Dog barking in crate, help please!

[starryfish]

Okay, DH and I are both SUPER frustrated and not sure what we can do to improve this situation.

Background: 10.5 yo chihuahua. She used to sleep in bed with me (and then us) for the first 9.5 years of her life. Last summer while TTC we moved her to her crate overnight in prep for a baby. 

She LOVES LOVES LOVES her crate. She puts herself to bed at night around 9pm in her crate. But lately she has started barking in the middle of the night or early in the morning before I go get her (normally at 7am). She barks REALLY loud and wakes us both up. This is what we have tried:

1). Just let her bark.....but she will bark for 2-3+ hours nonstop
2). Let her outside and then put her back in her crate, will start barking again. 
3). Spray her with water (no flames please), works sometimes but will usually bark again later
4). Moved her crate to a small bathroom upstairs so its quieter when she barks (still can hear her from our room)
5). Let her come to bed with us. I have stopped doing this but its the ONLY thing that works. 
6). We bought a anti-bark collar that buzzes and beeps when dog barks. She figured out how to make it not work (moves it around on her neck).
* I have thought about moving her crate to our bedroom but not sure if that would work bc she will want to be in bed with us.*

This has GOT to stop because my sleep already sucks due to pregnancy and it needs to stop before the baby comes so she doesn't get woken up either. She doesn't do it every night, maybe 1-2x a week?

Please tell me some magic solution! :-)

[followyourarrow]

9 pm - 7 am is a super long time, at least it would be for my dog. Can you put her to bed later and/or get her up earlier? Does she genuinely need out?

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 9:56:49 GMT -5 followyourarrow said:

9 pm - 7 am is a super long time, at least it would be for my dog. Can you put her to bed later and/or get her up earlier? Does she genuinely need out?

No she doesn't need to go out. When I do let her out, she runs straight to our bedroom door instead of to the outside door. 

[just]

A few thoughts

Like pp mentioned, that's a long time. She's probably just up for the day and wants to do stuff. You could try tire her out more during the day in the hopes that she sleeps later. Or try to keep her awake later by doing a late evening walk.
You could get up with her a little earlier, let her out and then give her some kind of puzzle toy in her crate - a kong or something, to keep her occupied until you're ready to wake up for real.
A sheet over the kennel worked for one of ours. He must be part canary. If the kennel isn't covered it's not time to sleep.

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 10:03:44 GMT -5 just said:

A few thoughts

Like pp mentioned, that's a long time. She's probably just up for the day and wants to do stuff. You could try tire her out more during the day in the hopes that she sleeps later. Or try to keep her awake later by doing a late evening walk.
You could get up with her a little earlier, let her out and then give her some kind of puzzle toy in her crate - a kong or something, to keep her occupied until you're ready to wake up for real.
A sheet over the kennel worked for one of ours. He must be part canary. If the kennel isn't covered it's not time to sleep.

We tried to keep her awake more during the day and keep her up later at night, but it has not been successful. Even if she goes to bed at 11pm/midnight, she still wants to wake up earlier than she should. Last weekend she went on a super long walk right before bedtime, went to bed at 1130pm and was still up at 6am. 

We already have a cover for her crate. She would demolish a treat or kong pretty quickly so it would not buy us much time. :-(

I am wondering if we could try letting her out of her crate and let her hang out on the couch in her blanket. Just worried about her barking or whining at our door. 

[followyourarrow]

Aug 29, 2016 10:09:35 GMT -5 starryfish said:

Aug 29, 2016 10:03:44 GMT -5 just said:

A few thoughts

Like pp mentioned, that's a long time. She's probably just up for the day and wants to do stuff. You could try tire her out more during the day in the hopes that she sleeps later. Or try to keep her awake later by doing a late evening walk.
You could get up with her a little earlier, let her out and then give her some kind of puzzle toy in her crate - a kong or something, to keep her occupied until you're ready to wake up for real.
A sheet over the kennel worked for one of ours. He must be part canary. If the kennel isn't covered it's not time to sleep.

We tried to keep her awake more during the day and keep her up later at night, but it has not been successful. Even if she goes to bed at 11pm/midnight, she still wants to wake up earlier than she should. Last weekend she went on a super long walk right before bedtime, went to bed at 1130pm and was still up at 6am. 

We already have a cover for her crate. She would demolish a treat or kong pretty quickly so it would not buy us much time.

I am wondering if we could try letting her out of her crate and let her hang out on the couch in her blanket. Just worried about her barking or whining at our door. 

Maybe it's just my dog, but that seems normal to me.  Arrow goes to bed at 10:30 and is up for the day around 5 am.  Nothing I do seems to change that, so I've had to accept it.  If she's up before 5, she gets a quick trip outside and back to her kennel.  

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 10:15:11 GMT -5 followyourarrow said:

Aug 29, 2016 10:09:35 GMT -5 starryfish said:

We tried to keep her awake more during the day and keep her up later at night, but it has not been successful. Even if she goes to bed at 11pm/midnight, she still wants to wake up earlier than she should. Last weekend she went on a super long walk right before bedtime, went to bed at 1130pm and was still up at 6am. 

