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Barking at night

Haydss

Member
Barking at night
Firstly I'll point out that Charlie does sleep inside..... anyway, onto the gist of my post :p

So every day once the sun goes down Charlie will wait by the back door for extended periods wanting outside (either side of sleeping on our laps etc). Once let outside (we don't have a dog door yet) he will bolt outside at quick pace and charge down the driveway to the gate towards the front of the house barking like mad. He will sit there going crazy, sometimes bolting down the back again and then towards the front again. Eventually he wears himself out however with the barking getting slowly worse every night we don't let him do it very long before having to haul him inside.

Any ideas why he is so keen on getting outside at night? and why the constant barking? and what would be the best way of going about this?

During the day we usually leave the back door open for him as someone is usually home and he has no problem with the barking at all. We would leave the back door open in the evening also but with the barking getting worse once it is dark it is not an option at the moment.

Could it be the fear of the unknown as he can't see so much at night?
 
Perhaps he's just VERY excited to be out and having a good run. Leo does bark sometimes in the evening if he goes out side but we can usually hear another dog barking in the distance...
It's a bit like the twilight bark from 101 Dalmations:-D

We tell him to "be quiet"

Mel
 
How frustrating! The main point here I suppose is that you are probably accidentally training him to get worse (or rather he is training you to let him...! :lol:) by the current set up. He waits, you let him out, he gets to go crazy for all the time he wants. I am assuming you mean he remains safe and is gated in safely though and cannot actually get out to the road :).

He could be barking at any number of things- impossible to say what or even if it is nothing, that he just likes the running and barking- but right now even though you most likely do not mean to do anything of the sort, you are giving him positive reinforcement by letting him out (at his command to you!) and letting him bark.

Whether you want to have him do this is the issue. If you have neighbours you are probably not going to create much good will if he is allowed to do this each night and as most places have barking ordinances you could be giving neighbours grounds to have him impounded or even confiscated! If you live way out in the country and no one is near for miles than it probably is only an issue of whether this behaviour bothers you or not. :) It sounds like it does!

Personally that would drive me nuts too :lol; and I would not let him out to do this. I would really strongly advise not to put a dog flap in at all or be sure to get one that locks or can be left open so you can shut it off at night -- or he can let himself out to do this all day/night long. To train against it - don't let him out like this at night; at night only take him out on a lead, and make sure he gets enough daily exercise- at least 1 hour active walk including activity like playing fetch. Sounds like he is wanting more exercise if as you observe, he is enjoying tiring himself out! I think we often seriously underestimate how much exercise our dogs need - meaning active brain challenging fun walks and activity. Running around a garden or a short daily walk is not enough for any but elderly dogs. :) Maybe there are animas out there or someone walks a dog past at that tie in the evening, or a cat gets let out around that time -- very hard to know. I'd just be worried it could gradually become a daytime activity gradually too, if he is allowed to do it at night.

Maybe next time, instead of letting him out, go down yourself with a flashlight and see what it might be that distracts him?
 
Thanks for the replies both of you :)

Our property is gated thankfully as Charlie has no road sense at all!! :p

Exercise depends on the day, sometimes his walks are longer then others depending on available time and if it is too hot or not, although often i'm sure it is not long enough for him. We should probably work on that.

We shall stop letting him out at night and take him out on a lead when we need to and see how that goes. Tonight he has a new pork bone so has had no interest in heading outside at all though, lol
 
I agree with Karlin but perhaps another solution might work too if you can find no reason for the barking?

I have exactly this problem with 5 "gobby" cockers so I tend to let them out for last wees as follows, quiet ones first making them sit before I let them through the open door. The noisest pair are last and on lead walking round the garden until that first burst of exuberance is over then as soon as their interest has lessened I slip the leads off.

Hope that helps :flwr:
 
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