Help with barking at night - any advise?

JulesRules

JulesRules

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Hi All,

We have now had our lovely rescue girl just over a week. She is settling in well and getting more confident, but she has now started barking during the night. I know it's early days but I could really use a good nights sleep :-(

The past month has been really manic for me with a million stressful or tiring going on both at work and home (TUPE stuff at work, moved horse to a new livery, tenant moved out of my buy to let flat which then needed redecorating and finding a new tenant, friends hen weekend, getting a new dog, going to a festival) It wasn't planned like this but everything seemed to come together :-( Result is I am shattered and desperate for a good nights sleep and barking girl is really not helping. Also OH is a nightmare and gets very irritable if he is sleep deprived.

The first night we had her she had a little bark just after we put her to bed, I went down and reassured her and she was then quiet all night. She then had a couple of nights of going all night, or an odd little woof when the cat went out of his flap and settling straight after, but it seems to be getting worse. A couple of times I have been down to check on her thinking she may need the toilet, but she shows no interest when I try and put her in the garden. She does seem to settle if I go down and reassure her, but I feel like I am rewarding her for barking and don't want to get her into this pattern.

Last night I decided to ignore her and she just barked and barked and in the end I had to go down for fear of waking the neighbours (we live in a semi detached cottage. As it's old the walls are thick and noise doesn't carry well, but they do have a young baby next door )

I have tried putting her to bed with a chew which keeps her occupied, but she just starts later on if I do that. I am thinking of walking her last thing before bed and not letting her snooze after her dinner so she is tired and ready to sleep when we are like a child

Does anybody else have any ideas?

Taking her to bed with us is not an option. We don't let dogs upstairs in our house as this is the cat's safe domain and it's not fair to the cat to disrupt him.

In terms of why she is barking, the first night the cat definitely disturbed her by going through his cat flap and setting the security lights off, but since then I just think she is bored and lonely and barking for someone to come and get her. She isn't used to being alone as she was on the streets and then in a foster home with other dogs. I know it's hard for her but I feel it's best for her to learn to be alone in the long run.

We have an anti bark citronella collar which belonged to our previous dog who just loved the sound of his own voice. Nasty OH wants to put it on her tonight, but I'm adamant that is an absolute last resort.

Please help
 
I'd have the dog in with you - sorry. And then over the next several weeks quietly move her out of the bedroom (end of bed, doorway, landing, hall etc.)

But what do I know? Bichon sleeps on my pillow :D
 
I certainly would not have the dog upstairs with you. I would pm Cayla for advice, but I think she is the font of all knowledge!
 
Yes, she gets fed twice a day and currently at about half 7/ 8pm ish when she gets back from her walk. She then settles down for a snooze while we watch a bit of telly before bed.

I'm wondering if it would be better to take her for another short walk about half 9/10pm ish, then feed her when she gets back. Quick trip to the garden and then bed while she still has a full belly.

I think I'll try that tonight :-)

Sorry Amymay - there is no way she is coming to bed with us. Tommy my little gingerbread cat sleeps on my pillow, and while he is doing okay with the new dog she does have a tendency to bounce on him wanting to play. I can't see that being very restful!

Right, I'm off to stalk Cayla .....
 
Personally I would never spray something as strong and stinky as citronella onto an animal with a very acute sense of smell.

Where does she sleep? is she crated or fee to roam downstairs?
 
I'm not a fan of the citronella collar either. OH bought it for our old dog who used to bark for attention when OH was on conference calls etc (OH works from home). It did work though. You only had to put the collar on him, not even switched on and he would mostly keep quiet. I think I'm gonna hide it when I get home. There is no way he is putting that on a scared young dog that we have only had for a week!

She sleeps in the kitchen with the run of the office and utility room. She isn't keen on getting in her crate although she is okay once in. I put that down to her being stuck in a crate for the best part of 48 hours on her journey from Spain.

Ok - ideas to try..

Move her bed away from the conservatory door to avoid her getting disturbed by the cat going in and out
Give her a blanket that smells of us
Walk her later and feed her just before bed. Don't let her snooze in the evening.
 
amymay said:
I'd have the dog in with you - sorry. And then over the next several weeks quietly move her out of the bedroom (end of bed, doorway, landing, hall etc.)

But what do I know? Bichon sleeps on my pillow :D
Click to expand...

