Barking at Night. New Owner!
Hey guys, I just got a new baby, a 3 year old Pembroke named Toby. We got him about 3 weeks ago and he is fully crate trained by the previous owner. We keep him in our apartment in the living room, which is separate from both bedrooms. The first week, we played with him, took him on a walk, etc. then put him in the crate for the night. He never made any noise in the crate at night. A week ago, we took him with us to Kansas to visit my family for Christmas (a 5 hour drive) and we put the crate downstairs in the downstairs living room during the day while we were out (they have another dog so we wanted to keep them separate while they were crated) and he did fine. The thing is, that week, I slept in the living room with him, again, he never barked. Got him back to Oklahoma with us and the first night back, he starts barking about 10 minutes after I go to bed. I lied in bed for about 30 minutes and he just kept barking. He had been taken out right before bed so he shouldn't have needed to go outside, so I got online on my phone in bed and they suggested bringing him in the room with me. So i took him and the kennel and moved it in my bedroom next to my bed and sure enough, not a peep all night. So last night before bed I took him on a run and when we got home I sat on the couch and surfed the net while he lied there, pretty pooped out. So I thought maybe he'd actually sleep. Sure enough, I put him in his crate and 10 minutes later, he's barking. Moved him into my room again, and not a peep all night. So at this point, i'm afraid i've accidentally trained him to bark when he's not with me in the room. I don't mind having him in my room but it makes it hard for my roommate to get to him during the day when i'm gone and also my room is kinda small so the crate takes up some room. What would be the best way to untrain this behavior so he sleeps soundly out in the living room when there's no one out there? I love this dog, I really do, but i'm afraid the barking is gonna wake the neighbors and it also just makes me feel horrible hearing him barking away in there. Thoughts?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Mine sleep with me so the only thought I have is does he need to be crated at night? Maybe a bed or rug in your room for evening and the crate in the living room during the day when you are gone. He knows you are there and obviously doesn't want to be alone.
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Permalink Reply by Zach on
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I don't know that he "needs" to be in there, but I asked the previous owner about night time and she said they always put him in there, but then again I don't know if they kept him in the same room. I guess i'm just afraid if i let him roam around at night he'll get into something he's not supposed to, but I guess that would just be my responsibility to make sure there isn't anything for him to get into. This is the first dog that i've had on my own (all the other ones were my parent's) so I guess i'm kinda paranoid about what he'd do overnight. I might try putting him in my room with the crate, but leaving it open so he could walk out if he wants to, and seeing what he ends up doing and then slowly go from there.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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He loves you....dogs are pack animals and not made to be alone. They get scared and worry. I'd work out a way to keep him with you. If he's potty trained, does he need a crate? Seanna will still use hers when I ask her to, but as a rule she doesn't need to go in there. The other alternative is to just let him bark it out, and he'll calm down eventually.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Mine sleep with me or at least in the bedroom also.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Mine don't sleep in crates any more, but they also aren't allowed in the bedroom. I just don't like sleeping with dogs, personally. Also part of their job is to guard the house and they do that best from the main floor, and the bedroom is one of the refuges for the cat.
Anyway, I'd try working on it when you are awake first. A pup will bark itself to exhaustion, but an adult dog might never get tired of barking. Cut his food by about a third while you are working with him. Train him the way you'd condition a puppy. Put him in the crate with some peanut butter on a Kong, lock the door, walk out of the room. While he's still quietly working, come back in and open the door. Do this for a few days (PB has lots of calories so that's why you need to cut back on food).
Then, put him in with the kong, leave the room, but wait to come back til just after he's finished. Come bearing another treat, drop the treat in the crate, and open the door.Gradually increase the time and drop the Kong from the routine. Leave the room, if he's quiet come in and give him a small treat. After a little while, change it up so that sometimes you let him out, sometimes you leave again and come back later with another treat. If he barks, you don't come back. If he's quiet, you do come back and give him a treat. If he knows "ah-ah" or "no" or "enough" you might try that if he starts to bark. If that doesn't work, just ignore him.
I used this to successfully rehab my adult Corgi who would bark whenever he was crated and I was doing something with the other dog. I'd periodically return and give him treats if he was quiet. Barking got him nowhere. Basically you are teaching the dog that the secret to getting sprung is to lie there quietly. Since he's been crate trained, he should re-learn quickly.
You can also do this at night but for your sanity and sleep would need to go to bed earlier than your normal time. And since it is night-time, once he is quiet for a short time he should fall asleep.
It may be the case that the first time, something startled him or worried him, or the change in routine (going away and coming back) may have upset him, and once he learned that barking got him in the bedroom, he just kept it up. Corgis are quick that way.
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Permalink Reply by Donna and Lilly on
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My Corgi Lilly sleeps with me, so does my min pin Colossus. Colossus is in a crate when we arent home so the crate stays in the living room. I just move the dogs. Lilly used to be in the crate as well, but she is almost 2 and so far she is really good for the time we are away. They really got into the habit of being crated while we are gone and then bedtime.
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I will be subtle here, but if you are as I assume young-ish and single, please think long and hard about having a dog sleep in your bedroom....
Hope no offense is taken. I know though that if I were dating someone, I would get really freaked out by their dog staring at me. And a dog who won't stay out of the bedroom without barking is a problem. My husband and I let the cat sleep with us, but let's just say that there are times she is firmly closed out of the room!
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Haha my girlfriend doesn't usually sleep over, and even if she did, my bed is high enough off the ground where I can't see him sleeping, the top of his crate is level with the top of my bed so it's no worries at all.
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Permalink Reply by Laura and Tommy Jefferson on
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Tommy sleeps in his crate in his own bedroom. As a little puppy his crate was in my room, but I think I was disturbing him more than creating a peaceful sleeping environment. At first he didn't like being in his own room (trust me, I know that never-ending night-time bark!), but now he runs right up there with no problem. I have a fan in the room with him and I think it really helps - he never hears people talking or the garage door etc ... sleeps like a baby!
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I think i'm gonna eventually get to that point, I'll clean up my room a bit and make sure he doesn't have anything to get into and maybe leave his crate open at night and see what he does. I'm a little concerned about accidents, but from what the previous owner said, he hasn't ever had an accident and we take him out fairly frequently. I tend to toss and turn at night so i'm afraid of him hopping up in bed with me and me accidently kicking him off and he'll get irate. He does tend to snore, and the first night I thought something was wrong, but then the other day he was lying on my sleeping and he started making the same noise so I could conclude then that it was just him snoring.
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Permalink Reply by Kathryn Harbour on
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try giving him a piece of your clothing with your scent on it
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It's funny you mention that since my roommate said last night (when I wasn't home, I stayed over at a friends house) that Toby stayed in my room in the crate and no one was in there and was silent all night, so i'm wondering if it is just my smell and there isn't enough of it in the living room (that sounds kinda gross when you think about it LOL) so i might try getting an old shirt or something and putting it on his crate.
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