If you were hungry, bored, lonely or in pain you might very well want to make a noise about it… When a dog feels these things they can’t openly tell you, but sometimes they bark to let you know.
And sometimes they bark at night. Your neighbours might turn a blind ear to barking during the day, but barking at night can be a real menace for everyone. It can also become an entrenched nasty habit if you don’t nip it in the bud.
How can you stop it?
If your pup is barking to voice hunger you can readily check online that the quantity of food you are giving is appropriate for its size and age. Also read the fine print of the ingredients of different brands – some foods are definitely more nutritious than others.
There are dogs that ‘graze’ – eat a little, walk away and come back for more later. Others, more commonly, have an eating instinct without a stop button. Obviously you don’t want to encourage fatness in your four-legged friend. Try adding blanched broccoli or cabbage to their meal as a healthy tummy-filler to make them feel more satisfied.
Barking from boredom may be the result of a lack of mental stimulation or exercise – something only you can fix. You just have to be careful not to reinforce bad behaviour.
So if your pooch starts barking at night and you take it for a walk, or play with it, you’re effectively rewarding the behaviour you want to stop.
While there’s something to be said for the old adage ‘let sleeping dogs lie’, make sure you choose your play or walk time when your dog is settled and quiet so that they don’t decide that they’ll get what they want by barking.
If your hound is lonely, you could consider getting a second canine companion – or try to give them more attention. Again – NOT when they are barking as this will reinforce negative behaviour.
When pain is an incentive for barking your wisest course of action is to consult with your vet.
If you can get to the bottom of the reason your dog is barking, you can solve the problem.
Your dog may just need a pee! And if that’s the reason, you can interrupt the barking behaviour by offering to let it in the garden or take it out more often.
Remember. Pretty much everything negative your dog does is your fault. This means, generally speaking, that you’re the answer to the problem.
Soon you’ll be a master of anticipating the cause, diverting its happening, replacing it with something new and ending night time barking forever.
Good luck gang!