Dog howling at night

[doorornottodoor]

Hoping someone can help!

Our 8 year old female lab has started howling at night. She sleeps in the kitchen and always has. She was never allowed upstairs but since my husband was working from home and his study was upstairs, we have allowed her up during the daytime for company.

Recently she has been unsettled at night. We’ve gone down and reassured her/told her off but last night it was 11pm, 2am, 4am and 6.45 am 😮‍💨 Before Christmas we did let her sleep upstairs for a couple of nights but the dog hair is unbearable. She sheds terribly and it’s a nightmare. Even a pet hair hoover wasn’t packing it up. So we’re keen to try and avoid this.

Any advice? Thanks.

I would have said maybe feeling unsettled due to age - but she is not old. My dog howls sometimes at night - but in her sleep LOL!
Maybe she got used to being upstairs and liked it and perhaps you are "training" her to howl - each time she does, you go to see her! I don't know, sorry - I am no help, but hopefully someone knowledgable we be along......

My 7 year old lab has gone through a phase of this. The vet found that she was showing discomfort in her hips and she has been on painkillers for a few weeks which has helped. Apart from a blip last night she hasn't barked in the night since starting the pain relief. My guess is that she was sleeping more lightly because of the pain in her hips and therefore generally unsettled at night.

Might be worth a trip to the vet.

Thank you both. Yes she does have some arthritis and is on Metacalm. Maybe another vet trip…

Your dog is howling because she's lonely. Dogs are pack animals, you're her pack. You allowed her upstairs when it suited you to do so, and allowed her to sleep upstairs before Christmas, so now she's confused. Can you let her have a bed in a spare room/on the landing?

Is she cold? 2 of ours get wrapped up at bedtime!!
Still like this at 6 am.
But most likely your ddog is lonely given she had had a taste of being up with you!!

I know she’s lonely and I’m kicking myself now. She’s been fine on her own overnight for 8 years though!

And no making me feel guilty posts please. She has the best dog life for the daytime.

Hi,
There's a few possible causes that people have picked up on here. It seems likely though that as the thing that's changed recently is where she sleeps this is why she's howling. If she's happily slept downstairs for 8 years then she will get used to it again quickly but here are some ideas to make it easier;
Make sure she's got somewhere as comfortable and warm as wherever she was sleeping upstairs available to her downstairs, especially as she's arthritic it may be the bed she's missing (assuming she was in your bed).
Speak to vet about whether her current metacam dosage is sufficient (but if you haven't noticed any other changes in her behaviour or gait it seems unlikely to be the cause)
Don't go downstairs to talk to her (reassuringly or to tell her to shut up) when she howls, this could be reinforcing it.
If it is that she got used to you being nearby, try sleeping downstairs on the sofa for a few nights to see if she stops if she has company, once she has got used to settling downstairs again and not howling for a few nights (maybe a week) you could go back upstairs and she will likely stay settled.
Give her a long lasting chew to help her settle herself back down if she does wake up in the night.
Leave some white-noise on in case she's getting woken up by noises and then thinking to howl.

Best of luck

A good groomer will make a huge difference

YouTube have some great ddog music.. We leave it on for ours when I leave as ddog4 has been used to someone being home due to Covid.
Search for' music for dogs'.

You've changed her routine and now she doesn't understand why she's allowed upstairs at some points but not at others.

I'm afraid you'll just need to decide what you want to do and stick with it. She either stays downstairs and you tolerate a few nights of upset, or you allow her to sleep upstairs (on the landing or on a bed in your room) and just deal with the hair.

I have to say, I don't understand why it's okay for your DH to have her up there during the day, but suddenly if she's up there at night, the hair is too much and you can't cope, even though you had her up there before Christmas?

I suspect she's not going to want to sleep happily on her own when she's realised she can be upstairs with her family.

Your Lab girl is confused.you suddenly let her go upstairs(and she obviously loves it upstairs in company of humans).so this is why she is howling at night.because when she is howling at night,she also gets attention.dogs are clever,they soon "learn"how to get attention and human company.
You cant chop and change when she is allowed upstairs.Make up your mind,if you want her upstairs or not.Ignore the howling completely,if she does not get any attention(good or bad) she will stop howling.Be consequent.good luck.

My dog started howling too when he was around 7 and that started when there was changes at home. He went from being left alone during the day and kept downstairs to lots of people in the house all day, stress due to my DH being ill and it all went to pot. He went from being happy sleeping in the kitchen to sitting in the kitchen by the door and whining nearly all night. It was awful but nothing we did made a difference apart from letting him sleep upstairs.

