# Dog Owners...do you ever...



## shingi (Apr 18, 2008)

if you are going out and leaving your dog behind in your van, creep back after a few minutes to check if it's being quiet. The reason I ask is that we have, on a few occasions, been driven nuts by unattended barking dogs in nearby vans. I particularly remember being on a French aire when an English couple who had squeezed in next to us left their mutt whilst they went out. This thing barked non-stop for 3 hours from 7pm until 10pm. I didn't challenge them because I can't imagine how they would solve this. Perhaps they just didn't care or even think that it might make such a racket. 
I have nothing against dogs (except for their incessant and uncontrolled howling!)


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## Bill_OR (Feb 6, 2010)

I would have told them!
Also, not that we would leave ours for such a long time anyway, if ours was barking then I'd want to know.
Bill


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## shingi (Apr 18, 2008)

yes but, do you ever check to hear whether they bark or not?


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## Bill_OR (Feb 6, 2010)

Too true we have! If a dog is barking continuously then it is clearly getting itself into quite a state. If nothing else, I'd be worried what damage it might be doing to the interior of our motorhome!!


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

I would have told them in no uncertain terms! If they didn't know it would bark, they don't know their dog - they should either not go out, or take the dog with them . :twisted: 


drives me up the wall....


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

I think my Whippets howling skills are wonderful.  

Especially as one of them is badly out of tune. :lol:


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## brynric (Oct 17, 2009)

We very rarely leave Beth, but sometimes we have no choice. In the early days I left a camera recording her so I could be sure she settled. That was as much to ensure she didn't destroy the interior as to check for quiet. Now she will sit or snooze, usually in the drivers seat until our return. She's fairly quiet but she will react to other dogs being too close.


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## Oscarmax (Mar 3, 2011)

We only leave our dogs Oscar and Max to go for a shower only (15/20 mins at the most), we leave the TV on for them, not a wimper, otherwise we would never leave them unattended.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Yes I sneak back and listen frequently, we have two bigish, youngish dogs. Can't stand listening to dogs barking non stop. Seems perfectly acceptable to many dog owners though, maybe that's because they aren't there to hear the sods.

In general our dogs are not allowed to bark without good reason and get a telling off if they do. Many dog owners seem to think that their darling little doggie barking is in some way cute.

I have friends whose dog barks at every passer by and they never object to it. I would sort it out if the dog were mine, Alan.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I think I would have told them

They may genuinely not know

We close all the blinds so he cant see out and have never heard him make a sound and people around when we ask have seconded that

Now when we are travelling and he can see out of the window whenever we slow down he is looking for a would be breaker and enterer and any one he catches sight of fits the bill

It drives us mad and we lock him in the garage at filling stations etc
but we have to be in the van before he goes into guard overkill

Aldra


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## Spiritofherald (May 18, 2012)

Nothing to do with my motorhome but I was recently politely informed by my neighbour that my dogs howl when we're out. I wasn't convinced (I have my reasons) so next time we went out I decided to video the dogs using motion-activated webcam. I had forgotten the female was on heat until I got back home and played back the recording to see two hours of dog porn!! No howlng though


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

The only sound you will get from our Spotty Batty would be a snoring sound, unless you try to get in the van without us being there.

ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Yes is the answer. If a dog is barking that much it is in distress. I would want to know.
The only time one of mine has made a noise is when we were socialising within earshot of her and she howled because she could hear our voices but not see us.


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## redkite93 (Dec 29, 2010)

Yes we have. we have an assistance dog and he never really gets left anywhere as he can go with us most places. but.....we wanted to know if he would settle in our van when it was new to us. so i set the dictaphone and settled him down, then locked the door with the keys INSIDE...
after 3 hours of bashing and breaking in he finally woke up. only noise on the dictaphone is us cursing and him snoring.
BUT if you ever hear my dog bark PLEASE feel free to tell me as he is trained not to and when he has done (once or twice in 6 yrs) he is very scared.


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## Twm-Twp (Jun 14, 2012)

Definitely wouldn't leave our labs alone in the van - it's the main reason we use Eurotunnel instead of the ferries.

Our black lab 'Twm' suffers from what we have been told is separation anxiety.

Even if we are a short distance away, e.g. having a cup of coffee on our campsite neighbours pitch, Twm will shout to us - he doesn't bark unless we ignore him but he starts of with a series of funny little yelps mixed with half-cries. Try as we might, he won't be ignored for long, so then he starts with one or two barks followed by a little cry and maybe another little yelp .... it's pitiful to listen to and we always give in.

We also have a 6-year old chocolate lab who never barks unless it's his shift on guard dog duty.

Finally, if we heard a dog barking constantly (either locked in a van or out on a chain) whilst its owners were out, I would definitely (politely) let them know when they returned.[/url]


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## bazzeruk (Sep 11, 2010)

We rarely leave Pirate. If we do, we just tell him we are going shopping (like we do at home) and he just settles down and goes to sleep.

I hate to hear dogs barking - home or away!


