Help - dog constantly barking at night

[boxesoffrogs]

Hi, I really need some advice/help/a good night's sleep!

One year old shih tzu has got into a terrible habit of waking up at about 3am each morning and whining and barking. She won't settle unless you get up and go to her (have tried leaving her, have tried putting the tv on for her, have tried resettling her/putting her in her crate with a chew etc) which shuts her up for about fifteen minutes and then she starts again.

She has about four - five hours a day of doggy day care/dog walking whilst I am at work, lots of playtime in the evening and then another walk before bed, and used to sleep through until about 5.30 when we let her out for the toilet. Until about two months ago, we used to let her come and sleep on the bed when she started barking, but we have tried to wean her off that habit and it was going well... oh how smug we were!

Problem is, we live in a open plan flat with rather high ceilings (yes we do have a garden that she has access to), and once she starts, the noise just echoes all around, so not only are we not getting sleep, I am terrified that the neighbours will be woken up - have gone round and asked if she is disturbing them but they say no (probably just being polite).

Has anyone got any bright ideas? She doesn't do this if we have to go away and leave her with her dog sitter (who she adores), but he has his dog who I think is a calming influence on her.

Sorry for the long post, I am just so so so tired and at the end of my tether (dp has been working away for the past week or so, and I am pregnant as well, so probably hormonal). I have been up since 4am and I feel like crying.

Help?

[villainousbroodmare]

Good stuff.

Re "anything I can do to soothe her":

She's an adult dog, remember, not a baby. Self-settling is what she needs to be doing, not being soothed by you.

[boxesoffrogs]

Thank you for those helpful replies. Have been sticking to a strict routine of turning lights down low so she knows it's bedtime, after having been for a walk and a pee with a bit of chill out time on the sofa to calm her, she has taking to running to her crate when lights go down, lying down and waiting for her chew stick, then fingers crossed, she has been settled til about 6am.

Last night I was woken by an almighty row going on in the next road, police sirens, shouting and the police helicopter going round and round overhead really wanted to find out what was happening, so nosey. I got up to go to the loo, and she was sitting by the partition we put up across the landing at night (only a low one so she can see across). I didn't look at her and just said 'bed' quietly, and off she trotted. So hopefully, it was just a stage and she will be ok now. (Although now that I've said that, she will keep me up tonight, won't she?!).

I will look at those links this evening and see if there is anything else I can do to soothe her.

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Leaving her to "bark it out" might result in a dog that doesn't make a sound at night. Equally it could also end up causing your dog to associate being alone with being in distress and once separation anxiety has set in it can be extremely difficult to deal with.

Yes, lots of people will post saying they left their dog/puppy barking all night, it had no negative repercussions and the dog sleeps soundly without a peep all night every night. For plenty of dogs though it can and does go wrong, for the sake of putting in a bit of extra effort (other than putting up with listening to a dog screaming themselves hoarse) it really isn't worth taking the risk.

I'd also question whether it's worth the upset to your neighbours to just let your dog bark all night. Don't underestimate how determined a distressed dog can be. As a puppy DDog2 screamed all night for three weeks until we went against the "bark it out" advice and brought her in with us. Thankfully we've done things better with our subsequent pups and they've all learned to sleep through the night with no fuss at all.

I haven't dealt with a persistent adult barker so I would highly recommend asking for advice on this FB group. It's run by professionals using modern, science based methods and they will be able to advise the best way to go about sorting this without minimal stress for you, your dog and your neighbours. They have a bit of a backlog at the moment (it's only a couple of days) but they will answer and they give excellent advice.

In the meantime I'd let her in with you (will she settle in your room in a crate?) and maybe also reduce the amount she has going on during the day. If she's coming home amped up from daycare then has more stimulation at home in the evening she could be struggling to switch off. If she isn't settling nicely in an evening then it is something you can teach. is a really good video on how to go about it.

