Dog barks when left alone

Question
I have a 5 months old golden retriever.
He is a great dog, i'm training him a lot.
he responds to all the commands and is very obedient.
He is in the house with us all day and when we leave or at
night he sleeps on the blacony.
the balcony is about 18sqm it is closed with thick drapes.
he has a bed and all his chew toys.
everything was fine till 2 weeks ago (when he turned 20
weeks).
Now he barks when i put him out and leave. it's really
annoying. sometimes he will bark for 2 min and go to sleep
and other times like today he barks for 1 hr.

Is there a way to teach him not to bark?
Should I buy him a crate and let him in the crate (inside
the house) when i'm not there?
I think the neighbors are starting to get annoyed and i
need to find a solution fast.
thx  

Answer
Hi Mark,

Many dogs develop a barking habit. The reason is simple, the dog doesn't want to be left alone, and is bored! There are some things to do that can help break your dog of of this habit, but a lot of how well my suggestions work depends on how well you enforce the rules.

Most 5 month old puppies need at least 2 or so hours of vigorous, aerobic exercise a day. If you are going to be gone for an extended period of time (or at night),  before  you leave your puppy needs an hour of mentally challenging and physically active fun and games. When you put your dog out on the balcony,  your puppy should be a panting, heaving, utterly exhausted dog. A tired dog is a quiet dog!

As you leave, give your puppy an "only-when-I'm-gone" chew toy. This toy should be something spectacular -- a sterilized beef bone stuffed deeply and thoroughly with canned dog food or cheese spread (served frozen or chilled) or a Kong toy stuffed with something tasty. Give it to your puppy upon leaving, it actually makes being left alone not so bad, as this is the only time the "most-wonderful-thing-in-the-world" appears! When you return, take this special toy away. If your dog always has access to it, it won't seem as special.

Train your dog into being quiet:
First, imitate your daily departure routine. Do you usually search about for keys, gloves, etc, pack a gym bag or throw out the garbage. Make the dog think that this is just like any other daily departure.

Second, while giving him his exercise, special goodbye toy. In a firm matter of fact manor,  get eye contact with your puppy and tell him in a firmly to be quiet until you return.

Leave -- for only a brief period of time. Just a minute or two to start out with. If you normally lock the door with keys, make the right noises, but don't lock it. You must be able to enter quickly if the dog begins to bark; this is not the time to fumble around with your keys. If you wait for an elevator, ring for it and get in. Go one floor down and come back up using the stairs. If the dog has not barked, return and gently praise. If you hear him begin to bark, burst back into the house hollering QUIET! Then turn and leave again.

This time, if the dog barks, punctuate your command for silence with the rattle of a shaker can (empty soda can filled with 15 pennies, fewer for fearful dogs) to startle the dog into silence. Praise the dog when he quiets down and leave again.

The goal, of course, is to be able to stay away for longer and longer periods of time without having to go back in and correct the dog for barking. The time away must be built up in small intervals. Set goals (5, 10, 15 minutes) and go back in and praise the dog if he remained quiet for the set amount of time. Don't wait for an undetermined amount of time and only go in to correct the dog for finally barking. Silence must be praised. Appropriate behavior must be acknowledged.

Most dogs that can remain silent for two hours can usually stay quiet for an 8 to 10 hours work day. It is building up to that first hour or so that may take several days of set-ups to achieve.

You can read more about training your dog to stop barking here:

http://www.perfectpaws.com/bark.html

Barking problems are not solved in a day, or even a week. This may take several weeks. If you have neighbors who have complained to you,  let them know that you are not ignoring their complaints; that you understand their discomfort and you are taking steps to correct the problem. Quite often, they will cut you a little slack if they know that their complaints have not fallen upon deaf ears.

Best of luck,
Patti