We have two GSDs 1 male 2yrs 1 female 3yrs, both are dog aggressive off leash and quite territorial. We live in a neighborhood where the houses are Very close together. Our yard is long and narrow and borders 4 other yards, 3 of which have other dogs. My husband and I both work and are not home from 7am-5pm and the dogs have access in and out of the house. We knew the dogs would bark and fence fight but it has gotten worse and worse and worse. Last year we received bark complaints from one neighbor and after that we put up plywood over the entire back yard fencing so that the dogs could not see eachother. This seemed to be working wonderfully but, now we got another complaint. I do not know what to do, we run the dogs at least 4 times a week and walk them as well, we also do obedience with them once a week or so. We cannot leave the dogs in all day. E collar? Bark Collar? Electric fence? Any ideas, suggestions, opinions would be GREAT =)

 Quote: Becky Pulver

We cannot leave the dogs in all day.

Why not? Can one of you (or a hired person) give them a mid-day break, and when you leave them in the a.m. you leave tired, exercised dogs?

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Becky Pulver

We cannot leave the dogs in all day.

Why not? Can one of you (or a hired person) give them a mid-day break, and when you leave them in the a.m. you leave tired, exercised dogs?

My Mal bitch stays in all day in a crate. I do come home at lunch more often than not and give her a mid-day potty and fetch break. If I cannot make it home, she is fine.

If I leave her out in a day run, she wears a bark collar.

I make sure that I always have time in the morning to get in about 15 minutes to a half hour of play time or a nice, fast walk in before I leave for work, not to mention this gives her ample time to potty before going in her crate.

If you must leave them out, why not alternate one at a time every other day and probably utilize a bark collar on the one that is out.

I am not sure two dogs with bark collars on is a good idea, may lead to frustration fights between your two. But you could try one on the dog that barks most and see if it does not calm the other one down as well.

I would opt for leaving them in OR looking into kennel runs for both of them. That way, you can leave them out, but they cannot have the run of the yard to bark.

I'm 100% with Carol. I also do not trust humans who may be angry or frustrated with a lot of barking from your dogs, and you mentioned getting complaints.

Do the dogs fence fight individually? If not, then maybe you can alternate them to singly have access outdoors every other day. This way its not daily prison which, IMO can make fence fighting even more intense. A single dog outside could possibly be a candidate for the bark collar without fear of a fight among your own dogs. Just a suggestion.

Howard

Fence fighting and excessive barking in backyards I find is usually a condition of dogs having no direction for their time and energy. Direction is best applied by telling or leaving no other choice for what a dog will do with its time. For instance a dog left in a crate once properly crate trained will usually quite calmly relax, observe the world around it and usually stay quite passive about things that happen outside their box. A pet dog on a properly leash trained should calmly walk on a loose lead because the dog will have a direction on what it should be doing. I seem to recall an old saying "Idle hands are the devil's plaything" and I find the same to be true of young dogs. Of my five dogs two have outside the crate unattended privledges because they've shown themselves to be trustworthy enough not to shred anything they can get their mouth around (toilet paper is a winner), chew cables, bark endlessly, fight, and raid the trashcan.

I suggest kenneling your dogs in a run that is properly sized if your dogs cannot be indoors while you're away from work. Preferably seperately, a must is a solid or tiled concrete floor, do not just put a chainlink kennel on grass. If they begin to yap endlessly bark collars might be in order. The basic direction you want for your dogs is stay quiet, stay calm, and relax.

I also must mention that 4 x a week isn't enough walking time for a dog. A dog really thrives under a daily routine or at least a pattern routine. Around here the pattern usually is wake up, potty, shower, walkies, breakfast, internet, training and tricks, playtime, and out to the kennel so I can get ready for work/school. If daily walking just isnt' possible with your schedule you can get a dog walker or get a treadmill which I use often during our three seasons wet,wetter and August or if I must work graveyard and it works fabulously.

Best of luck. At least you have neighbors who are kind enough to give you a chance to fix the issue. My sister once had neighbors who corrected the issues themselves with antifreeze.

Thank you all for your insight, ideas, suggestions etc. =)

I Take my dogs for a one mile brisk walk/run most mornings. I then use a combo of bark collars. I manage to keep 13 dogs quite enough to enjoy my yard. I too ask the neighbors for feedback and encourage them to speak to me first if they have any issues.
The exercise is tough for some with limited time in the morning, but waking up early is free, summonses are not. I clearly can tell which days the dogs get their morning run in by how they act in the yard. I tired dog is a calmer less aggressive dog.