Barking in the crate.

beagledad · 08-03-2006, 10:51 AM

Hello, everyone.

I have a wonderful beagle pup who is now about 16 weeks old. He is very easy to train and is doing really well in almost every area. Except one. And I am at the end of my rope trying to figure out how to correct it. When my fiancee and I go to bed at night, we put him in his crate and he begins barking. He either barks at bedtime or a few hours before we wake up, say about 4:00 am. In general, he likes his crate and often goes in there to sleep on his own. We placed the crate in our bedroom so he can see the bed and know where we are. I've wondered if it is the nightlight or the cat that is causing him to wake up and want our attention, but I can't figure it out. We'll get up and let him go potty, and then go back into the crate and that doesn't help. We've tried squirting water, we've tried shaker cans, we've tried ignoring it, but nothing is working and I can't find anywhere ont he net any articles that address this specific problem.We walk him in the morning, afternoon and sometimes twice at night, I just don't know what else we can do! If anyone could be of any help, we would greatly appreciate it. We love the little guy, but we are only getting a few hours of sleep a night now because of him and it is really affecting our lives!!

Thanks very much.

OwnedBySix · 08-03-2006, 11:06 AM

I'm sure others will have ideas on this as well but I would move the crate to somewhere that it may not be so bothersome.

Be sure he has lots of toys...try a peanut butter stuffed kong...freeze for longevity.

Is he left alone in the crate at all during the day?

beagledad · 08-03-2006, 11:19 AM

Thanks for your quick reply!

Yes, he is in the crate during the day. His day is typically: 5:45-6:30 walking, 6:30-8 playing with us/the cat while we get ready for work, 8 until 12:15 in the crate, 12:15 we come home and walk/play until 12:45, and then we come home at 5:30. We take him for a walk as soon as we get home and then he plays with us in the house and we usually walk him at about 9 pm as well. I'd say we log at least 1.5 - to 2.5 miles of walking a day!

I realize that's a lot fo info, but I am just trying to help people help me figure this out!! Is that enough attention? Should we just move the crate and put in earplugs and see what happens? Again, we really appreciate your input because we are just exasperated from a lack of sleep. We love the little guy so much, but this is really tiresome.

Thanks!!!

OwnedBySix · 08-03-2006, 12:10 PM

Another question...do you have any idea if he is barking during the day when you are gone? Have neighbors complained? Can you set up a tape recorder?

drfong · 08-03-2006, 12:29 PM

How long has this been going on?

beagledad · 08-03-2006, 12:31 PM

I'm not sure if he is barking during the day, but I can record and see what I get.

This has been going on for about two weeks now, maybe a little longer. Before this, he would whine to go potty and then be silent. Now he'll whine and then it will lead to full volume barking.

Thanks again for any and all help!

bigdawgs · 08-03-2006, 09:06 PM

I think he is upping the ante. You have rewarded him whining by letting him out to potty. When you stopped that the barking started. You reward him by getting up, letting him out. I am sure no one will agree with me, but I would do the same thing I did to my kids when they wanted out of bed all the time, let him bark. Move him out of your room. I think it would stop soon enough.

drfong · 08-03-2006, 10:37 PM

Bigdawgs, I think your right. It is called and extinction burst. It is when you reward a behavior and then quit. The behavior then will be repeated and to a greater intensity. If it is every rewarded it gets even worse and more difficult to get rid of. If you quit rewarding the barking it will eventually quit. You should never do anything that rewards barking again. Never let him out of the crate after he barks. If you are inconsistant it will only be worse and impossible to stop.

OwnedBySix · 08-03-2006, 11:20 PM

Yep...now that I realize he just recently started this I agree fully. Move pup to somewhere he won't be so loud, give him something to keep him occupied, and maybe invest in earplugs. Eventually he will get tired of barking and howling when it gets him nowhere.

Cheetah · 08-03-2006, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OwnedBySix

I'm sure others will have ideas on this as well but I would move the crate to somewhere that it may not be so bothersome.

I had to do this with Shippo, because he'd bump around and throw his toys, and whine, and it would wake us up (and although I could easily fall back asleep, my boyfriend is a VERY light sleeper), so we had to start putting his crate in the living room and covering it with a blanket. See, Shippo KNEW when he was waking us up, because he could hear our breathing change, etc. and so he would increase the noise. In the living room, he got no reaction from us at all. So he eventually gave up lmfao... now he's very quiet in his crate (unless he's in there with a bone lmao).

Killerdrgn · 08-03-2006, 11:41 PM

I tried ignoring the barking thing with Ronin and that only led him to **** and piss in his crate and then roll around in it. And now even after i've washed out the crate and sprayed it with odor neutralizers he remembers that's where he went to potty.

beagledad · 08-04-2006, 08:40 AM

Wow, thanks for all the replies!! I really appreciate everyone sharing their stories with us. It feels good to know others have gone through this.

We put his crate in a different room last night, and left a radio on for him and gave him a kong and a pig ear and kept the earplugs next to the bed. We were so prepared! This morning we woke up to the alarm and he didn't bark once! We were so happy to get a full nights sleep!!

I hope he keeps it up again tonight, but if he does bark, we are going to put in the earplugs and ignore him. We're prepared ot ride out his barking for a couple weeks. If he doesn't stop by then, who knows. Last night was a good start, though. Thanks again, everyone.