New problem barking at night

Ulanzi

Hi there,

I really hope someone can offer us some practical advice here.

Until this week we have never had a problem with night barking or barking in general. Our dog usually only barks for a reason and he never barked at night apart from a very brief burst if he heard a car or a cat or something but suddenly over the past week we've developed a serious problem.

Basically, he has begun barking persistently at night-time. It was 2am last night, 5am the night before, 6.30am the morning before. It's not the usual short burst, and he seems to have suddenly realised that if he barks loudly and persistently at night, we'll turn up. We have to. We're in a semi-detached house. We can't ignore him at night. It's simply not fair on our neighbours. We've always been careful about not reinforcing barking behaviour but at night it's a different story. I just can't figure out how he twigged it.

Up until this week, he has slept outside - this was always his preference and if he wanted to sleep inside he could - but when the barking started we brought him in for the sake of the neighbours. He's sleeping inside but he has kept the habit inside and the problem hasn't diminished.

He gets tonnes of exercise every day without fail. We work from home so he's not on his own for extended periods.

The problem is that he's not generally a problem barker. He's fine during the day and he's fine when we put him to bed. All of the training methods seem to involve catching him while he's at it and deterring the behaviour. This honestly isn't practical at 2am in the morning. We need our sleep. It's also really bloody discouraging because we adopted him in January and he had all sorts of issues that with loads of work we made massive progress with and now he suddenly starts with this business. A whole new problem that I have no idea how to tackle.

Any ideas? Seriously, I'm at my wit's end. Thanks

bernard0368

Out to the garden with you and see what has changed.

We had the same problem, it started with the house behind us which is higher than us. Part of the fence collapsed and this started him off. When they gave out I told them it only started after the fence collapsed. As soon as they fixed it he stopped.

Ulanzi

Thanks, only nothing has changed. Honestly. Not a single thing. The barking is happening inside and out now. The common factor is that it's during the night.

Can I ask, and I hate the idea of these solution gadgets, but the collars that squirt citronella when a dog barks... Has anyone any experience of them? It's a last resort, but I think one could work as a night time thing. He's only just started at this barking (although it has been consistent over the past few nights) and I think maybe a deterrent like that might snap him out of it before the habit becomes ingrained.

I dunno though. I'd prefer not to have to use one but I will if donig so early can prevent this behaviour from becoming a serious problem.

pikku

Sounds to me like there may be a lady within his sniffing range (could be miles away) that is as my mother so delicately puts it is 'interesting' at the moment (i.e. in heat) and he's going nuts cos he needs to be part of the action.

Maybe try some 'Dog Appeasing Pheromone' that you can buy in petshops?

if the cause is a female in heat, the only consolation is that it will pass, and so too will his barking...

star-pants

Have you listened to see if you can hear anything?
Not being smart, just I know more birds are making noises around us lately and my dogs will go 'muff muff' (not full blown woofs) and I'll be like wtf, but then I might hear the bird at weird hours myself.

Ulanzi

He's neutered and I suppose my problem is in the sustained nature of this barking. He will and always has barked briefly if there's a car going by or a cat or a bird but it's like five woofs tops and he stops. That's not a problem for anyone. The difference here is that now it doesn't stop and it's what I call his attention bark. It has a higher more frantic pitch to it and wow is it loud.

Honestly, I normally can see a cause and effect in my dog's behaviour but with this there just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it other than that he's figured out that sustained barking will bring us downstairs at two in the morning. We cannot leave him to bark. If it was a daytime problem maybe but at night it's not fair on people nearby.

I'm at the end of my thinking on this and apart from trying a squirty collar I'm sort of out of ideas.

Ulanzi

Plus, I forgot to add, we're having the same problem whether he's in or outside at night.

jimmyn

I can imagine how stressful this must be for you. Especially when you want to keep peace with the neighbours.

Have you spoken to the neighbours? Is it a timber frame house by any chance? The sound insulation might be good enough so the neighbours don't hear the barking. Worth asking them before you rule out the option to ignore the dog. At least you'll get a chance to explain the situation and that you're working on it.

One of the anti-bark solutions might just nip it in the bud alright before it becomes a habit. I don't have experience with them though so I can't recommend a particular one. AFAIK, there are 3 options - electric collar, citronella spray collar or ultrasonic device (with no collar). I have some experience with an electric remote training collar and I'd suggest not leaving an electric bark collar on for more than 8-10 hours at a time. The contacts can cause hotspots through prolonged pressure contact. I'm assuming the device is built in a similar way to the remote collar.

Hope you find a solution soon. Let us know how you get on.

Ulanzi

Thanks. No complaints from the neighbours, just if he's waking us up he's probably waking the neighbours up. I can tell the difference between the bursts and the sustained barking so we stop it quickly but I'm very sleep deprived right now.

