Barking at Night..

SSpiro · 10-15-2007, 11:59 AM

My new rescue (3 months old) is still getting accustomed to his new lifestyle and house with us.

He's not 100% with the crate yet. We're working on this; it seems he notices the difference between getting in the crate for sleep and getting in the crate for the daytime while we go to work. Funny.

His current favorite thing is sleeping very lightly. If I awake in the night and roll over or shift myself or change pillows, or etc; he'll wake up and start barking. While it only lasts 2 minutes or so (because we'll ignore him to not encourage), it's still obnoxious. This past night it happened 4 or 5 times. As you could imagine, I'm tired today!

I am letting him out in the middle of the night for potty breaks, but not doing it when he's crying. The nights I don't wake up, he lasts until the morning without eliminating in the crate - so I may just end the late night outtings.

Anyway. Is this nighttime crying and barking related to just being a puppy or are there corrective measures needed here? He also barks and crys when we crate him in the mornings before going to work. He'll do it until we're getting into the car.. then he seems to stop. It's obviously for the attention. We're not giving it; yet the barking/crying continues.

I'll add to this.. I put him in his crate this afternoon while I did some cleaning around the house. Because he knew I was here and functioning, he cried and barked the whole time, which was quite a while.

What to do!?

dcmidnight · 10-18-2007, 08:14 AM

The rescue group we got Max from told us this is completely normal and would happen because he's been so used to being around a bunch of his buddies and mom that once he's own his own all of a sudden he would be really lonely. Dont fret though, this sounds like the same thing we went through with Max. We brought him home at about the same age and he cried sporadically throughout the night for the first few nights. OK, the first night, he cried practically the whole night. Well not practically the whole night - the whole night. We didnt sleep at all.

One thing that really helped us was playing fetch with him right before bedtime until he was almost falling over tired. Believe me, I know it will be tiring for you too, but it really helped him sleep through the night. Max loves his crate now and he is so good about getting in it. At night he seems to have learned the sound of the tv shutting off and he starts to walk over to get into his crate before we have to tell him.

Is he crated in the room with you at night? Max is crated in our living room which is one floor below us although if there's a problem we can hear everything. But the first couple weeks it really helped us get a few hours of sleep. I know a lot of folks will say crate him in your bedroom but Max really loves having the living room as his own room.

It will slowly get better! It took a few weeks but Max started sleeping through the night in no time at all. Its so funny to read stories like this now because at the time we about had a nervous breakdown due to having zero sleep and wondering if the dog would ever sleep through the night. Two weeks later when he was getting 8 straight hours we laughed at ourselves.

SSpiro · 10-18-2007, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcmidnight

The rescue group we got Max from told us this is completely normal and would happen because he's been so used to being around a bunch of his buddies and mom that once he's own his own all of a sudden he would be really lonely. Dont fret though, this sounds like the same thing we went through with Max. We brought him home at about the same age and he cried sporadically throughout the night for the first few nights. OK, the first night, he cried practically the whole night. Well not practically the whole night - the whole night. We didnt sleep at all.

One thing that really helped us was playing fetch with him right before bedtime until he was almost falling over tired. Believe me, I know it will be tiring for you too, but it really helped him sleep through the night. Max loves his crate now and he is so good about getting in it. At night he seems to have learned the sound of the tv shutting off and he starts to walk over to get into his crate before we have to tell him.

Is he crated in the room with you at night? Max is crated in our living room which is one floor below us although if there's a problem we can hear everything. But the first couple weeks it really helped us get a few hours of sleep. I know a lot of folks will say crate him in your bedroom but Max really loves having the living room as his own room.

It will slowly get better! It took a few weeks but Max started sleeping through the night in no time at all. Its so funny to read stories like this now because at the time we about had a nervous breakdown due to having zero sleep and wondering if the dog would ever sleep through the night. Two weeks later when he was getting 8 straight hours we laughed at ourselves.

Awesome.. thank you for the reply. I feel better just reading that!

bluesbarby · 10-19-2007, 04:32 PM

I agree with most of the above except for putting him in another room. Riley needed to be able to see me. Initially I kept him on my nightstand so I could put my hand thru the grate if he started crying. He makes a certain sound that I know now means he has to go. He's almost a year old and still occasionally gets up at 4am to pee but goes right back to bed. I have tried putting him in the other room but he'll bark and bark, keeping the whole house up. However, I don't crate him during the day. He has a safe area that he's gated in during the day.

fightingfame · 10-19-2007, 10:40 PM

Once again, you need to realize that you must have a reaction that is proper training to the dogs action. Putting him in another room may work, but if its done correctly. To be honest, giving the dog a treat and comforting or petting him lets it know that it did a good thing. Now, don't keep feeding the dog when he barks to shut him up, youll start a vicious pattern. If you honestly reach in while its barking let them know that your the pack leader or "dominant one" and make him lay down in a submissive state until he relaxes then reward him would most def. work. But, you must stick with it with repetition until it stops.

Cheers
Brandon

Curbside Prophet · 10-20-2007, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightingfame

If you honestly reach in while its barking let them know that your the pack leader or "dominant one" and make him lay down in a submissive state until he relaxes then reward him would most def. work. But, you must stick with it with repetition until it stops.

Yes, because that's what dominant dogs do? Are you familiar with Dr. frank Beach's work at U.C. Berkeley?

