place for her.

 Provide some of her favorite toys, and if need be, add one of your old t-shirts - unwashed- for added comfort.

Nico is comfy in his bed

I recommend you have a special treat for her. This would be a chew toy or chew food that she can keep busy with for some time. I personally use soup bones, which I purchase at the local grocery store for my dogs. These special treats are reserved for this purpose, meaning only give them when the dog is left by herself for some time.

Find a good boring talk show on the TV, or tune the radio to a talk channel. You are looking for some talking, not a high action shoot-them-up movie.  Adjust the volume so that the sound will drown out any outside noises, but not so loud as to disturb the neighbors.

If possible make sure the dog cannot look out of the windows. Especially smaller dogs tend to get on top of sofas to peek outside.  You can draw the shades or block access to the window areas. All this will make the dog less likely to bark when someone walks past.

If your dog has been used to barking excessively for some time, practice for shorter sessions with this setup. Gradually increase the length of the sessions. Providing your pet with a familiar, comfortable surrounding and plenty of exercise before you leave him alone, will balance your dog and make sure he is calm and quiet while you are away from home.


Thank you for stopping by, I hope you found the information useful. I value your comments and appreciate your feedback.

If you feel others may benefit from the information provided, please "like" and "share"!


Until next time, keep your paws on the road!

Bee

How to train your dog to potty on command

Why on earth would you need to teach your dog to go potty on command? Seems a bit over the top, does it?

My husband Jim and I  travel with our dogs a lot and I have found it useful to have them go potty on command. For one, we are in unfamiliar surroundings, and the dogs are so distracted by all the new smells, and they are so excited to explore, that they just forget to do their thing.

At other times, we are going into a crowded event, like a Farmer's Market, where we don't wish for them to go potty in the midst of things. So we take them to a suited area and tell them to empty their bladder before we go to the main event.


Have you ever stopped at a rest area on the highway for food, gas and for everyone to use the bathroom, but your dog is too excited to think about peeing? You are walking around and around and everyone is waiting for the dog to go, so the trip can continue.  You may want to teach him to relieve himself on command!

New Blog about traveling with Pets - introductions.

Traveling with your dogs is a lot of fun, but it can also be rather stressful. There are a lot of things you have to consider when you get on the road with your furry friends. A lot of places do not allow you to bring your dogs, like restaurants, or hotels. There are even hiking trails that you are not allowed to take your dog on.

I know traveling with pets takes a lot of preparation and research. My husband and I have been traveling with our two dogs, Heidi and Jaeger; and our cat, Chloe, for several years. It is what we love to do. During these times I have learned a lot about preparing and researching pet-friendly places. In my articles, books and blogs, I write about traveling with pets.

My husband, Jim, is a Dog Trainer and Behaviorist, he helps me bring in the knowledge of dog training and behavior modification for my writing. Together, we hope to provide practical tips and exercises to prepare you and your pets for travel. We also find the best pet-friendly places to stay, play and eat.

We are currently working on a book for traveling with dogs. It's called: "Keep your Paws on the Road" -  while the book is still a work in progress, I thought it would be fun to share some of the information, together with a lot of other helpful tips in my blog.

When Jim and I first started taking vacations with our dogs, I ran into a lot of obstacles finding places that would allow us to bring our 95lbs Chesapeake Bay Retriever. I soon learned that  even dog-friendly hotels or vacation rentals will have restrictions on the size of pets they allow.  Many will restrict pets to be under 80 pounds, while some will only allow smaller dogs.

Way back when, we traveled with our sweet little Doberman, Blitz, I had similar difficulties because of breed restrictions. So one of the first tips here is to actually call and verify information for any dog-friendly restaurant, campground or overnight establishment. Make sure you are getting all the information before you travel. I have seen people get turned away at campgrounds because they had a breed that was not accepted by that establishment. I am sure you can imagine how frustrated these travelers were. They had simply assumed, since the campground advertised dog-friendly, that there were no restrictions on breed or size.

Quite often there are also restrictions regarding the number of pets you can bring. In general two pets are allowed in most overnight accommodations. That can be tricky, if like us, you travel with 3 or more pets.

So if you are loving to travel or vacation with your dogs or other pets, come and visit my blog site and read about keeping your paws on the road.

I hope you find the blog interesting, I value your comments and insights.

Thank you,
Bee