When is dog adolescence? Pup now barking at night.

[kitkatkat]

Hello all,
puppy is now 9 months old and up until recently was fairly well settled (after the initial baby shark craziness of the first few months). However in the last 3-4 weeks she has been waking at night again - on a good night she wakes once, I take her out for a quick wee and she goes back to sleep. On a bad night she is unsettled all evening and wanders around the room barking at the windows on and off until late. Is this a teenage thing? Will she grow out of it or do I have a problem?

she is a small breed (terrier), had her first season 2 months ago, sleeps downstairs in her crate (or on the sofa with me when she is very barky) and usually gets 1 short pavement walk (15-20 mins, school run) and a longer off lead walk of 30-45 mins a day . Any thoughts - More walks? Less walks? Different food? More brain games? Or just wait for her to grow up a bit?
Thanks!

Move her in with you or sleep with her. Adolescents have real dips in confidence. I’ve got a 11 month old terrier - I know! We’ve never moved ours out of our room as so many people do then have to move them back or sleep with them during adolescence. She sleeps really well in her now open crate. We’ll move her out when she’s grown up a bit.

She'll be barking for a reason - unfortunately it's often a case of trying lots of different things until you find out what it is. However, in my experience, it's normally one of the following:

Not enough exercise or mental stimulation
Too much exercise or mental stimulation
Anxiety over being left alone
FOMO
Being unhappy in the crate (lots of adult dogs don't really enjoy being crated even if they tolerate it as puppies)
Something disturbing them outside (light, noise, wildlife)
Being too hot or too cold

All female dogs experience a change in hormones for 9 weeks after their season. Essentially they get the same hormones as if they were pregnant, this can lead to lots of unsettled behaviour. Maybe a vet check if it doesn't improve ?

Thanks both - yes I don’t think the local foxes are helping! We are in outer London with a garden that back onto a patch of wasteland so there are lots of them. I have put window film up but only half way so she can still peer over the top. I will work my way down your list cinnamonfrenchtoast - I’d rather keep her downstairs if at all possible as she is a sock thief and upstairs is messy, but I will bear your advice in mind Newpeep!

Thanks as well 80sgirly - she’s due to be spayed soon so I’ll see what the vet thinks.

Ah, foxes may well explain it

What about leaving the radio on low for her, or using a white noise machine to drown out any sounds? I know foxes can be right noisy buggers!

Using more window film (even temporarily) may also be a good idea until she gets out of the habit of looking for them iyswim.