That's exactly what we are doing with our pup. He just got too distressed downstairs on his own. He is happy to be left for a few hours in the kitchen now..Slowly, slowly let their confidence grow.
 
I cannot do without sleep, period. Every time I get a new foster, he/she sleeps on the floor next to our bed, never had any problems, even with young pups. If you cannot abide that, would you be ok with the dog on the landing, just outside your open bedroom door? I find that, after a while, the dog becomes more confident and is happy anywhere in the house. No missed sleep for us or the neighbours. No SA either so far (touch wood!)
 
It's not that I can't abide her upstairs, it's just the issue with the cat.

My cat is 18 years old and I have had him since he was a few weeks old. He used to be fine with dogs but about 10 years ago was attacked by a small dog which end up with him cat hospital and he lost his confidence with dogs. He lived with our previous dog Spike for 8 years and they rubbed along together okay (it took them about 2 years to be okay together) but when the dog got too much/overexcited Tommy could always escape through his baby gate to the safety of the stairs and bedrooms.

The new rescue dog has been quite good with him and they are making progress, but being a youngster she is desperate to play with him and has bounced on top of him a couple of times giving him a scare and making him dash off to the stairs. She also had a little chase and licked him when he bashed her nose.

But by taking the dog on "his" side of the baby gate and up the stairs (even short term) will be invading the cats safe place. He is used to having that safe place and has had it for the last 6 years that we have lived in our house. I just don't think that is fair on him and it will unsettle him. He doesn't need that at his time of life. Plus bed time is his time to come upstairs and have some attention and cuddles from us as the dog gets most of the attention during the day.
 
So have you got more than one cat? Bit confused that you have a cat that sleeps with you, but one that goes out of the cat flap during the night that disturbs the dog? Have you got two cats?
 
Could the dog sleep in a cage in your room? That way the cat still gets cuddles and a safe place but the dog feels reassured. I always start new dogs off in our bedroom in a crate and then take it from there. Mine always settle straight away but in time are happy to join the others downstairs. It depends what your priorities are. Mine are to get the dog settled and have a good nights sleep.
 
agree she may needs more stimulation so she feels really tired. also, it may just take a little bit of time to settle, has it only been a week?
when i first got my dog (10 months ago as a 2 yo, who was not used to living in a house). He was fine being left when we went to work, but at night he was scratch on our bedroom door quite a bit and i would just hear him wondering around (we are a ground floor flat with wood floors so can hear his feet and i am a light sleeper!). even with lots of exercise he would just not sleep that much and scratch on the door, especially at the start of the night. we would try to ignore, but like you said it is quite hard!
but gradually he just settled down. we had a clear bedtime routine (were not really sure when we first got him so changed it a bit each night), toilet in the garden at about 8.30-9, followed by dinner. we say good night and that is it!
it took about 3 weeks for him to settle at night, but now he does not scratch, except occasionally when he hears my alarm go off! he will often chose to sleep outside the bedroom door, but then move to his bed for the night.
give it time, and try your best not to go and settle them, as like you said that could reinforce the barking. try and make the bed a comfy place that they choose to sleep on during the day as well- their space.
 
Just one cat. He comes up to bed when we go and sits waiting for us to get into bed. Once we are in he snuggles up for a fuss purring his head off. During the night he will pop out the cat flap to the toilet or for a quick cat patrol, and then back up to us and back into bed (sometimes cold and wet when it's raining which is lovely!)

So last night we change the routine a little. She had her normal morning short walk and a good tramp round the woods early evening. She also had a friends dog come to visit to make sure the girls got on okay as we sometimes look after Millie. We didn't feed her when she got back from her walk and didn't let her go to sleep when we were watching TV. Instead we did some recall training with her and last thing I took her round the block and then fed her. Took her out to the toilet and then put her to bed with her Kong about 10.30.

She did have a little bark at about 11pm, but we ignored her and she shut up very quickly, and not another peep out of her all night :-) I had a better sleep than I have had for days so feel a bit better.

She is off to join the local dog training club tonight so hopefully that will help to tire her out and I will get a good sleep again tonight.
 
Yay, progress !. There is no way I would upset my elderly cat either by having the dog upstairs, our old cat was a bit of a nervous Princess and upstairs was her safe haven from bouncy labradors. Hopefully your new girl will continue to improve with the new regime.

A crate can be so useful. I always pop ours in with a biscuit/chew/bone. They soon associate it with a good place to be.

Good luck for tonight.
 
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