destructiveness and barking

Question
QUESTION: Hello, our dog Bessie has been barking at night for hours on end, my brother, and my dad. She has also destroyed things in the backyard,and is jealous of the affection towards our other dog (Roxy.)Bessie is 2 years old and is a pure-breed English Staffordshire Terrier (Staffie) and has previously had pups at some point, but that was before we got her. We all need a good nights sleep and we can't control the destructiveness anymore. Can you help us?

ANSWER: Dear Rory,

Please write back with the following information:
How old is Roxy, and is she spayed?
Is Bessie spayed?
Please describe in detail (hour by hour) what a typical day in Bessie's life is (please include where she is and where are the other members of the human and canine family).
How long have you owned Bessie?
When did the barking at night start?
When did the backyard destruction start?
Thanks
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: roxy is 4, roxy is not spayed, bessie is spayed, in the morning bessie and roxy are outside, when we leave for school and work (8:00) ,the dogs are outside, when we get home (3:30) we let the dogs inside, while inside, the dogs play wrestle and jump on the beds and go outside, our dad gets home at 6:00 and then we feed the dogs, then after dinner, we let the dogs in, at 9:30-10:00 we let the dogs out and go to bed, 5 minutes later the dogs start barking, we have owned bessie for about a year, the barking at night has been going for about 2 months, the backyard destruction has been going since we got her. Thank you for time.

Answer
Dear Rory,

My best advice to you is to have the dogs inside at night.  My belief is that they want to be with you, and that's what they're barking about out there.  I realize that bringing them in at night is something that you and your family have for some reason decided against, but it is the solution to this problem.  I suspect your neighbors are being kept up at night as well, and there's a very real possibility that the dogs are also barking during the day.

You could consider investing in a Citronella collar which delivers a quick spritz of Citronella from the collar area each time the dog barks and hence dramatically reduces the barking.  However, this is treating the symptom of the problem, not the cause of the problem.  

A 2 year old dog, and terrier in particular, has a lot of energy and needs mental and physical stimulation, or she will find some other (often innappropriate) way to release the energy that she's got.  Sometimes keeping the dog outside during the day is enough to exert a dog's energy but most of the time it is not.  Bessie needs to be walked around your neighborhood at minimum once daily for 30 minutes or more.  She also needs an obedience class and some daily obedience work to stimulate her brain.  Otherwise I predict that the destruction and the barking will continue.

Please go to http://www.dogdaysusa.com/mouthtraining.cfm#chewing for some ideas on teaching Bessie what's OK to chew and what's not OK to chew.

Good luck and thanks for writing.
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysusa.com