My idea is to use the spray collar, only at night. As I said, he's not generally a problem barker so I don't want him to get a squirt if he's having a bit of a bark at the magpies. As far as I can tell, the problem with the squirt collars is that, with sustained use, dogs can get used to them so I thought a squirt at the appropriate time would be enough to shut him up before the habit becomes a real problem.

I just don't want to use one if it's cruel or anything like that.

jimmyn

I don't think any of the options are cruel to be honest. As long as you understand (and you do) that dogs need to bark, so it's unfair to stop them all the time. Just excessive barking at inappropriate times.

Found this on Innotek's site: http://www.innotekcollars.ie/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=47&osCsid=2b12e72200df7e99ce96229193eb9981

Might be of some help in deciding. I use a Dogtra remote collar myself, but I've heard decent things about Innotek. Probably fine for a bark collar anyway. I've heard PetSafe collars can run a little "hot", so it might be best to avoid them.

You could always try the spray collar if you like, and go to the electric if it doesn't work.

sweetswing

my dog has started aswell when she starts she wont stop. have realised its the sound of fireworks starting her off , time of year i suppose. they dont have to be close to the house , they can be barely audible to me but as im sure you know dogs ears are so much more sensitive than ours

lrushe

Ulanzi wrote: »

Plus, I forgot to add, we're having the same problem whether he's in or outside at night.

Firstly I commend you for trying to sort this problem out, I have neighbours who's dogs bark all night and they just don't give a damn

When you say he is inside, where exactly in the house is he sleeping. When we got our new dog a month ago she cried the house down for the first few night, granted she is only a puppy, but I found bringing her in our bedroom in her crate at night solved this problem and she slept soundly.
Have you tried not feeding him in the daytime but instead filling kongs with his dinner and freezing them, by the time night falls he will be really hungry, give him the kongs before you go to bed and hopefully he will spend the night working for his dinner and stimulating his mind;)

spiderdog

my neighbours dog is left to roam outside all night barking so fair play to you for wanting to stop this!!!
the cittronella collars work really well, you can get remote control ones or ones that spray when the dog barks.
as mentioned, if you could bring the dog to your room at night in a crate etc it could work very well!!!
you said you work from home so maybe the dog isnt that used to his own company and wants to be with you all the time?
best of luck with it!!

brianon

Reading a thread like this.. I find it hard to stay calm.

Fair play to the OP for at least wanting to stop this behaviour. First off, if you think this barking could be waking your neighbours ... discuss it with them asap.

I <expleitive> hate neighbours who let their dogs bark. HATE IT. If you have a dog then fine. But I have a stereo and I don't stick it out the window and turn it up so keep the dog quiet or keep it elsewhere.

I have a dog and it stays indoors at night. 90% of the time its supervised in the back yard and if I hear it bark I am straight out to calm the dog or bring it in.

Not sure if I have much advise here but... #1: Talk to anyone who is effected by this. Some people wouldn't here a bomb go off in their house. Some could hear a pin drop but might not b up to making an issue of it. Doesn't mean its not an issue for them though.

Graces7

We now have this problem with the rescue collie.

Since the crowbanger episode; she has learned how to bark. and HOW!

Outside, inside....

We realise that because of her appalling history, she simply never had a normal puppyhood, nor any training..

So now, at over 8 years, we are having to make up that lost stage of her development.

Any noise or atmospheric stuff; eg thunder anywhere, will start her off.

Or simply the "I WANT" things.

Slowly she is starting to learn.

Our main weapon is the spray bottle which she hates. Agree with other posters who say that this is not cruel; there has to be control ....

And then a firm NO will now avail - sometimes.

If it is a reasonable request, and she has started an introductory hesitant "wooff" before the barking starts, so she is learning..makes us smile does that.

We have avoided too much attention as then she learns that barking gets her that.

If the cause is a disturbance, that is different.

She barks when a car passes; that too is fine, but not if she is still barking ten minutes later.

But because the crowbanger sparked off the barking, she has to learn all over now.

She no longer barks during the night now thankfully, unless thunder etc.

wombie

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Jinxi

I am not an experienced dog owner in the way I am the first person in my family to have an "inside" dog:rolleyes:.
We have new puppy and she was howling for the first two nights we had her. Like you OP we live in a semi-d and have paper thin walls.
FOr the first two nights I slept beside the crate on the couch. When she whined/barked I sh-ed her and talked to her and if it didn't stop I lifted the blanket we had over it and rubbed her throught the bars(never took her out). She woke at 2, 4 and 6.
Third forth fifth and sixth night we slept in the adjoning room and sh-ed her through the open door.(woke at 3 and 6 pm)
Seventh and eight night she got a series of stern correction but got up and let her out of cage after 7 pm
Now she only whines at 8 and I get up with her as it isn't fair to leave her longer. But after a feed and a drink and toileting she is usually is asleep again by 8.45 if you need asleep in.


So I would introduce any changes slowly with some empathy and be prepared to put up with a few harsh nights(I took my holidays around the puppies training). Also, don't be afraid to dicipline as a pack leader would do.