Barking Dog Case Study

Teacup, a two-year-old mixed breed dog, has anxiety problems and relentlessly barks every time her owner Tom, is away at work. Tom recently transferred into a new house with a spacious fenced-in backyard. At this time, as Teacup would normally do while Tom is away, she would not stop from barking. The barking dog progressed so badly that neighbors in his apartment building regularly complained; forcing Tom to find a new place of his own. However, Teacup continues to bark and Tom is apprehensive about the complaints of his new neighbors. Teacup does not bark while Tom is home, so he must look for a way to stop the dog barking while he is at work.

Since Tom recently moved, he pointed out that the hindrance is from an outside source causing Teacup to become aggravated and to bark. With Teacup's current status, frustration is not an option, Tom has spoken to his neighbors and no person or animal provokes Teacup from over her fence. Moreover, since the change of atmosphere has changed the placement of things, Tom can be sure there is nothing that would cause Teacup to bark. Water bucket, and toys are all well within the dog’s reach.

Tom brought Teacup to his veterinarian’s clinic and any medical condition that may cause Teacup to bark has already been ruled out. Since Tom is always away from home every morning while he was still in his previous home, Teacup's veterinarian suggest that Tom look at the idea of boredom barking. Since the odd seems to make sense, Tom starts looking into this idea of keeping Teacup entertained during the day.

At the beginning, Tom calls a local pet sitting business that specializes in taking care of dogs during the day while their owners are at work. The staffs in this institution were very professional, they promise to visit Teacup twice a day for one-half hour at a fixed schedule. During Teacup's visitation, a person would walk the dog around the park and play with her most of the time. Though Teacup did not bark as much before and this situation worked out well, the dog still barked.

Tom decided to enroll Teacup in the “doggy daycare” provided by a local kennel to stop the incessant barking dog. Basically, this class acts as a dog version of conventional daycare and to prevent boredom, the employees let the dogs play together. Tom drops Teacup off on the dog daycare center on his way to the office and picks her up on the way home. This setup makes the dog and the owner happy, it works perfectly well for both Teacup and Tom. Even though the fees for the “doggy daycare” are more than leaving Teacup at home during the day or even hiring a dog sitter, Tom feels the amount is well acceptable when he sees how happy Teacup is at the end of the day and the reality that his neighbor’s complaints have ceased. Moreover, since Teacup was otherwise an only dog, this "doggy daycare" lets her to socialize with other dogs, ensuring she is well developed socially and emotionally.