Barking for no reason, and will not sleep at night....

[Guest Anonymous]

I am so glad to find this site...You guys have been really helpful....Ok so here goes...

Stealth is now 4 months old as of monday 07/26! We have had him for a month and a half. The problems that are am having a bad time with is:

Barking
and
Not sleeping at night

Not Sleeping at Night
I just changed jobs and now I work closer to home...like 20 min instead of dealing with 4 to 6 hours of traffic in the Washington DC area. So, it is alot easier to come home and have more play time for him...He is kennel trained and is in there during the day while I am at work..He has done really well with that! I know that he has a lots of energy by the time we get home..So we go to the high school across the street and do a good walk and run...but that does not get all of the energy out...for the last 2 weeks I was off with him due to changing jobs...so I must have messed up his schedule...does anyone know what to do? I don't mind him getting up in the middle of the night but he always gets up and come and barks at me...I take him out to go pee and poo but nothing some of the time...HELP!

Barking
He barks almost all of the time...I have him trained to where he goes to the door and sits and barks 3 times to let me know he needs to go potty. But now he does that when he just wants to go outside...I don't want to put him out there yet because of the ticks in the yard...I am trying to get someone out to treat the yard for that..but now he will go through the house and bark...normally at night my husband and I will start a movie and he would either get a toy and play, chew on a rawhide, or come and lay on the couch between us and either watch the movie (which i think is the funniest) or get something and play....He doesn't do that alot anymore...What is there that can be trained as far as when to bark and when not to bark...Can that be controled?

Again, Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

Jessica Tim and Stealth!

[imported_Cassie]

Here is an article which may help you.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1551&articleid=153

Just to add, a 4 month old puppy should be on a tolit schedule. This is how you keep peace and order in your house hold. :wink:
I would have a schedule for the pup,
take pup out first thing in the morning
15-20 minutes after eating breakfast
mid day
before supper
and 20 minutes after supper.
just before bed time.

Some times we make the mistake of allowing our dogs to train us the owners :wink: your pup is learning that by barking he is able to go out doors or get attention. For myself, I would never train a dog to bark to get what it wants...this can lead to a very annoying companion.
Your pups schedule may be a little screwed up right now, but, dogs are very flexable..its time to make a new schedule.
I think I would go bonkers if my 6 dogs barked every time they wanted to go out :lol: that would probably by every 15 minutes...not because they have to go to the bathroom...just because they want attention and want to go out side. My dogs have all learned to do their business before going to bed, they sleep through the night and then I take them out 1st thing in the morning. I was also looking after one of my dogs pups (the pup is 5 months) and this pup went the night without having to wake me up. The pup was learning good potty behavior from my adult dogs. :wink:

[rotten_two]

haha i can identify with you because your problems are not uncommon. so he has figured out to bark to get outside. wow! isn't that the coolest thing? however most of the time we forget to teach the quiet cue, which means enuff with the barking already, until we notice they bark all the time haha. maybe you need to put the bark on cue with a word like speak or bark. if the bark alerts you to his need to potty outside that is great as long as you want him to do it. if you have a potty schedule like cassie mentioned then you pretty much know if he has to potty and can therefore decide if he truly needs to go (now there are exceptions of course and it is up to you). if you suspect he just wants to go outside to goof off and you have no time for it then i would start training the quiet cue or at the least ignoring his solicitation. if he persists a short time out may be in order. if you are unsure of his bladder/bowel condition then i would take him out on lead (just in case he really has to go), go to potty area, give him time to go and if not producitive bring him back in. he only gets to play if he first goes potty. the goal is that he learns bark at the door means i gotta go not i wanna play. you decide when he can play outside not him. be patient he will get it.

not sleeping at night -- the first thing i would say is shame on you, j/k. if i read the post right he *gets up and comes over and barks* hmm why is pup not in crate at night? as we all know dogs bark for a variety of reasons -- frustration, boredom, defense, to get attention. your particular case sounds like maybe a little boredom, frustration, attention dealy. if you are going to let him sleep out of crate at night i would suggest when he barks 1) taking him out to pee just in case and 2) plop him in the crate with a stuffed kong toy if he does nothing outside. i am wondering about exercise. i know you said you take walk/run with him and that is great -- physical exercise is a great way to tire them especially if you pair it with a mental workout. maybe have a short training session shortly before bed time. give his mind something to do and he may sleep for longer. you can do basic obedience stuff, maybe hide and seek, cutesy little tricks -- anything you want to work the mind. ever noticed how tired you get if you concentrate on something for a while? same principle.

i hope this made sense?