Help! How do I settle our dog at night? Lots of barking....

[loveyouradvice]

Until recently, our five year old dachshund would go to sleep really easily - he still loves his crate, and the only time he would be unsettled would be if we went away on holiday when he'd bark a bit the first night and then back to no barking, easy sleeping the second.

BUT !!!! No longer.....

Now he often barks loudly and won't stop ... it can take three or four visits to get him to calm down and just go to sleep.

So this is our current routine - and I'm sure lots of you will have good ideas.

When we go up to bed - or sometimes when a teen is still up and watching TV in the sitting room - we pop him into his crate, say good night and given him a a few pieces of kibble and cover his crate with a large towel. He happily sleeps late - even til 11 at the weekends!!

Sometimes this is enough - but around half the time, and certainly if something exciting has happened, like daughter coming home from college yesterday - he barks... and barks.... and barks. I give it a while, since sometimes he settles....

Then I:

• Go to the kitchen (where he sleeps) as if I've just popped in to do something - tidy up a bit and then go and let him out of his crate to potter round the kitchen
• back into crate, small amount of kibble, towel over, lights out

And repeat - five or six times last night! Aaaaaargh.....Help!!

Rule in our house is nobody goes downstairs after the ddogs have gone to bed! Your ddog is protesting that he is missing out on the excitement of his people still being up! Can the last one up put him to bed?

Santa I think you're right... he definitely thinks there are exciting things going on even when its only husband and me safely tucked up in our bed!

I've no idea about dogs but some about behaviour
Are you not rewarding and reinforcing the barking by going in, letting him out and giving more kibble?

If he sleeps quietly he gets nothing
If he barks he gets more attention and food
So what's he going to do?

Don't you need to reward the behaviour you want to see?

I am going to get my head bitten off for this (by you humans, not a dog 😂), but ours sleeps on our bed - and is a large dog - we never have any problems with him barking, only trying to find enough room for us! Seriously though, dogs are pack animals, and like nearly all pack animals, he wants to be with, and sleep with his pack. If you won't have him on the bed with you, how about in his crate in the bedroom? However, the first thing that I think you should do is have him checked over by a vet, even something relatively simple like a recurring toothache could make him crave company more, most us want some TLC if we are feeling off colour.

Thanks guys! Yes vet check I think is a good idea as we have wondered if he is in a bit of pain... has been a bit growly if caught unawares which is not his normal form at all.

And yes re pack animals - he found it tough to settle yesterday when we weren't all in the same room and daughter had only recently got back after weeks away - clearly longing to herd us together under his watchful eye

DH would be deeply horrified at idea of him sharing our bed!

Doug totally agree re reinforcing behaviour so was hoping for a better alternative to this - but also understand dogs have very short memories (an issue when training need instant rewards) - So going into kitchen unrelated to him and then only giving him attention after a few minutes had been recommended..... And not sure what else to do! As just leaving him barking does not work.....

So hoping there is either something different we can do about settling him so he feels soothed and not abandoned OR yes something we can do when he does bark

MIL has a middle aged dachshund and he lately had to have a lot of teeth extracted which she says is a common issue with them. He was a lot nicer and less whiny afterwards so perhaps poor thing was in pain.
Definitely worth vet if yours is behaving out of character

I leave my dogs to sleep downstairs on a night. I dont crate. I let them on sofas with a throw. I make sure they are watered and have been out in the garden. They settle down about midnight as I dont go to bed earlier than that. I have to wake them up on a morning about 8:30am. Is your dog happy sleeping in a crate ?

You say he sleeps in late every morning, could it be that he just isn't tired? 11qam is very late for a dog. Could you try waking him much earlier for a few days?

I agree about the pack animal comment. We have never let our dogs on the bed, but they’ve always slept in their baskets in our room. I would put his crate/basket in your room.

Any change in behaviour requires a vet check, so please get him checked out just in case he's in pain.

I wouldn't put him to bed if people were still up and about either, it's a recipe for disaster! If a teenager is up after you, can they have the job of letting him out for a wee and putting him in his bed?

Lastly, could he be cold? Does he have lots of blankets to burrow under?

Dachshunds do like to burrow don't they? MIL's one loves to be tucked in under a blanket and won't sleep unless you tuck him in.

Interesting ... I like the idea of tucking him up but not something we've done and didn't know that about dachsies but makes sense

... he's always been very happy in his crate and sometimes goes there during the day even though there are lots of sagbags etc that he likes.....

Yes we've always been amazed how late he happily sleeps so that is a good idea - bizarre we hadn't thought that before, but then I read that dogs typically sleep 18 of their 24 hours so it didnt feel that different for him to sleep in in his crate, or on a sagbag after a mooch around or walk. And its not every day that he's that late... usually 8 or 9 but at weekends we like to sleep in!

vanilla ... yes he could be cold and mad I didnt think of that!!