Many experienced dog trainers are often asked how to keep dogs from barking all night. There are certainly ways to stop a pup from yapping on and on at inconvenient hours, but to do so the reason the dog is barking must be addressed.
Barking for attention
Outdoor pets often bark to get attention; they are no different than a child who acts out to draw attention. The lonely dog feels that any attention is better than none. Be sure that you are giving your best friend enough affection. Make sure he feels loved and that you spend a little time with him before bedtime; that alone often does the trick.
High-energy breeds like Jack Russell terriers and beagles will bark if they do not get enough exercise. Oftentimes a long walk before bedtime will stop the unwanted barking. The dog gets his much-needed exercise and gets tired and wants to sleep. It’s a win/win situation.
Barking will certainly occur if your dog hears something stirring outside. Just as white noise soothes humans that are disturbed by noises in their sleep, it soothes canines too. Try leaving the TV on a static channel, and you may see a dramatic difference.
Many dogs are generally quiet until they see something outside. This happens in more suburban or rural areas. The simple solution is to draw the draperies, pull down the shades or close the blinds at bedtime.
Some pet owners close their bedroom door to keep the pet out at night. This is when the barking begins. Buy a crate that is roomy enough for your pup. Put a nice, soft blanket inside and a rawhide treat. Do this every night, and the dog will soon accept the crate as his bedroom and be quite happy to go to his own bedroom.
Barking mad
There are some pooches that will bark incessantly at night for no reason at all. Great lengths should be taken to find the cause. If you can’t determine a reason, you might resort to using a bark collar to correct the behavior. First, try a spray collar; these are not harmful for the pet. The collar will spray citrus when the puppy barks more than twice. He will not like the scent of the citrus spray and shut up as soon as he realizes that barking creates the odor.
So, how to keep dogs from barking all night? Find the reason for the barking and you will have the answer.
Twitter: barbaraling
says:
I’m lucky – my mooses generally are silent unless they’re trying to eat their way thru the plexiglass window to say ‘Hello dinner!’ to the nice bunnies that hop on by.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
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My two dogs, are proper tykes when it comes to barking, they start at the slightest sound at night, though it does make them good guard dogs
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Twitter: rwperkinsjr
says:
We saved a little mutt dog from strangling one time and now the darn thing will never shut-up. It barks at everything and I mean everything including nothing. It is a outside dog by its own choice.
It won’t come to us to get pet so the wanting attention thing is out. I am tired of hollering at it as this does not correct the behavior either. I have never heard of a citrus spray bark collar so as soon as I post this I am going to search for one and do a little research on them.
Thanks for the information, it may prove invaluable in sleepless nights trying to get this little dog quiet. Thankfully I live on enough property that it does not bug the neighbors but I could use a good nights sleep again!
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Hi Richard, he’s no doubt traumatized from that near-strangling in his past. With your particular situation, a corrective collar may be the only way to go, but follow the instructions carefully. We will be posting some advice on these collars within the next few days over at PetsAdviser.com.
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Twitter: gilbertocintron
says:
What a great article thank you. As the owner of four rescue canine family members, I can attest to the fact that sharing a dog with affection, especially if a rescue dog, can make a world of difference in their behavior and barking patterns.
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Twitter: Feisty_Woman
says:
Great post! Seems like the attention thing is 100% true and most people whose dogs bark all night long are neglected. I don’t think people like these should own dogs.
My husband is a lover of labs and owned many of them before. He also knows how to get the neighbors dogs to shut up by throwing a cup of cold water on them when they just won’t quit. Not the nicest thing to do but it works every time.
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What a great post! Thanks for the sharing!
In another way to stop the dog barking, the best way to stop a dog barking at night is to use a bark control collar. There are lots of different anti-bark collars around. They are so good they often stop excessive barking after wear it.
You put the collar on your dog when you go to bed and take it off in the morning; it’s as simple as that.
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The problem I seem to have with barking dogs is that their owners don’t give a rip about it!
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Twitter: rtouhey
says:
I have 3 dogs, 2 labs and a miniature dachshund. The dachshund is more apt to bark at noises outside than the other two. Luckily, the can all be distracted and redirected easily.