Hi everyone (long time no speak!) Sorry I've not been on here for a few months. I need alllll the advice I can get on this one because I don't know how much longer I can ignore the barks/howls! Dexter is now 7 months old and is in between that real gruff bark and puppy whimper. Well, the last few weeks (on and off) of a morning about 5am he howls. And I mean howl. Well this morning, we were at our wits end. This morning the barking started at about 5am. Carried on for about 20 minutes. Stopped. Started again around 6am. Once it stopped my fiancé went down to let Dexter into the garden for the toilet. Once back in bed, barking/howling started again half 7 (now usually Dexter is awake, fed and walked by now but we wanted one last lie in before going back to work after the New Year) I then went downstairs, fed Dexter, let him go outside to toilet, back in bed. The barking stopped for about half an hour? Then he kicked off again pretty much until about half 8/9am when we got up. Thankfully we live in a semi detached house and my neighbour is no bother (nor were we until this started) but I need to sort this out because I'm petrified in case she complains to an authority (I've no idea who) and we get a knock on the door. As always, thanks for any advice!
Re: Morning Barking Phew, found it! I knew there was an article of Pippa's on this subject somewhere, took me a while to find it: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=100 I do find that if there are changes to routine such as holidays, or visitors over Christmas, one of my dogs is like a small child and we have to re-establish sleeping through again... It doesn't take long, a couple of nights usually. Dexter is not unusual in having got back into a habit of waking - good luck with sorting it out! Clare
Re: Morning Barking Thanks very much, Clare! I didn't actually think of it that way. We've had visitors all over Christmas and New Year plus time at home. Hopefully it settles down soon
Re: Morning Barking Maybe it's a Dexter thing.....I should have had my phone ready today to record the one bark we get at 5.15am EVERY morning......although it is followed by a follow up bark and a bit of whining if I'm not down pretty sharpish after that!i know exactly what prompts it though.....the golf buggies start at the back of us at 5 am and he associates that with my appearance. After our first holiday Paige the dog sitter moved in....we came back to the wake up bark being 4.30 am!!!!it gets light here then in summer and she'd been getting up to him.Toooooooo early,even with the heat considerations we have in the summer.I did 2 mornings of shouting 'quiet' down the stairs and he knew the score by day 3!5.30 am suits me (unbelievable I know!) so I Know I could fix it if I needed too. Changing his routine ,due to visitors or because you are changing your routine ( lie in,bliss!)will cause disruption especially if your days always do run pretty much the same..... He's still only young too. I haven't read up on this as the firm word worked for us ( following Heidrun's advice ;D) so if he doesn't settle down it might be as simple as you doing that? With us being totally trained by Dexter : morning lie ins no longer exist for is and have transformed into afternoon naps on the couch! ;D good luck,let us know how he does x
Re: Morning Barking Penny is like this. She starts whining at 7am every morning without fail. We thought it was triggered by the alarm clock - when she heard it she knows that means we're getting up and she can get up, but she also does it on the weekends too! She's pretty good at telling the time! It used to be 6am until I changed my working hours but she settled into that pretty quickly - it is something to do with hearing the alarm go off. Maybe something like that is triggering your pup? Not necessarily an alarm clock as you say you've been off for Christmas but maybe there's an outside noise at 5am that he hears and is a trigger for waking up? Penny also reacts to the toilet flushing in the mornings so if we go to the loo before 7am we have to not pull the flush or she'll think its time to get up! You said you're semidetached- does the neighbour you're attached to get up at 5am? I wouldn't put it past a dog to hear noises from next door! Or it could simply be that he's out of routine because of Christmas visitors and different sleeping patterns etc. it may just take a few days for him to settle back into his old routine.
Re: Morning Barking Thanks for all of the advice! You know what, I'd not thought of there being a trigger. Hmm it's got me thinking... Bang on the dot, half 5 this morning the barking started again. It wasn't constant (even with someone showering) so hoping by ignoring the barks it's working. I'll keep you posted...
Re: Morning Barking I'd be interested to hear what you did and how you got on. My 8 month old has woken me at about 5.30 since I can remember! Like you I've tried ignoring him and like you he stops and starts but will do it again the next day. He doesn't need a wee and I've been unable to find a noise or action that sets him off. Over Christmas when he was being kept awake all day by guests he would sleep through till 9 easily and I hoped we'd broken the cycle - but on the first work day he started again!! I had thought about the water trick but when I tried that to stop him jumping on the sofa he opened his mouth to catch it and wagged his tail!!! What do people use to spray their dogs?? As I generally get up at 6 anyway during the week it's been easier to live with it than address it, but its getting to grind a little now
Re: Morning Barking You haven't got heating / hot water or anything that's set to come on so it's ready for you when you get up at 6??? If he started on the first work day - not the second, when he had had no house guests keeping him awake during the day the day before - it suggests that there is something about work morning routine that he is picking up on... Might not be your routine though - neighbour / paper boy / milk float / bus route...?? Clare
Re: Morning Barking I have tried turning heating off and this morn it came on after he started. I meant after the first workday (second morn) sorry. I have gotten up before he starts and can't hear or see anything. We live up a private road with 2 other houses and woodland behind us. I think it's mainly my fault as I try to stop him 5 days a week and am more lax at the weekend and go to him and let him outside, he will then resettle till at least 8.
Re: Morning Barking Hey guys Cooper doesnt wake me up like tat he is kinda lazy unless he needs to pee quickly its me who wakes him up how funny its like im dragging myself to wake him p and if i don wake him up god knws he might jus sleep and wakes up oly wen he hears the door opening so don wry...it will settle down
Re: Morning Barking http://www.amazon.co.uk/Innotek-Anti-Bark-Collar-Unscented-Citronella/dp/B000H3VAQ8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top This is a spray not a shock.
Re: Morning Barking When Lilly was younger we tried a quick squirt of lemon juice in the mouth (easiest and best from a Jif lemon). A relatively innocuous aversive as recommended by our trainer - who is not all positive training techniques - but more effective than water. If we take one out our pocket now she will instantly stop a bad behaviour, but she is more than happy to retrieve said yellow lemon when having "down time" after classes. It worked for us with the early morning whining while crated (we didn't do barks then).
Re: Morning Barking Jac, you could use the Jiff instead of a tennis ball to encourage Lilly's retrieving ;D
Re: Morning Barking Yep, tried that Helen! Loves to retrieve it from the big pond along from our training field. Not interested walking along the field edge :
Re: Morning Barking Start inside Jac, a little gentle Jiff lemon retrieving in the hall way, then in the garden, little steps ;D
Re: Morning Barking I can highly recommend orange squeaky snake to encourage retrieving, absolutely worked here
Re: Morning Barking Squeaky toys works gud for retrieving and fetch games it also helps to hone their natural instincts of retrieving jus give it a try its so enjoyable and relaxing for both of u.... ;D ;D ;D
Re: Morning Barking Hmm the lemon sounds like an option. I'll see how we go. This morning...no barking!! ;D We were up at 6am and when Karl went downstairs, Dexter was just sat up in bed waiting for him. No barking, whimpering, howling. In all honesty, I think it's a fluke and we'll be back to square one tomorrow morning But we shall see. Thanks for the spray collar link Tillydyes. Personally, that's not something we'd use but I'm sure others may find it helpful!