[villainousbroodmare]

Have not RTFT but this will continue for the next fifteen years if you don't make a firm plan to stop it now.
Dogs persist in behaviours that bring rewards. (So do we.) That dog does not need to worry about getting up in the morning and has learned that if she barks at night, she will be rewarded with attention, chews, access to your bed etc. She has also learned that if she really keeps going, for up to 45 min maybe, you will eventually reward her. If you wanted to train her to be a night barker, that is exactly how you would do it, by rewarding for persistence.
Luckily, you can fix this, and fast.
I would apologise hugely in advance to your neighbours for the (probably) five nights of barking they will have to listen to. You might be lucky. It might be only three.
Take your dog out for a walk just before bed. Make sure she pees and reward her for doing so. Put her matter-of-factly in her crate with some water, and some food if it makes you feel better, though it's not necessary, and go to bed. Take her out very calmly and quietly in the morning for a walk and a pee. Ignore absolutely everything that happens in between. Let her bark herself hoarse/ CIO, whatever you want to call it. Do not pay her the slightest bit of attention and do not under any circumstances give in.
Otherwise, I promise you, you and your baby-to-come and your neighbours will be listening to this for the rest of her lifetime.

[Sugarpiehoneyeye]

Hi OP, sorry you are sleep deprived.
Your pooch is a noisy cutie ! 😄
I think you should stop with the night time treats.
There are certain dog foods/treats, that are like rocket fuel to dogs, making them hyper active.
Which food do you feed her ?
Also, have you been very firm with her, in your approach, I don't mean cruel, because you need her to know that you are not best pleased.
What you could do, is to buy a Kong, from the pet shop, pour in some cooled gravy, and freeze, a doggy iced lolly. Only give this to her, if you can't bear any more yapping, it should keep her quiet for a while.
You could also try a small stag bar (antler), they don't smell, like bones. Don't buy the long pointy ones though.
Another thing to try, is a DAP spray, get this from the Vet's. Dog Appeasing Pheromones, mimicking the scents associated with puppyhood, and the security of being with Mum and siblings. Spray this on her bedding, not on her.
Hope this helps, and peace is soon restored.
She sounds like she has achieved the upper hand, take back control OP.

[Dacri]

Our dog was initially kept in our kitchen lounge area with the door shut, but after a few nights started barking and scratching on the door to be let out at night (never had a problem when she was in there and we were out during the day) when she knew we were upstairs in bed. This went on and on even with ignoring. So we just opened the door, and everytime she came up to our room we just said gently 'no, go to bed'. Her visits were frequent in the first few nights, but now she feels secure, knows she can come or bark if she has a real problem, and doesn't bother us anymore. Maybe a gentler approach might work.

[dotdotdotmustdash]

Have you considered that something might be disturbing her during the night? Possibly mice in the wall cavities or even inside the house? She's obviously trying to tell you something, it's best not ignore it - I'm sure she would be happier sleeping all night too.

[picklemepopcorn]

My boy is four, and might be a Frenchie cross JRT. He's a darling, but definitely thinks he's people and gets frustrated by his other people not knowing what he wants. He has dad wrapped around his little paws, and tries it on less with me.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Oh, giving her the chew when she's going to bed nicely as a matter of routine sounds fine, that's rewarding good behaviour.

If she normally starts whining at a somewhat civilised hour, it might be worth considering whether one of you could try to pre-empt this by going to her before she starts, praising her to the skies and starting your normal morning stuff. This may or may not be feasible (and might require planning an afternoon nap) but the idea is that you need to be in control of when 'bedtime' finishes, not her iyswim.

[boxesoffrogs]

To clarify, she knows when it is bed time and goes straight to her bed/crate and lies down in silence waiting for her chew stick, and it normally works so she doesn't start whining until about 6am. It's just this few weeks or so that she has eaten it and started barking really badly about half an hour later. Hoping it's a phase...

Just looked at the citronella collar, as a preemptive idea, but it looks massive! She is only tiny and I am worried it would be far too big... any ideas?

Thanks for all the great suggestions though, am going to keep persisting with her...

[ErrolTheDragon]

Have tried the 'no!' and ignoring her, but she responds much better to having a chewy treat thrown her way

Well, yes, she would - she's training you! Dogs (and its true, kids ) are masters of 'give me an inch and I'll take a mile'.

The thing is, if she had accepted her nighttime chew and then been quiet, fine - but she didn't, hence this thread and your - to someone who's experienced it - understandable distress. If she stays used to getting rewarded for fussing in the night I fear it will become a competition between her and the baby - either that or you will then stop rewarding her and she'll be jealous.

It may seem hard, how can you resist the appeals of this little tyrant charmer, but please believe someone who learned the hard way, you will all be happier in the long run if you take a firm approach now.

Glad you got some respite last night.

[BiteyShark]

Just be careful on giving the chews when crying as again it's a reward for bad behaviour.

