Neighbour complaining about dog barking in morning

[Gizlotsmum]

Our neighbour has just mentioned he is being disturbed by our dog barking. He initially said through the night ( which he doesn’t, we had 1 2am bark when he needed the toilet this week and that was unusual) then admitted it was more like 5:30/6:00 which I accept as that is when we start the day. How do I stop him barking for toilet first thing? We are working on quiet by ignoring and rewarding when quiet, but not easy esp as he is barking for attention sometimes. We struggle to be up before him as it can be anytime between 5:15 and 6. Is it just a case of getting up at 5:15 ( or will that mean he will think that is his new wake up time?) as he will go happily till 6 some mornings.

Dog is crated downstairs and it can take us a few mins ( I’d say max 5 but will look to start timing it) to get him out ( he stops barking when we are downstairs). I appreciate this is annoying but need to find a way round it. Dog is nearly 1 yr old. Has 2 decent walks a day, chew toys etc. am starting to write down when he barks to see if there is a pattern. He doesn’t bark at the doorbell or people waking past. He barks for attention, especially if new people come in but settles after a short while.

Will ask our trainers advice after the holidays but just after opinions in the mean time

neighbour admitted he struggles to sleep and I want to make it better for us all.

It’s pretty instant, he might start scratching ( and if he does I take that as my cue to get moving) but normally first we hear is a bark.

Being woken up at 5am everyday is an inconvenience, though, which is why we train dogs to sleep through the night and go to the toilet before bed and in the morning instead.

Nobody's saying to leave the dog to suffer, just to adjust it's routines and feeding so that it doesn't need to wake the household in the middle of the night anymore.

It honestly is the first I have heard that they hear him. I have asked before and been told no they don’t.. now I know it is a problem I will solve it

It’s not the dogs basic biological needs that are the inconvenience, it’s the way the dog is communicating those needs to the OP that is causing the issue for the neighbour.

Which is why I have suggested training the dog to toilet at a set time and not to use barking to get his needs met. I’m well aware of what the inconvenience is thank you.

I wonder if a baby monitor next to his crate would be an idea - it ;s likely there is a short period of whining/scratching/restlessness before he resorts to barking, so if you were able to head down at that point, you would avoid the barking altogether, thus not disturb the neighbour.

You need to be a better dog owner OP. Crating all night because you didn't train is really poor.

Could you not set alarm for 5 , bring him out to toilet then back to crate and you go back to bed ? Inconvenient I know but seems to be the only option at the moment

Any tips on training him not to eat everything would be appreciated!

I am going to try this, will also look into bell/button training.

The baby listener is a great idea !

Don't rise to it OP, it's not worth it.

Can you keep him on the landing with all other doors shut tightly?

How many meals a day does the dog have ? and how many poos does he do ?

As it appears he poos almost 12 hours after dinner.

People on here are absolutely batshit. I have a dog, unless it is thundering, she sleeps downstairs and never in my room, zero need for it. OP, maybe try getting up at 4, letting the dog out and then putting back in the crate. Dont fuss it, dont talk, just let it out and then put back in the crate. Hopefully they wouldnt then be waking for a wee at 5am and barking and may just wait until you come down. Its worth a try. Then eek it out for 4.10, 4.30,5am and so on over a few months until it is a nicer time to get up. Our dog can quite happily go from 11pm until 9am the following morning without having an accident. Sometime she doesnt even want to go out when we get up.

He’s in three meals. Breakfast about 7, lunch 1 ish and tea 6 ish. We are transitioning his food. He has normally 3 morning poos and then an afternoon walk poo. He may do an evening poo but not always. Waking time doesn’t seem to depend on time of last poo. We are moving from kibble to raw so his lunch is his kibble meal the other 2 are raw. We will be going to 2 raw in the next month. Poos have reduced since starting raw

How about dog-proofing the rooms?

Could you learn to shit according to a third-party schedule? Or hold your urine until someone decides to allow you to relieve yourself, after being locked in a cage all night? Try it for a week or so and let us all know how that goes.

They've made these arbitrary rules and expect a young living creature to conform or be further mistreated. Not admirable.

@LaurieStrode isn't that what toilet training a child is all about?

We crate our dog ( and she loves her crate before anyone piles on she goes in there if there are too many teenagers in the living room so it's her space) we know she can go to 6 am before she barks because she needs a wee so we get up before then and let her pee and if it's the weekend we go back to bed and she snoozes on the sofa until we get up to walk her - we take it in turns so it's not the same person every day - you need to set an alarm and get up to keep her comfortable and keep your neighbours happy - simple!

Generally I think these would be seen as a security risk as unlike a cat flap could be big enough for intruder to get thru

OP, 4-5 poos a day is quite a lot - maybe his food doesn't agree with him?

If you're transitioning to raw I would expect a few weeks of "weird" toileting while he gets used to a new diet too.

I guess it's your dogs only way of communicating he's ready to start his day. As someone else said try the bell they can ring.
I completely understand why you don't want him in your room and why it takes a few minutes to get ready but you could whizz down and let him out then quickly get ready and go out to make sure he's not eating anything. Or go out in your dressing gown.
As he gets older he will be able to wait longer for a wee.

That’s why we are transitioning to raw, tried 2 different decent kibbles and had lots of really bad poos. It seems to be working so far and we are gradually introducing richer meats.

You may find that the behaviour changes naturally when he can physically "hold it" for longer, so any early morning wake ups will hopefully be temporary.

Jfc some of these replies.

I started reading this because we have a problem with our puppy barking outside in the mornings and trying to avoid disturbing neighbours but as usual, it’s rude, unpleasant and batshit replies.