Advice on Handling Dog Barking at Night

Maki on 05/02/2025 - 14:07
Last edited 05/02/2025 - 16:10 by 2 other users

Hi everyone, I am hoping to get some advice on a problem I've been dealing with.

My almost 3 year old dog keeps barking at night when we go into our bedroom, and we are still not sure how to handle it.

Whenever I try to ignore the barking, it just keeps going. If I went outside for a bit, my dog would think I'm giving him attention which I guess reinforced the behaviour. I don't want to encourage this negative behaviour, but I am not sure what the best way to address it is.

We are sure that he was fed. He went to wee before we go to bed and we walk him twice a day. There should be enough exercise.

Has anyone experienced this? What strategies have worked for you to stop the nighttime barking without making things worse? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Pets Dog

Comments

  • MS Paint on 05/02/2025 - 14:11
    +14

    Let the dog sleep on the bed with you. That's obviously what it wants and deserves.

    Source: have 4 dogs that sleep peacefully every night.

    • tenpercent on 05/02/2025 - 14:20
      +7

      I always figured it would be 4 cats since your name is Ms Paint. Are you really Mr Paint afterall?

      • MS Paint on 05/02/2025 - 14:55
        +2

        Only 2 cats. Sorry to disappoint.

    • DingoBilly on 05/02/2025 - 18:03
      +6

      One of those things that some dog owners think is cute and lovable whereas in reality it's pretty gross and unhygienic though. Also not super great for having intimacy with a partner.

      • MS Paint on 05/02/2025 - 18:12

        What's unhygienic about this in your bed?

        • AdosHouse on 05/02/2025 - 21:19
          +2

          Do your staffies even fart mate? LOL. My friends one could have been classed as a biological weapon.

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:05

      Like DingoBilly said, I found it unhygienic and that would also affect the relationship with my partner. There's no turning back once we let him sleep on the bed so I would try to avoid that if possible.

  • Xyzzy on 05/02/2025 - 14:14
    +6

    Every time it barks go outside and spray it with water (assuming it doesn't like being sprayed with water); then immediately leave again.

    • tenpercent on 05/02/2025 - 14:19

      Pavlov would approve.

    • GordonD on 05/02/2025 - 15:14
      +2

      It was 41C here the other day. Sprayed the magpies with the hose. They loved it. They flapped their wings and squarked madly.

    • HeWhoKnows on 06/02/2025 - 07:27
      -3

      Its a bit late to train a 3 year old dog but still worth a try

      • Nugs on 10/02/2025 - 06:00

        "Its a bit late to train a 3 year old dog but still worth a try"
        Haha. I trained a 14 year old cat to sit on command
        .

    • thrillhouse on 06/02/2025 - 08:02

      Yeah cool, punish your dog that is clearly in some sort of distress.

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:06

      I will give it a try, thanks for the advice.

  • Dollar General on 05/02/2025 - 14:23
    -2

    You sure it’s the dog barking?

  • joka on 05/02/2025 - 14:31
    -1

    try using a dummy, that gets babies to sleep pretty well.

  • jv on 05/02/2025 - 14:38
    +1

    we got a barking collar that works off a remote.

    you can either play a sound, a buzzer or an electric shock.

    we only use the sound and it stops her straight away…

    i tried the electric shock on myself and after that, I'd never use it on a dog (unless it's a bit bull).

    • Dollar General on 05/02/2025 - 14:42

      ‘ I tried the electric shock on myself’

      Upload the video please

    • Bruceflix on 05/02/2025 - 15:18
      +4

      An electric shock collar should be illegal, if it isn't already.

      • jv on 05/02/2025 - 15:30
        +1

        they are legal in some states and not in others.

        • BewareOfThe Dog on 05/02/2025 - 19:29

          Damn, I was going to leave this in my neighbours letter boxes, or even ship it to Mr/Mrs/Miss Irresponsible Dog Owner

    • BewareOfThe Dog on 05/02/2025 - 19:26

      This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. Please choose a different delivery location.

  • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 15:18

    Name the breed, name the training and socialising done.How long are the 2 walks,time and distance.
    How many dogs have you owned prior to this one.

