Barking at Night

[JonBoy]

We have a 12 week old pup that has been outstanding since we have had him the 3 short weeks. We are crate training him and he as done well in there with one exception that started this week. The barking at night has gone from 10 min on Saturday night to over 1 hour last night. Nothing has changed, his same toys are in the crate, same towels, same place, same lighting. Up until last night we ignored his barking and it lasted 10-15 min. Last night my wife gave in and put him in our room, but not in bed. I put him back in the crate at 11:40 and he barked for 1/2 hour. Then at 4 AM stated back up, we went outside to do his business, came in and back to the crate and started barking again. Please help!!!!!!

 

[samian]

Jonboy, that little fella's just seeking attention and as hard as it is you've just got to ignore it. He'll learn pretty soon that his cries won't get him the attention at night. Just give him lots of lovin' in the morning. Chloe and Lola both started that game when we first got them off the bed but after a couple of nights thay got the message....good luck, Ian (of samian)

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

You can try putting the crate in the room with you and see if that helps. Also, as the pup grows, he has more energy and needs more and more exercise. Perhaps if you take him out and give him some extra exercise before bedtime, he'll be tired and won't have the energy (or need) to bark so much. (Be sure he poops and pees too after exercise.)

Also, as said above, you need to ignore this barking until you can train the dog to the "Quiet" command. Yelling at the dog or giving it any attention at all for that matter is only rewarding the dog for barking in his mind. He's getting what he wants by barking: attention - good, bad or indifferent. So you must ignore it totally so the dog learns that barking will not get him what he wants in that situation.

As always, I recommend "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson at your local bookstore.

Good luck.

 

[JonBoy]

Update

Our little boy Blake is no longer barking at night! Yeah! It has been a week since he first stopped. It took only a couple of shots from the spray bottle when he barked and a few treats when he did not. We also started our nightly routine of walks around 8 pm. And after two days of ingnoring the barking he has stopped and is being a very good boy.
Thanks for the help and support.