[Dailydrool] Now what? Advice please

[Val Brewer]

Aloha,
  Help. Our citronella collar is no longer phasing Harley, our hound who hates to be left alone. Harley is barking while we are out of the house despite snuffs of lemon juice when he barks (sound activated sprayer).  He does not start barking, apparently, until a half hour or so after we have left, but once he starts he keeps it up til we return. We had thought we had solved this problem with the citronella collar, which worked fine for about a year. Now, however, Harley would prefer to bark and sneeze the consequences. The landlady has asked us to please solve this problem and I'm not sure how to do it.
  The problem may have been reactivated when we left the hounds at a kennel for a weekend last month. We are told that Harley barked for 48 hours straight at the kennel, but they report this was not a problem there since the kennel is on a horse farm out in the middle of nowhere. We are also told that our second hound, Bo, seldom joins in. 
  This is not a monstrous problem--Harley is probably not left alone for more than 3 hours a week, but it is enough of a problem that I must solve it. I cant quite figure out a behavioral intervention that doesn't involve me hiding in the bushes outside for hours at a time or hiring a babysitter anytime I need to run to the grocery store (it is too hot here to leave a dog in the car). I would appreciate input. (I am assuming that this issue was the reason Harley had six homes prior to ours. He is extremely crate phobic and also has obviously been hit with a stick or something else more than once in his prior life, since he goes nuts whenever he sees anyone raise an arm for any reason. We do not crate him, and of course would never strike him.) Thanking you in advance, Val, Bo, and Harley (I don't see what the problem is--she should just stay with me 24/7/365). 


      
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