    • jv on 05/02/2025 - 17:25
      +2

      Name the breed

      Xoloitzcuintli

      • Sammy2000 on 05/02/2025 - 23:09
        +3

        You forgot to add the +oodle

        • iminabrons on 06/02/2025 - 13:09
          +1

          In Sth Africa they call that breed the Kuk-ad-oodle. Otherwise known as the shitdog.

    • thrillhouse on 06/02/2025 - 08:14

      This. There are so many variables here, that no advice is really going to be completely valuable.

      Maybe it can hear something in the still of the night? Our greyhound goes bananas when the possum walks along our back fence but is otherwise completely chill all day, every day.

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:10

      Breed is Maltese cross Shih Tzu. We only went to puppy school. We tried to walk him in the morning for about 20 min and then 30 min at night. Sometimes he prefers to stay in the dog park with other dogs instead of walking around the blocks.

      This is our first dog and thus we are not sure how to deal with the negative behavior.

      • Protractor on 07/02/2025 - 10:16
        -1

        Puppy school? Wow.Massive impost
        As a responsible owner, for the next ten years at least you are obliged to invest whatever it takes for the dogs welfare. That's your moral obligation after your extensive planning on suitability etc, prior to getting a dog You need professional advice. I'm sure you crate trained the dog, so sleeping in a constrained location inside the house should be a piece of cake. If you are not prepared to invest time now, 3 years in, give the dog up. For it's welfares sake.

  • outlander on 05/02/2025 - 15:43

    While it's common, many (most) dogs don't like to be alone. They are social animals.

    • jv on 05/02/2025 - 15:53

      They are social animals.

      They are pack animals.

      • iminabrons on 06/02/2025 - 13:10

        Which means they like to socialise while "packing"

        • jv on 06/02/2025 - 13:11

          Not the anti-social ones.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 05/02/2025 - 15:50
    +4

    I am hoping to get some advice on a problem I've been dealing with. My almost 3 y.o. dog kept barking at night when we go into our bedroom and we are still not sure how to handle it.

    Is this a new thing? you've left out a huge amount of context. Did you used to let it sleep in the bed with you or the room at least?

    It's clearly not wanting to be left alone and just ignoring it will never fix the issue, that's not how you train dogs.

    There's no magic fix, and you're not going to get it on a forum. you need to talk to a behavioural specialist if you can't solve it yourself.

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:17

      Sorry, I thought I would go straight to the problem. He occasionally had the barking problem, and we can sort of associate the reason with the lack of walk. Recently we went on a three week holiday after Christmas and we paid an old lady to look after the dog. The lady has a dog with the same breed, and they get along well together. Since we picked him up from the lady's house, he barks every night. I haven't asked if the lady allowed our dog to sleep on her bed, but we certainly don't want that to happen. We have a designated area for the dog in the living room and I am now thinking to allow it to come into our room, though still hesitant to do so.

      Anyway, I will see if I can get a behavioural specialist then.

  • Ocker on 05/02/2025 - 16:41
    -1

    Fit a muzzle. Won't hurt the dog and it will not be able to bark

    • coffeeinmyveins on 05/02/2025 - 16:51
      +2

      Yeah great suggestion mate.

      Dog is letting you know that it's not enjoying the situation it's in, so let's go and make it so it can't express it. That won't hurt the dog at all.

      OP will then be wondering why the dog doesn't like it, bites him and craps all over the floor in two weeks.

      • Ocker on 05/02/2025 - 19:23
        -1

        So all of a sudden you claim to be the incognito dog whisperer????/ nfi.

        • thrillhouse on 06/02/2025 - 08:16

          Mate, fitting a muzzle is an awful practice to solve a problem like this. It’s a bandaid solution, and a cruel one at that.

    • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 21:42
      +1

      The dog would try all night to claw it off. All sorts of downstream anxiety issues from that point on.
      This whole story reeks of shortcutism.
      Minimum input required for any problems that arise. A pet is a full commitment.Such a short story provides little info on which to even conclude the dog is the issue here.

      • iminabrons on 06/02/2025 - 13:13

        "The dog would try all night to claw it off." Have the dog's disorder diagnosed and then give it plenty of drugs. Works for humans doesn't it😮?

        • Protractor on 06/02/2025 - 13:41

          Ask Hannibal Lecter and his MAGA mate Donald Lecher about that solution.