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## Kev1 (Apr 4, 2011)

Oh Yes!!!!
As the insurance advert says.

We have two big labs.
So no one would want them barking all the time.

However they only bark if someone knocks or tries the door .

However
there snoring is quite loud


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## hiacynth1 (Jul 10, 2012)

Ours only barks if someone comes too near the van and he thinks he's got to protect us but we rarely leave him and only go to dog friendly places and boycott those that don't allow them in.
If I do leave him and he barks I would want to be told as there is obviously something he's not happy about, though over Easter we had our shed broken into and he sleeps in Conny looking out to it but never made a muff! Go figure!


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## JLO (Sep 27, 2006)

We have sneaked back to our van to find our Lab curled up on the seats fast asleep, and he swears he stays on the floor all the time. 

On a more serious note, our lab will only bark if another dog comes too close to his van or if someone knocks on the door, but we were in Norfolk a couple of years ago parked next to a couple who went off and left their dogs and they barked all afternoon which drove us nuts!

I inadvertently got my own back on them, coz I got up in the middle of the night to go to the loo and knocked something over in our van, the noise of this happening woke their dog up in a frenzy of barking and scared the life out of them :lol: :lol: 

I did have a lab who used to stick his head out of the catflap at home and bark until a neighbour told me about it, then I closed the catflap problem solved, I would certainly want to be told if my dog was barking and upsetting other peoples peace and quiet.

I am currently laid up at home with my leg in plaster, 3 weeks down and 9 weeks to go, :roll: I am none weight bearing: I am usually at work 3 days per week and doing odd jobs around the house, now laid here with the window open cos it is hot, I have realised someone within my earshot leaves a dog who barks all day and it drives me nuts but I am not in a position to go out and find out whose dog it is.


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## annetony (May 1, 2005)

Spiritofherald said:


> Nothing to do with my motorhome but I was recently politely informed by my neighbour that my dogs howl when we're out. I wasn't convinced (I have my reasons) so next time we went out I decided to video the dogs using motion-activated webcam. I had forgotten the female was on heat until I got back home and played back the recording to see two hours of dog porn!! No howlng though


 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

we only leave ours in the van for no longer than 1/2 an hour,she goes into soft mode and curls up asleep on the passenger seat...she doesn't bark as far as we know,but if she did I would hope that someone would let me know

now at home.. that's a different matter...if we are in situ she sits on the top of the chair looking out of the window and barks at anything that so much as moves.its lucky we have 2 garages between us and our neighbour...but then again they have 2 Jack Russels

Anne


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## Sprinta (Sep 15, 2010)

If we leave our 2 while we do a bit of retail therapy in the supermarket they look at what's going on around them for a short while, then just curl up and snooze, checking every now and again. They both know that the MH is an extension of home and are very content to be left alone.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Shadow is perfect in that situation

not when we are travelling

so. does anybody want at an 85 kilo Long haired german shepherd????

Aldra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

ps misprint 45 lilos


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## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

We also close all the blinds, and additionally leave the radio softly tuned to a 'talk' station - The calming effect always sends Meg to sleep.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

We took the obvious route when Grace was small. _(So obvious nobody else appears to have done the same!! :roll: )_

We left her for only about half an hour at first, and asked the neighbours in the adjacent vans to tell us if she barked or howled.

They were quite surprised to be asked, but after doing this on a few trips, and sneaking back quietly to peep in, we became confident that she is quite at home in the van and never makes a noise of any kind.

And of course we trained her not to bark, and the only time she does is if she has tree'd a cat. Fair game though - helps to discourage them from crapping in my newly sown seed beds!! 8O :evil:

Dave


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## Kev1 (Apr 4, 2011)

as with people i guess not every person or every dog is a motorhome/camper lover


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Yes! I do it at home too. One of mine has started to howl when he hears us come home so I wanted to be sure that he doesn't do it all the time. 

My 4 would sleep through anything. If we are at home the goldie likes to sit on the back of the chair ( !!) and let us know if anyone passes.....he then is distracted by one of us and he stops quickly. He has a high pitched squaky bark...not manly in a 30 kg golden retriever! 

The other 3 are springers and they have fried brains so who knows what goes on in their heads!


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

My dog never barks. She feels at home in the van and I regularly leave her. 

I went to see Hamlet tonight and left her from 7.15pm till 10.30pm. She just curls up on the drivers seat and sleeps. 

She always has water and lots of beds to choose from, but always prefers my seat. 

I always leave the blinds open so she can see out. 

As for the people with the barking dogs, I woukd have told them.


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## brillopad (Mar 4, 2008)

we leave our two alone in the van and at home, we can leave them all day and you won't hear a sound out of them, its all in the training, the most time we leave them in the van is 4 hrs or so providing its not to hot out, how are people not able to leave dog alone ?, you must at some time, i would and have told people that there dog were barking, some say they didn't know,and as for the bloke last week on a site in settle, when i told him his dog barked all the time they were out he said," so he's doing his job then"****.

Dennis


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