Hey everyone. I'm new, but I just needed somewhere to talk about my boy and the problems I'm having.

I have a 20mo male GSD called Archie. He's really turning into a lovely dog. He used to be very mouthy and not that nice, but he's much better now.

I'm 18. I live with my parents and two younger siblings. I have myalgic encephalomyelitis, an anxiety disorder and have had heart problems in the past.

I got Archie at 9 weeks, and I absolutely adore him. Love him to pieces. Prior to him I led a sedentary and terrified life, and infrequently left the home. I never went out alone, ever. I was pretty much debilitated. Anyway, since Archie my quality of life has improved tenfold. I walk him every single day and have only ever missed a single day, and that was because I had norovirus. I'm fitter, healthier, happier and less petrified.

My problem is that my brother and sister dislike Archie and my father thinks he isn't worth the effort and cost, and I should get rid of him. Only my mother really understands how important a role he has played in my recovery thus far, but even she agrees that he is going to make moving out of home and attending university difficult.

Now, Archie is a barker. I walk him sufficiently, take him to dog training every Tuesday evening with training sessions in between, but I have been unable to train him out of barking.

He's a mostly outside dog. He sleeps in the garage overnight, about 10 1/2 hours, so he never barks in the night except for if he has an upset stomach and needs to go out. Other than that he will spend about 1-3 hours inside with me, 30mins-2 hours on a walk, and the rest of the time outside. He has a spacious run, with a shade cloth and a kennel, lots of toys and if all else fails some dirt to dig in.

When he was about 4 months old, we got notification of a barking complaint filed against him, so we moved him to the other side of the house, where his barking could not be heard except for by the people to our left and right. The neighbours on our left used to have two very noisy Golden Retriever/Labradors, and so do not care if he barks. The neighbours on our right use the house ONLY as a holiday house, and are never there during the week.

Today, though, the neighbours to our right complained about him barking, stating that he has a loud, irritating bark and could we please train him not to bark. He is not a constant barker, he normally only barks if there is reason; for example if someone has driven down our driveway or there is another dog on the lawn. He does tend to bark at us if we go out on the deck and annoy him, and he has the occasion woof in between, but he is normally quite quiet -- certainly quieter than some other dogs in our locality.

When we got our first barking complaint, I spent ages with him trying to train him not to bark. Suffice to say, it did not work. It's natural for him to bark -- he's a dog, for God's sake. Dogs bark.

However, I am concerned that if he continues barking, and he will, the neighbours will call the dog ranger and he will be impounded. Heaven forbid if I get fined $200 dollars for failure to comply with barking dog abatement notice. I do not work, I'm pretty much incapable of it, and as such I won't have the money to pay for that sort of fine and I doubt my parents will be willing.

Options now are: attempted retraining, or, heaven forbid; a bark collar, debarking or rehoming.

For today only, at least, whenever Archie has started barking when he has been outside I have taken him into the garage, where his crate/bed is, and crated him. I have no idea if this has appeased the horrid neighbours or not, but I have reason to doubt it. And I feel mean, too -- Archie really rather prefers his run to his crate, and he already spends all night crated. He likes being outside.

At the same time I'm having pressure from the people at home to get rid of Archie, because he's too expensive, my father and siblings dislike him, et cetera. If I do then I will almost invariably go back to being sedentary and too scared to leave the house at all, which is an effective complete relapse just when I've been doing so well recently.

I don't know what to do. There's always the option of rehoming, and then getting a smaller, less expensive, easier to manage dog like a Shiba Inu which would be less offensive to the other family members, but I really, really love my Archie and don't want to give him up.

Bramber - what an impassioned message. I admire your dedication to Archie. I have had a similar problem with bitchy neighbours complaining about my dogs. We were reported 5 times by the same neighbour - at the end of the day the animal control officer (bless him!) realised it was a neigbour problem not a barking problem. However, barking dogs contribute to a huge percentage of neighbourhood complaints and can be very annoying. Unfortunately humans don't all have the same love or tolerances of dogs. Getting a smaller dog won't necessarily solve the problem - in fact smaller dogs are sometimes more vocal. Don't dismiss a bark collar though - if you weigh up the alternative of letting Archie go, a bark collar won't seem so bad. But I know some of the anxiety you might feel about getting one - I felt the same. I don't like the collars either but Archie's young, a smart breed and should learn very quicky from it. There is a citronella collar which sprays a burst of citronella each time he barks. If he learns that once the chamber is empty he can bark as much as he wants it probably won't retrain him. I don't have much faith in the sonic collars. I have an electronic collar which I did use for a while. It beeps a warning first then delivers a small correction. A few seconds later if the barking hasn't stopped, a second correction will be delivered and the correction will increase. I won't put anything on my dogs unless I know how it feels so I tested it on my fingers. It's actually not painful as such - more like a small electric shock that makes you jump and pull away (certainly no lingering pain once the correction has been delivered). Unless you're with Archie all the time and can see or hear what sets him off retraining his bark patterns could be difficult. A correction needs to be given within just a couple of seconds of the action otherwise he won't have a clue what you're correcting him for. Consider a bark collar Bramber - it might be a solution (getting complaints certainly won't help your case for keeping Archie)- but DO NOT leave the collar on Archie initially - or at all really. You will need to watch him the first few times you let him wear it to see how he reacts. Then when you do leave him alone it shouldn't be for more than a few hours and the collar should be removed immediately when you get home. Yes dogs bark and legally they are allowed to express natural behaviour which is what barking is as long as the barking does not become a nuisance. Clearly some of your neighbours now think it is. You'll get differing views on how to correct his barking but at 20 mths he will be getting a bit cocky and you need to stop the problem quickly. Have you considered an animal behavouirst rather than just a dog trainer? Someone may be able to recommend a reputable behavourist in your area. If Archie means that much to you and has clearly added so much to your life, it will be worth the fight. GSDs mature at about 3 years of age - a bit later than some other breeds but when he gets it - he'll get it and everything will fall into place. It sounds as though you are doing all the right things with exercise, training etc. All I can do is wish you luck and hope that the rest of your family can see the help Archie has given you.

Great advice ColCol.
Yes I remend you try the collar also as Rex ( my husdand who was a dog ranger )said if used the collect way, are quite safe and you having a young GSD will lean vert quickly.

Good Luck

Thanks.

We've been to a behavourist in the past, only one in our locality, really, and she was great with him. With us, she wasn't so good. I was under the impression that she was going demented.

And he's been cocky since he was four months old! He's only just started getting better.

I'll see about getting a collar. I'll also follow your advice about how to use it, as it seems very sound.

Thank you again.

Hi Bramber

Where in Wellington are you? I also live in Wellington and would be happy to visit and maybe help a little