Hi everyone, It's been a while since I posted but I just wondered if anyone could offer advice on weekend barking. Loki is now 14.5 months old, still lovely, still crackers. He is crate trained and still goes in there when I'm out for max a few hours in the day an at night. At night he goes to bed happily around the same time. In the week my husband gets up around 5:45 am, goes in the shower and then he walks the dog between 6 and half 6, normal lead walk around the block. We don't hear any barking from Loki. He stays quiet until let out. At the weekend, however, he starts barking and whining from about 5:45. I think he knows it's the weekend which is when he gets his longer walks on his longline in the woods opposite which he loves. So I think he's barking as he just can't wait for this, though husband thinks he just starts because he hasn't heard but him get up to go in the shower. This barking will generally last until 6:30 when the kids wake up and we all get up anyway. I know we're not supposed to let him out when barking but he doesn't stop. He's a stubborn one! We're planning to decrate him sometime between 15-18 months (night time first) as he's still a destructive chewer at times and likes stealing things still. However I think he will still bark from the kitchen out of his crate. He's not sensible enough to have unsupervised free roam yet. Thanks
Nibbler is six months now and one of the best things I have done is give him free rein in the house - he can go from room to room ( not bedrooms) during the day and is in a bed in kitchen with bed at night. The best thing we did was set up a bed just outside our bedroom so that at the weekend he gets up early - 6 - same as when working during the week and I take him out for ten minutes to relieve himself then I say back to bed and he just settles down right outside our room until about 9 - don't know how I would cope without my long lie at the weekend now. Trained him while he was still in the follow me everywhere stage so may be harder for you but worth a try - get him a big comfy bed and stick it just outside your bedroom door and you never know he might just settle down. We also have comfy spots around the house and he just goes from one bed to the other during the day - has had a wee go at chewing skirting boards but much less worse than when he was confined to one room. Maybe you need to trust him a bit more.
Thanks for the reply. He’s actually been much better since it’s been darker mornings! He’s been sleeping in longer and so I think we’ll be okay until next spring/summer. Unfortunately he’s still at a stage where he rips up everything - he has destroyed EVERY bed we have bought him. He just loves ripping things up. Even a brill local dog behaviourist/trainer said how puppy-like he still is at 15 months, the most puppy like he’d seen and he’s seen a lot of dogs! So I think it’s just going to take him a while longer to mature. I’m hoping to have a go at decrating him at night in a few months, though leaving the door open for him as he likes sleeping in there anyway. And then we’ll see if he can refrain from table legs/cushions door frames and skirting boards etc!
