Barking at night

[nellie123]

Nellie has always been really good in her crate. Even as a puppy, she would normally be very quiet until her normal wake up time at around 6 (which is fine for us)

Recently, she's made a habit of BARKING and BARKING and BARKING in her crate. I put her to bed around 9:30 when I go to be. She'll bark for a few minutes, then settle down. When my mom goes to bed at around 11, she'll start back up and continue for at least 20 minutes. It's the mornings that are frustrating. Instead of waking us up at 6 or even 5:30, she'll start incessantly barking at 3, 3:30.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to stop this? We let her out before she goes to bed so that should not be the problem.

 

[corbinam]

Hmmm...that does seem odd. Have anyone's habits changed? Does anyone pay her any attention when she barks?

I wonder if you covered her crate if that would make a difference. Or maybe if your mom let her out one more time before she went to bed. I know my dogs go through phases where they want to go out and pee more.

 

[Paeoniaa]

How old is Nellie? I ask because Marlowe went through a challenging phase when he became a teenager. He didn't bark when we put him in the crate at bedtime but he was waking us up earlier and earlier (by whining and crying). At first, I took him out but I eventually started ignoring him. It took weeks before he stopped.

 

[sarasomething]

mine goes through the same thing.

it's hard, but try to ignore her. eventually she will learn that barking gets her nowhere and stop.

sometimes if my sheltie is going through a barky phase, i will sleep with earplugs in. he has been especially challenging; he will go through phases where he sleeps quietly at night, and then he will go through barky phases, and around and around again.

if you want to / need to pay attention to her, wait until she is quiet for a few seconds, so she doesn't equate barking with attention.

 

[Justme]

Could it be some kind of seperation anxiety thing?

My boy's sleeping crate was at the head of my bed, with the crate door facing the bed, within "reaching distance" of the bed. That way, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he would know that I was there.

(He never had a barking problem to begin with, so I can't claim that that was a solution.)

 

[Megansmom]

We cover the sides of Toby's crate, (which is on the floor in our room) with a dark towel but keep the front open so he can see us. If I know for sure he doesn't have to potty and he didn't get sick on his blankets, I say a few "shhh", ignore him and he settles.

Perhaps a kong, or a safe chewy with him in his crate might help too!

 

[nellie123]

Hmmm...that does seem odd. Have anyone's habits changed? Does anyone pay her any attention when she barks?
Or maybe if your mom let her out one more time before she went to bed. I

The first few nights, my mom got up and let her out,(at 3, she lets her out every right before she goes to bed) but she didn't seem to desperately need to go, because when she was running around the yard for a few moments before settling down.

How old is Nellie? .

She will be 2 on 1/23.

mine goes through the same thing.

it's hard, but try to ignore her. eventually she will learn that barking gets her nowhere and stop.

sometimes if my sheltie is going through a barky phase, i will sleep with earplugs in. he has been especially challenging; he will go through phases where he sleeps quietly at night, and then he will go through barky phases, and around and around again.

if you want to / need to pay attention to her, wait until she is quiet for a few seconds, so she doesn't equate barking with attention.

We've ingnored her the best we could for the past few weeks...to no avail. Earplugs may work, after a week maybe she will settle back down.

Could it be some kind of seperation anxiety thing?

(He never had a barking problem to begin with, so I can't claim that that was a solution.)

It could be, but she has always slept downstairs since her fist day home and has never slept anywhere else at home. My parents and I talked about letting her sleep in her crate upstairs, but our cat is not too fond of Nellie in the first place, I don't think he would enjoy her in his space.

We cover the sides of Toby's crate, (which is on the floor in our room) with a dark towel but keep the front open so he can see us. If I know for sure he doesn't have to potty and he didn't get sick on his blankets, I say a few "shhh", ignore him and he settles.

Perhaps a kong, or a safe chewy with him in his crate might help too!

That works with her in our RV. On agility trial days, she gets up early, as I do, probably sensing my excitement! if it is earlier then 5, I say 'shh...too early, time to go to bed.' and she quiets. Not quite sure how her crating would work as she is downstairs in the kitchen. Will have to try the covering the crate.

Thanks everyone!