I had started ignoring him, opening the kitchen door, tried him sleeping in one of the lounges but he took to pooping.

I think he got used to humans being around alot and didnt like being on his own.

The problem you have is you have allowed her upstairs on a few occassions and are trying to go back to sleeping downstairs. Lack of consistency for a dog isnt good and she doesnt like it. I agree with others that she may be in discomfort so make sure her medications are optomised and she is comfortable. Although it is likely she likes being upstairs with you and will keep howling

Definitely visit the vet - ours starting barking at night out of the blue and it turned out she had a tummy issue and was in pain.

A bit of a derail but I notice people on these threads always say dogs are sociable and want to be near you and sleep near you and imply it's cruel not to let them but ours has the choice and he consistently chooses not to. He takes himself to bed downstairs and although there is no barrier to him coming up in the night he never does. He just comes up in the morning when he wants to be let out for a wee.
He also never settles on sofas or beds with us although he is partial to having one to himself if he can get it. If it's not raining he spends a fair amount of time outside on the patio.
Maybe he just doesn't like us very much?

@CovoidOfAllHumanity it’s very true! Funnily enough our dog can be quite anti social too. She likes peace and quiet so will go in another room when we’re cooking/eating/have friends over or watching TV! She hates loud noises.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

A bit of a derail but I notice people on these threads always say dogs are sociable and want to be near you and sleep near you and imply it's cruel not to let them but ours has the choice and he consistently chooses not to. He takes himself to bed downstairs and although there is no barrier to him coming up in the night he never does. He just comes up in the morning when he wants to be let out for a wee. He also never settles on sofas or beds with us although he is partial to having one to himself if he can get it. If it's not raining he spends a fair amount of time outside on the patio. Maybe he just doesn't like us very much?

I just question why some people get a dog and then actively prevent it from spending time with you by forcing it to stay in one small part of the house for most of its' life.

I'm all for dogs sleeping in their own space if they choose to do that and if they're happy to do that, though.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts why even say that but to make people feel bad?! If you’ve not got any constructive advice then go and find someone else to belittle.

If a vet check doesnt shed any light on the matter, you could try leaving her with an item of your clothing in her bed at night, such as last night's pyjamas. Having something that smells of you might soothe and settle her, and hopefully after a week or so of this, she will be back to normal.

Update- a big thank you to all those who gave really helpful advice.

We spent time with her downstairs before bed, brought her upstairs day bed down and watched tv. Banned the kids from the kitchen after 11 to avoid disturbing her. Gave her half her Metacam before bed. Sat with her for 10 mins talking to her before we went upstairs (she was visibly getting nervous)/lots of treats. And….she slept through!

[quote doorornottodoor]@fairylightsandwaxmelts why even say that but to make people feel bad?! If you’ve not got any constructive advice then go and find someone else to belittle. [/quote]
I wasn't belittling anyone - I was just responding to a previous poster who was saying about how sociable dogs are.

I also gave you plenty of advice upthread about how you need to be consistent with dogs - if you don't want them in your bed/upstairs then you should never let them up there. Once they realise what they're missing, they aren't going to want to give it up.

I also said I have no issues with dogs sleeping alone or taking themselves off for some peace and quiet but I'm not going to deny that I don't understand owners who get pack animals like dogs and then only allow them access to a tiny area of the house - it just baffles me. I'm sorry if my opinion offends you

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

Oh yes you did give me some he find good advice - thank you. And judged me twice! I hope you feel better now. Just noticed that. Please feel free not to comment any more I’m not interested in your little snide comments dressed up as “questions”.

And you’re not sorry at all.

@doorornottodoor

And you’re not sorry at all.

Whatever you say!

We had a 12 year old lab and then bought our lab pup in March. Both slept downstairs together - no issues at all, he was a wonderful baby sitter) When Ted (old lab) passed in October, puppy was very sad as she had never been on her own at all at night.

We also made the ‘mistake’ of feeling terrible for her so allowing her to sleep upstairs. But she only liked laying next to me (I WFH so I’m her actual whole world bless her) so that didn’t work as no room!! And no way we could keep her on the floor!!

In the end I would leave the tv on really quite and slip up to bed and that seemed to work and got her out the habit.

We now have rescue lab pup and she is not alone anymore ☺️