[boxesoffrogs]

Ps, here is a picture of the little thug, just to give you an idea of the sort of monster she is...

[boxesoffrogs]

pickle, what an annoyingly clever dog! What breed is he/how old?

Dp is back, and guess what? Not a bloody peep from the little bitch, referring to her sex of course! fluff ball allllll night. He finds this hilariously funny, after my hysterical middle of the night texts telling him I can't cope and that I am going to set her free to bark at other poor sods (was only half joking as well, amazing what sleep deprivation does...)

Have tried the 'no!' and ignoring her, but she responds much better to having a chewy treat thrown her way. She is my first dog, and I thought I was doing so well with her, until this! But fingers crossed, and if she is bad again during the week will try the citronella collar, don't really want to, but if it works initially and then later just as a sort of warning, like it did for yours pickle then it's worth a go.

Oh and if one more person tells me it's good practice for the baby.....!!!!!! I can see it turning into some sort of competition, who can keep me up the most at night...

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Don't flame me, I've never been in this situation but have you tried negative reinforcement? Rather than positive? So if she wakes you up in the middle of the night, you tell her off. A sharp 'no!' and then ignore her and go back to bed. Might take a few attempts, if you can bear it, and perhaps as a last resort. She persists in barking because it brings a reward. Dogs learn by experience and association and she needs to learn that barking in the night does not get her what she wants. Bloody hard though, sympathies.

[picklemepopcorn]

Yes, my dog wuffs and huffs while wearing it, but doesn't wake me up at night anymore! If he wears it in the day, he stands in front of us huffing, just so we know. He's a chopsy so and so, my dog. Very opinionated.

[ErrolTheDragon]

DH decided to try one of those collars on the previous dog. It wasn't triggered by whining, and the dog rapidly learned what level of woof he could get away with. Too darned clever.

[picklemepopcorn]

The collar has a matchbox size gadget under the chin with a sound sensor on it. When the dog barks it releases a squirt of citronella. The dog hates it. To be honest, I hate it too.
Use errol's method first, but if it doesn't work...

[ErrolTheDragon]

Our dog went through a phase of waking and barking at night recently, for some reason. He sleeps under DD's room, she's yr13 and working so hard for A levels and has to get an early bus, so we took the line which seemed likeliest to work quickly (having in the past caved in when his predecessor tried it on).
So, we decided on minimum interaction, no 'reward' for barking in terms of attention. The dog is fond of us all but I'm his goddess, so it was DH not me who would go down - no talking, just put him out into the garden - us interpreting nighttime noise as 'I need a wee', not 'I want attention' iyswim (even though I'm sure it really was the latter). Doing this consistently (even if the barking wasn't long before we got up in the morning) resolved the issue within the week.

It may take you longer because you've (entirely understandably!) taken a softer line but you need to get this sorted out before you have your baby, so I think you really do need to be much firmer and consistent. Hopefully if your DH is home now he can do the going down, the dog does indeed know who is the softer touch!

Best wishes - I really do sympathise!

[boxesoffrogs]

She was ok once I had settled her with a chew stick. Started whining and almost doing her version of the dawn chorus at about 5.30, so gave her a dentastick and she shut up. She is very quiet now...

Thank goodness dp is back tonight, so will see how she is over the weekend, but you are right bitey, if there is no improvement I think it is time to get a professional in.

popcorn how does the collar work?

Apologies for my slightly hysterical late night post, I really thought she was going to be going on through the night!

[picklemepopcorn]

Try the collar?

[BiteyShark]

How was it over night after you had taken her out? One thing you could do is get a trainer/behaviourist in to help you with this because if you arr sleep deprived it's going to feel 10x harder.

[boxesoffrogs]

She has just barked for 45 mins straight. I just had to get out of bed, get dressed and take her round the block. She has been out all day, and I've taken her out once already this evening.

This is actually driving me mad. I cannot cope with another sleepless night, I've been up since 4am and need to be up again at 6...

[BiteyShark]

You could warn your neighbours that you are working on it over the next few days so you don't cave because you are worried it will wake them plus set a timer and try not to give in. I know how hard it is not to go to them when they cry its like your heart is being ripped out. It's either that or you are sharing your bed

[nigelforgotthepassword]

No advice but watching in hope as mine also does this and I've tired Ignoring, sleeping down there with him, having the crate in my room-nothing works-except having the little beast in bed with me it seems.