We already have a cover for her crate. She would demolish a treat or kong pretty quickly so it would not buy us much time.

I am wondering if we could try letting her out of her crate and let her hang out on the couch in her blanket. Just worried about her barking or whining at our door. 

Maybe it's just my dog, but that seems normal to me.  Arrow goes to bed at 10:30 and is up for the day around 5 am.  Nothing I do seems to change that, so I've had to accept it.  If she's up before 5, she gets a quick trip outside and back to her kennel.  

I am totally fine taking her out and putting her back in her crate, but she will bark if I put her back in her crate. She wants to go back to bed with me. Sigh. 

[sarahbear]

Is the baby the only reason you don't want her in bed with you? We have two kids and having the dog in bed with us wasn't an issue. I know everyone is different, so I'm not saying that you are doing anything wrong. But are you planning on co-sleeping or some other reason you must change the routine?

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 10:35:09 GMT -5 Stan said:

I don't think my dog could handle not sleeping in my room. He's been in here forever and I can't imagine the change for him if I tried to move him out. He'd bark allll night. I'd try the crate in your room.

Yea I think we will try this soon. It is just weird that she has been ok sleeping in her crate for 1+ year and the last couple months has had issues. 

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 10:37:42 GMT -5 sarahbear said:

Is the baby the only reason you don't want her in bed with you? We have two kids and having the dog in bed with us wasn't an issue. I know everyone is different, so I'm not saying that you are doing anything wrong. But are you planning on co-sleeping or some other reason you must change the routine?

It was our excuse, but also for morning action...she will whine while we are doing it and be annoying lol. But we could always kick her out for that. 

[sarahbear]

Aug 29, 2016 10:40:42 GMT -5 starryfish said:

Aug 29, 2016 10:37:42 GMT -5 sarahbear said:

Is the baby the only reason you don't want her in bed with you? We have two kids and having the dog in bed with us wasn't an issue. I know everyone is different, so I'm not saying that you are doing anything wrong. But are you planning on co-sleeping or some other reason you must change the routine?

It was our excuse, but also for morning action...she will whine while we are doing it and be annoying lol. But we could always kick her out for that. 

LOL. I get it. Little dogs can wear you down to get what they want. I was a big sucker for puppy dog eyes (as you can tell because we never kicked her out of the bed). She passed away this year, so I guess I'm a little sentimental about things.

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 10:46:01 GMT -5 sarahbear said:

Aug 29, 2016 10:40:42 GMT -5 starryfish said:

It was our excuse, but also for morning action...she will whine while we are doing it and be annoying lol. But we could always kick her out for that. 

LOL. I get it. Little dogs can wear you down to get what they want. I was a big sucker for puppy dog eyes (as you can tell because we never kicked her out of the bed). She passed away this year, so I guess I'm a little sentimental about things.

I know it is SO hard. I think we will try to move her crate in our bedroom and see how that goes. If not, I am OK with her just getting in bed (gotta get DH more on board with that, which I think he will once baby is here). 

Thanks all. I just wanted to see if there was a magic solution to this :-)

[hski2349]

My dog use to sleep in bed with us all the time. And then we decided we needed to transition her somewhere else. We got her a nice soft dog bed, and put it in the bedroom she just sleep on that.

Do you close the crate door? Maybe you could leave it open.

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 11:49:41 GMT -5 hski2349 said:

My dog use to sleep in bed with us all the time. And then we decided we needed to transition her somewhere else. We got her a nice soft dog bed, and put it in the bedroom she just sleep on that.

Do you close the crate door? Maybe you could leave it open.

We do close it and I think she doesnt like that. maybe I can try that, thanks!

[icedcoffee]

My dog sleeps downstairs in his crate. He generally goes in around 10:30 pm and starts crying when he hears the first alarm go off in the morning at 6AM. Sometimes he'll start crying earlier especially if we are travelling somewhere and he gets confused about what time it is. He cries because he wants breakfast so we'll either ignore or get up, feed him and go back to sleep.

If your dog is barking in the morning when you will be getting up soon I would ignore.

If she is barking in the middle of the night our trainer told us to hit the top of the crate and sternly say "No" and walk away. We did this in the beginning when he would cry while crate training. It did stop him from crying and he loves his crate. I realize this advice is not for everyone, but it did work for us. My trainer is very reputable in my area, so please don't flame me.

Like other posters have said though---9pm-7am is a really long time so she may just have too much time in there. Our dog is crated from about 10:30-6.

Good luck--I LOVE that our dog stays on the main level and sleeps in his crate. My upstairs stays fur free and I don't have to share the bed with a smelly, furry dog. To each their own, but when we cuddle it's on the couch downstairs.

[awick14]

We have a dog bed in our room and our pup sleeps on that.

When he was a puppy he was crate trained and he slept in the crate every night, until probably 2 yrs old. He liked his crate but preferred to be free of course.