  • Summoner on 05/02/2025 - 17:58
    +6

    I hope you don't leave the dog alone at home when you go out. Our neighbor's dog used to bark nonstop whenever it was alone. It seems that your dog might do the same.

    • iminabrons on 06/02/2025 - 13:20
      +1

      I have a neighbour like that. Clearly his way of thinking about this problem was if he couldn't hear the dog barking then clearly it isn't barking, ergo there was no problem. He no longer has the dog as he couldn't or wouldn't solve the problem. Get this, he was an engineer! It appears when it came to solving problems that was reserved for inanimate objects.

    • Lastchancetosee on 06/02/2025 - 16:54

      The dog of our irresponsible neighbour only barks when the people are at home. They can calmly let if barks for hours at a time without ever coming outside to check. We reported it to the Council, but they said the dog looked OK, so they couldn't do anything. Useless. We might have to resort to chucking water over the fence or similar. It's a pity because it's not the dog's fault.

      • Summoner on 06/02/2025 - 21:43

        My neighbor's dog barked non-stop whenever it was left alone. I initially assumed the owner was unaware, so I left a couple of notes. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to care, and the barking persisted. After some online research, I discovered my local council offered a noise diary to document the barking for a formal complaint. I started filling it out and told my neighbor I was doing so to file a formal complaint. The barking miraculously stopped after that. Shame the council could not help you :(

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:22
      +1

      Occasionally we have to leave the dog at home when both my wife and I work on site. We are talking about1-2 days a week as we have the options to work from home. However, he seems okay with that, and we can see from the camera that he doesn't bark. The barking only happens when both my wife and I go to the bedroom at nighttime.

  • GordonD on 05/02/2025 - 18:16

    Yikes, the case of the dog that DID bark in the night! So its no use asking Sherlock Holmes for his advice.

  • ForkSnorter on 05/02/2025 - 18:28

    I read that you're supposed to electrocute them. Sounds a bit cruel, and not sure I'd want to electrocute an animal, but apparently it works.

    • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 21:43

      Does it work on Karens and lazy ppl? I know a forum that could move a shitload.

  • freefall101 on 05/02/2025 - 19:26
    +6

    Your post is basically "my dog is barking, how do I stop it" is pretty much akin to "my kid is a brat, how do I stop them?". There's no simple answer and no one can help you without a lot more context (is it a new behaviour, did something change in its environment, have you changed anything, etc).

    Dogs aren't machines. There's no single thing to fix something as vague as barking. Get all the information you can and go to someone who knows what they're doing, i.e. a trainer.

    • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 21:45
      +2

      The way to help the OP is to learn more about the dog, but more importantly, more about the OP. It could be as simple as 'wasn't meant to be'. Pets aren't bling.

  • kmwa on 05/02/2025 - 19:54
    +2

    We've tried shock collars, but had more success with citronella collars.
    The first generation citronella collars tended to block up after a month, and were difficult to maintain, needing stripping down and unplugging.
    But a second generation are far more reliable, operating without blocking.
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008360545593.html
    For $34 delivered, it's worth a try.
    Bear in mind that they are very effective with some dogs, but other dogs may be smart enough to defeat them, or may go crazy with them.

  • lovepub on 06/02/2025 - 07:22

    Get another dog.

    Give him some company …. Better if it’s the opposite sex.

  • ForkSnorter on 06/02/2025 - 09:01
    +5

    I think you should try to solve this problem properly, as soon as possible, even if you have to spend a bit of money. It's not really acceptable to keep a dog that barks all night, or even all day. Your neighbors might have spent their entire lives working to pay for their house, and they should not have to put up with bad sleep ruining their health just because you want to keep a noisy dog.

    I know I sound like a Karen here, but I think this is an important, neglected issue in Australian suburbs. When I was looking for my house, I purposely decided against buying several houses simply because there was an angry sounding dog barking like crazy next door. Not only would I not want to live next to that dog, I also wouldn't want to live next to the people that keep a dog like that. During one open house inspection, an enormous scary looking dog next door was trying to squeeze through a hole that he'd partially dug under the fence. I heard several people say, during the inspection, "Let's go. I don't want to be here when that dog gets through the fence."

