Our dog barks throughout the night - waking us (and anyone else in the house) up. Help!!!?

Question

We have a 8 month old Rottweiler/Boxer mix. He is a great puppy (as far as puppies go) for the most part, but there is one thing that he does that we can not figure out how to correct. He sleeps on the floor in our bedroom (he prefers this over his crate in our room - if he is in his crate he bangs on the door all night long) and almost every night he will start barking at something outside (wind, people walking by, other dogs, coyotes, etc). This will happen at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning.

Do any of you have any suggestions on how we can try to stop this? He didn't do this until about 2 months ago. Also, because of the breed, we are being very careful in how we train, so please do not suggest shock collars. Not only do we agree we thing they are some what cruel, our dog is 80lbs already and we don't want him to pick up any aggressive traits.

Please help!! We have a baby on the way and we could really use some sleep!!

Answer 1

Maybe the problem isn't the dog, he is doing what he's supposed to do, warn you of danger. Maybe you have possums or raccoons trying to get in the trash, next time, get up take him out on his leash and investigate once your both satisfied tell him good dog and give him a treat and let him rest assured he did a good job.

Answer 2

When we moved into our last house, we found out we moved across the street from a crack house, so the traffic drove our dogs crazy.  We just changed the room the dogs sleep in, so they wouldn't hear the cars coming and going every 5 minutes.  I would think that at 8-months-old, your puppy should be potty trained enough to trust him to sleep where he wants, but you would know if that is right or not.  Puppies train at their own pace.

Answer 3

He's protective by nature and is doing his job by guarding you in your bed.  You might want to try having some white noise to help disguise outside noises.  Having a fan going, music in another room, something like that may help dull the other noises a little more so he's less distracted by them.  A sharp "No" when he barks will be more effective than petting him and telling him "It's ok, go back to sleep" as well.  I'm hoping that paying less attention to it will help him understand he doesn't need to be hyper vigilant, but he'll still be there to tell you about real problems.

Answer 4

there are new collars on the market that when the dog barks it sprays citronella and they dog like the smells it is not inhumane but it will probably make him stop. try this website: http://www.stopthebarkingdog.com/index_s...

Answer 5

He's a puppy. His hormones are likely not settled and he's easily distracted by sounds. Have you tried low, soothing music at night to sort of drowned out the sounds from outside? Also a spray bottle with water and a touch of vinegar sprayed in his face with a stern "NO BARK!" might help. When he stops, give him a positive re-inforcement such as a doggy treat.

Answer 6

your rotti might just be bored give him a few soundless toys to play with like a teddy etc

Answer 7

Keep a squirt bottle filled with plain water next to your bed.   If he starts barking at nothing, give him a quick little squirt of water.   It won't hurt him, but it will startle him into going "huh?"  and get his attention.

It won't take long until he realizes that when he barks at bedtime that the water will come out & you'll all be able to sleep through the night.

Answer 8

My dog is a barker as well and the best thing I have found to make him stop barking is by putting some change in an empty soda can.  It makes a really loud noise when you shake it and it usually gets my little one to stop barking.  Now just the sight of the can is enough to get him to stop and he has seriously stopped barking as much.  You could also try water in a squirt bottle, dogs don't like that either.  Good luck!