The crate was always in our bedroom and when he would whine we would take him outside on a leash and then bring him right back to his crate. Usually that made him stop whining. (But he was younger so he probably did have to pee)

Now he sleeps on his bed in our room and doesn't think anything of it. He sleeps through the night there, occasionally he gets up and whines to be let out around 6-7am but that's usually if he can tell we are awake and not feeding him/letting him out. Lol

[Deleted]

I have the kennel in my room. I agree it would be best to move the kennel to your room. When I do crate my chihuahua mix, I toss in a water buffalo horn or deer antler so he and chew if he gets frustrated. Any blankets or covers would be pulled into the crate and promptly shredded. I cover the top of the crate with cardboard that he can't get at. I hope it comes to a point where you can leave the crate door open and he just sleep in there out of habit.

[nicechicken]

I'm a crate training failure. They all sleep in bed with me. Mostly because I was so exhausted from the same situation and I knew they would go to bed and not wake up until I did.



I did this with my kid too(in the crib, not a crate). #lazyparenting

I agree with Stan, She absolutely knows that shit is changing and wants to be there with you.

[wambam]

I have zero opinions about dog crating, but nicechicken, I love your SN. Love.

[yentl]

Aug 29, 2016 12:00:31 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

If she is barking in the middle of the night our trainer told us to hit the top of the crate and sternly say "No" and walk away. We did this in the beginning when he would cry while crate training. It did stop him from crying and he loves his crate. I realize this advice is not for everyone, but it did work for us. My trainer is very reputable in my area, so please don't flame me.

I am by no means a dog expert, but we have fostered a few pups that may or may not have ever been crate trained. I was told to rattle some coins in a jar or can if they bark/whimper. It took some time but it seemed to work for our fosters.

I'm wondering what would happen as well if you left the door open or let her out of the crate after barking and just went back to bed with your door closed if you definitely don't want her in your room. I would also consider crating in your room to see if that helps.


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[icedcoffee]

Aug 29, 2016 15:52:43 GMT -5 yentl said:

Aug 29, 2016 12:00:31 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

If she is barking in the middle of the night our trainer told us to hit the top of the crate and sternly say "No" and walk away. We did this in the beginning when he would cry while crate training. It did stop him from crying and he loves his crate. I realize this advice is not for everyone, but it did work for us. My trainer is very reputable in my area, so please don't flame me.

I am by no means a dog expert, but we have fostered a few pups that may or may not have ever been crate trained. I was told to rattle some coins in a jar or can if they bark/whimper. It took some time but it seemed to work for our fosters.

I'm wondering what would happen as well if you left the door open or let her out of the crate after barking and just went back to bed with your door closed if you definitely don't want her in your room. I would also consider crating in your room to see if that helps.


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Yes---I've also heard about the jar with coins trick.  I tried this once when trying to train him to only come up on the couch if he's invited and the jar shattered and glass and coins went everywhere.  It scared the ever loving shit out of my poor dog and me.  We didn't try it again.  Haha.

[Roc A Bee]

I would take her out when she whines, let her out, feed her (if you feed in the morning) and then let her chill in the living room/wherever. I'd go back to bed and close the door. This is actually what I do every weekend because Roc doesn't sleep in past 7:30.

[AAM2012]

It's weird to me that she was fine in the crate overnight and then has suddenly changed and started to bark.

Isn't 10+ years starting to get into the senior phase? I believe they live on average between 12-15 years? Are you sure it's not a potty issue? Our 8 year old chihuahua usually sleeps with us from about 9-9:30pm until 5:30am at the latest and then he's ready to get up and get going.

Are you sure nothing has changed in her environment?

That's alumni can think of in this random post.

[starryfish]

Aug 29, 2016 22:47:21 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

It's weird to me that she was fine in the crate overnight and then has suddenly changed and started to bark.

Isn't 10+ years starting to get into the senior phase? I believe they live on average between 12-15 years? Are you sure it's not a potty issue? Our 8 year old chihuahua usually sleeps with us from about 9-9:30pm until 5:30am at the latest and then he's ready to get up and get going.

Are you sure nothing has changed in her environment?

That's alumni can think of in this random post.

I am pregnant, so I think she can sense that. 

She can hold it fine. When I do let her out of the crate, she runs to our door to go back to bed (or runs upstairs to my sister when she stays with us). Her first concern is NOT going potty lol. 

Thanks :-)

[whiskeytails]

Dogs are pack animals. I bet she's just lonely. I hope moving her crate into the room with you will help. Especially she's used to taking care of you and now that you're pregnant, she prob wants to make sure you are ok at night too.

[starryfish]

Aug 30, 2016 17:51:36 GMT -5 whiskeytails said:

Dogs are pack animals. I bet she's just lonely. I hope moving her crate into the room with you will help. Especially she's used to taking care of you and now that you're pregnant, she prob wants to make sure you are ok at night too.

Good point. She used to go cuddle with my DH occasionally but now never wants to leave me.

[AAM2012]

Ok so follow up post......can we get a pic of the pup!

[starryfish]

As you can see she loves to snuggle

[starryfish]

Here is my fat cat, love taking pics of her tummy

[AAM2012]

So cute!!