As for barking...
The common mistakes I've seen with excessive barkers... Don't know if your dog qualifies as an excessive barkers but... Unintentionally rewarding barking - with many dogs the only time they get attention from their owners is when they bark - when they are acting peacefully, they are ignored. Inappropriate punishment can also cause barking problems - punishment oriented programs do not work well as some come to experience with the face spraying, they usually exacerbate the problem. Cruel and unjust punishment can definitely make things worse - bark collars IMO are a hope and a dream by owners with problem barkers - I'm glad you're not considering one as a first choice. Exclusive use of punishment can make the problem worse - without giving the dog an acceptable outlet for barking, the dog will quickly associate the punishment with the owner and not the barking. Punishments without warning are also mistakes - the dog will only have a remote idea why he's being punished and will seldom take the appropriate steps to avoid the punishment. Shouting commands is a no-no - what's that adage? - two wrongs don't make a right - your requests should equal the energy level you prefer.

What can be done... Figure out why your dog is barking - rather than debarking your dog, it may be simpler to get rid of the bark-eliciting stimuli. You may also want to consider hiring a dog sitter to work on training. Dissipate your dog's energy - isolation, even if you're home, often leads to loneliness and boredom, but if they are sleeping they can't resort to barking. Reinforcing appropriate behavior is a must - no dog misbehaves 24 hours a day, and if you're not rewarding your dog when they do behave, you have no interest in solving the problem. Alarm barking should also be rewarded - instead of haphazardly punishing the dog for barking one moment, be sure to praise them after only a few small barks when the intruder alarm is turned on. Teach the dog to bark on command - by training the dog to bark you impart some control on the barking - which can later be used to impart some control in training the "shush" command. Give your dog opportunities to bark their heads off - where I live the crashing waves of my local beaches are perfect in muffling the sound or barking - Elsa's not much of a barker, but given a unique opportunity like this she will sing. Give the dog calm affection - especially when he's lying around being quiet. Reward the dog for obeying a request to be quiet - often, in spite, this is forgotten by the owner and the dog is ignored until it barks again. Teach "shush" - no punishment should be given unless you've offered a warning - "shush" can serve as both the warning and the reprimand with most dogs. The secret to "shush", as with all training methods, is that you need to have excellent timing - if you hesitate in requesting for quiet, and don't praise the dog for being quiet, good luck. The other secret is...absolute attention - without repeating exercises that train the dog how to behave (maybe that's barking 3 times, being quiet, then calmly laying down on a mat), and controlling stimuli in the process, you'll never make it from A to B. And most owners give up at A.

MegaMuttMom · 10-20-2007, 09:25 AM

Our dogs crate has never been in our room and he sleeps great. I know his crate was not near his foster parents either. When we were in another house for the weekend I put his crate in our room and every time I moved in the bed, he bolted upright. I don't think he slept at all. Not all dogs need to be close by.

Gates1026 · 10-20-2007, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MegaMuttMom

Our dogs crate has never been in our room and he sleeps great. I know his crate was not near his foster parents either. When we were in another house for the weekend I put his crate in our room and every time I moved in the bed, he bolted upright. I don't think he slept at all. Not all dogs need to be close by.

I also have this same situation. We had our 9 month old pup in the bedroom when we first brought her home. She cried all night for the first 3 nights, we got no sleep. The 4th night we both had to go to work, so we put her crate in the kitchen. She settled right in and has been there ever since.

We also traveled with her recently. We put her in the bedroom with us and it was a terrible night. Every time there was just a little noise she would start crying and furiously paw at the crate door. I think she is just more settled away from us. We use baby monitors to hear if she needs to get up and go out in the night.

GreatDaneMom · 10-20-2007, 04:46 PM

IMO, i think the biggest problem is that hes not tired enough at night to sleep through the night without waking up at every noise. hes only little, so hes got A LOT of energy to burn off. and being in a crate while youre away, well... hes probably guess what....sleeping. and thats going to help build up, you guessed it, more energy. i would not only suggest playing to tire him out, but work on basic training, sit-lay down-stay... this will help to tire him out mentally, and is rewarding to you too, that he knows these things. basic commands are the most usefull things.

SSpiro · 10-21-2007, 07:04 PM

Just an update.. sleeping through the night is no longer an issue.

It seems to be anxiety regarding the crate in general. It's always when we put him in it, and whenever we might walk by and he sees us.. We never respond to his crying or barking, but it just never ends.

GreatDaneMom · 10-22-2007, 08:25 AM

i wouldnt really call that anxiety...if that was the case 99% of all dogs have anxiety.... hes little, he just wants to be with you.

SSpiro · 10-22-2007, 01:56 PM

Not a bad thought.. I'm still trying to adjust the puppy life again!

dcmidnight · 10-22-2007, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSpiro

Not a bad thought.. I'm still trying to adjust the puppy life again!

Glad to hear it is getting better. It was crazy for us the first week but after @ 3 weeks when he was "normalized" to living with us we laughed at how crazy it was and how quickly it improved.

endisforever · 10-22-2007, 07:59 PM

I have a problem with our springer

hes a year old and sleeps in the kitchen he used to sleep all night no problems buy recenlty he has started to bark and scrat at the gate it can go on for hours so no one is getting any sleep in the house

i really need a way to stop him from doing it.

he never barks in the day when we are in and if he knows we are out the house he will just lie on his bed but its when he knows where all upstairs he barks

i think he mainly pines for my mum.

whats the best way to cure night time barking