CONSTANT Barking!

[CandiceMarie]

My boyfriend and I don't get to see each other that often, so it's nice when we get to spend nights together. The only thing I don't like about it is his dog who feels the need to bark at EVERYTHING, including her reflection in the window. She even barks at the sound of doorbells on tv. What reeeeeeally bothers me is her barking in the middle of the night, which happens every time I'm there. There are other people in the house, and not everyone goes to sleep at the same time. If she hears the slightest noise, she goes crazy and starts barking in the wee hours of the night, always waking me up. It doesn't bother my boyfriend and he usually doesn't even wake up when she does this, but it's really grating on my nerves.
I understand that dogs bark, and I know why she barks when there are strangers near the house or if there's someone at the door. But the barking in the middle of the night is really aggravating. How do we go about correcting this?

 

[Maxy24]

It might help to get her tired before bed so she'll actually sleep. If you could confine her to a room and keep a radio or some other background noise on so that the little bumps in the night are less noticed it could help her to ignore the other sounds. Those would be my first suggestions because I know from experience it's VERY hard to deal with night time behaviors, your usually angry and exhausted so you don't make good training decisions.

 

[CandiceMarie]

Yes, that's part of the problem. I'm half awake and all I end up doing is yelling at her. She just reacts to EVERY noise, even when it's people she knows. It's when there's a noise that she can't see where it's coming from, like on the other side of a closed door.
She's small and she has that annoying small-dog yippy bark!

 

[milos_mommy]

Does she also do this during the day? Or only at night?

 

[ihartgonzo]

Crate training her can help her, giving her a safe and comfy place to sleep and minimizing what she can see/hear.

If not, I would keep treats and a clicker on the bedside table, so you can click/treat the second she is quiet and redirect her attention. Teaching a solid "quiet" command takes some time but it works wonders! There is a sticky about it.

If worse comes to worse, keep a squirt bottle with water in it on the bedside table too, so you can squirt her, then click/treat when she stops barking to quickly stop it.

 

[CandiceMarie]

Does she also do this during the day? Or only at night?

She does it ALL the time; it's just the nighttime barking that bothers me the most. It's whenever she hears the sound of another person coming, or what could be another person coming. She barks at any sound that she can't see where it's coming from, at any time of day or night.

 

[mrose_s]

I would agree with Maxy to wear her out before bed and keep some background noise, my young Border Collie will bark her box off all day at evey little hting if she isn't getting adequate excercise. An evening walk and some training before bed keep her a bit more worn out.