  • footscrayvic on 06/02/2025 - 09:34
    +3

    Get rid of the dog. Problem solved.

    • Protractor on 06/02/2025 - 14:14
      -1

      Maybe that's why OP is here?. Validation and justification to do just that. This is the sort of outcome that happens when proper planning and commitment is half arsed. This is also precisely the reason pet owners should be licensed, not the pets.

      • footscrayvic on 06/02/2025 - 14:40

        No problem with licensing owners. Personally I'm sick of people who have no clue how to train and properly manage a dog. Better if they dont have them at all.

        • Protractor on 06/02/2025 - 16:27
          -1

          Yep, and that would reduce rescues over time.Pets have become bling. Kind of like children have. Status to dangle on social media.

  • CL123 on 06/02/2025 - 10:32

    You haven't mentioned where he sleeps or what areas he is allowed to go to when you go to bed. I assume you close your bedroom door which may be a problem for him feeling like he is missing out (FOMO) and/or it's separation anxiety which if it hasn't stopped by age 3, probably won't.

    Does he have a specific 'bed' or spots where he sleeps at anytime day/night?

    I have a little 4kg cavoodle and while I am happy for him to sleep on top of my quilt, I also have a dog bed in the corner of the bedroom where he often prefers to sleep.

    I also have a dog bed (bean bag type) in the loungeroom so he has options and goes and sleeps in whichever he wants, when he wants.

    My little guy gets very upsets and howls and cries when i leave the house so i distract him with a treat pushed hard into his 'kong' so by the time he gets it out I have been gone a while and he just finds somewhere to sleep either inside or out as I have a doggy door.

    I think distraction or routine is a key factor so you may want to find a spot you want him to sleep in at night, put a blanket or dog bed there and show him that and get him comfortable on it and maybe call it 'bedtime' or use some other descriptive word that he learns when it is time to sleep, this is where you go. If he likes treats you command him to 'stay' and quickly say "Good dog" and give him a treat. Then make the time between treats longer and also start moving away a little more each time and repeat the process of "good boy' and then the command 'stay' again.

    Training him in this way with the same words and routine should help him feel less anxious and calmer and hopefully you can all get a good nights sleep.

    Good luck and if you try it let me know how you go.

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:32

      Thanks for the advice. He has a dog bed in the living room which he's been sleeping in since a puppy but we will think about setting up another bed in our bedroom.

  • SlickMick on 06/02/2025 - 10:35

    Sorry for all the jerks giving you a hard time here. It seems to be a very specific issue, and I'd have thought there would be plenty of people here who have had the same problem and found a solution.
    If allowing the dog sleep in your bedroom would work for you, I know others that it has workeds for. I also know people who have gotten a 2nd dog which quietened the first.

    Dogs can be trained to not bark in certain situations. e.g. don't bark when the neighbours dog is being naughty. It depends whether it is genuinely stressed being left alone, or just seeking attention. @JV's noise from the collar or the spray bottle seem like reasonable potential solutions to try if it's the latter.

    Another option: Apparently dogs like to sleep in caves?? If you get a crate for it to sleep in, that might give it comfort if you put it to bed before you retire.

    Good luck. I'm glad you seeking a solution rather than getting noise cancelling headphones or something.

    • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:39
      +1

      Thanks for your encouragement. Honestly I found some of the comments are quite harsh. This is our first dog and we've been trying hard to help it settle in the family. We have no intention to get rid of the dog or harm it in anyway. We just encountered a behavior problem which we are not sure how to deal with. I really appreciate some of the expert advice posted but I've also filtered some of the comments.

  • jacross on 06/02/2025 - 12:16
    +2

    It's a complicated issue and depends on a number of variables. I think engaging a dog behaviourist would be rewarding. The internet could point to this and that fix but an independent analysis of your situation would be useful. You may not be aware of certain things you are doing it not doing that may be contributing.

  • 82norm on 06/02/2025 - 15:07

    Pity the neighbours.

    • Protractor on 06/02/2025 - 16:30
      -2

      Pity the dog. Smart enough to pick a straw, unlucky enough to draw the short one every time.

  • Maki on 07/02/2025 - 10:11
    +1

    Thanks everyone for your advice. I didn't expect that many responses and I really appreciate it.

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