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Cocker Specific Discussion => Puppies => Topic started by: Bo's Mum on June 04, 2005, 12:06:15 PM

Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 04, 2005, 12:06:15 PM: ok seem to have cracked it during the day he will go in his crate no problem he dont bark at all with the door closed and even if he did its ok cuz the neighbours are at work its the nights that are the problems!!
i have tried ..........................
1. putting him in with us but the crate wont fit
2 leaving the light on
3 putting a hot water bottle in with him so he feels warmer
4 filling a kong to keep him busy
5 putting a blanket over the top
6 using the room more so he dont feel alone
7 james has tried staying in the room with him too

but nothing works he will just not sleep in his crate at nights he just barks and barks and barks and barks (i think you get my drift) ha ha i love Bo to bits BUT i need my sleep :(
when i take him out cuz i think he might need toilet he comes out does nothing and just wants to play so i put him back in and it all kicks of again :(
plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: PennyB on June 04, 2005, 12:24:01 PM: It won't necessarily work overnight. Think small babies!

Is it possible to put the crate in the living room overnight instead of the spare room (mine hated being in the dining area so I moved the crate to the living room and bliss). Settle him in living room in crate a couple of hours before you go to bed so he's quiet and you watch TV or whatever then let him out to the loo without fuss and then back in again and then a short time or however long go up to bed.
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: ~Jilly~ on June 04, 2005, 03:17:55 PM: you've just got to persevere I'm afraid.

I think trying the crate in another room is worth a try, as I said, Bella was definately more settled in the lounge and Penny found this too so maybe your lounge is worth a try?

If you know he's had a drink and been to the loo then you'll just have to ignore the crying, shut the doors and put some ear plugs in!

Only other thing you haven't mentioned is does he have a cuddly toy? Bella has a cuddly fluffy dog and she loves him! She rests her head on top of his body when she goes to sleep :wub: She also loves to be snuggled into blankets - we have vet bed in the bottom of the crate but she has fleece blankets on the top in one half as she loves to snuggle into those, she also had a snugglesafe warmer to start with (she doesn't now) - these stay warm for up to 12 hours rather than a hot water bottle that will just last an hour or so.

What about a radio? tv? something with sound to make the room feel more 'lived in'?

Rather than a full light have you got a dim lamp/dimmer switch? I find Bella is less likely to settle with a full light so I dim our light in the evenings so she settles.

I know it's hard when you're not sleeping and problems seem even more exagerated than normal but stick in there, you will get there in the end :)
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Cob-Web on June 04, 2005, 04:22:18 PM: Cayley, he won't suddenly "stop" barking one night (well he might, but its highly unlikely ;) ) - if you persevere with a stable, familiar routine for him, you will notice that the barking spells become shorter and the quiet periods become longer; until one night, you realise he hasn't barked at all (http://img118.exs.cx/img118/6682/q6ibounce.gif)

When you leave him to bark, you have to be really firm with yourself and not give in - if you do give in he will learn that if he barks for long enough, you eventually go back to him - and you will have disturbed nights for months :blink:

You may well have disturbed nights for a few more weeks yet; and once he settles, you might find he still needs to "go out" for a wee/poo in the early hours still :) The good news is that although its like having a new baby, its a much shorter period - by 12 months old Bo will be all grown up :o
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 08:01:38 PM: is barking for 55mins SOLID normal tho???? i thought he was supposed to eventually give up then gradually bark less and less but its not happening he seriously just does not stop untill i go thru to him he shows no signs of lettin up he dont even take a breather its just none stop but like i said he is fine during the day its jst nights, i have js purchased a DAP diffuser as ive heard these could help settle him i just want to make him feel more at ease poor lil guy i hate him barking so much stressing himself out like that :(
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Pammy on June 05, 2005, 08:24:33 PM: Jasper didn't bark but howled for hours and hours so 55 mins is not unusual at all.

Is there any way you could bring him in his crate into your room?
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 08:41:07 PM: that was ust last night he has barked and barked for hours before and gets himself in to such a state how did you get jasper to stop??
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Cob-Web on June 05, 2005, 08:43:51 PM: Quote
is barking for 55mins SOLID normal tho???? i thought he was supposed to eventually give up then gradually bark less and less but its not happening he seriously just does not stop untill i go thru to him he shows no signs of lettin up he dont even take a breather its just none stop but like i said he is fine during the day its jst nights, i have js purchased a DAP diffuser as ive heard these could help settle him i just want to make him feel more at ease poor lil guy i hate him barking so much stressing himself out like that :(
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Sounds perfectly normal - hes only been with you a week, hasn't he? You need to think in terms of him settling over the course of several weeks rather than a few days :ph34r: Remember he's still tiny baby - Molo hadn't even left his mum at Bo's age.....life is so new and lots of things are scary :unsure:

Try to relax - as he will sense your anxiety and any tension in the house and this will make him more stressed; and be consistent - he WILL stop, but it will take longer than you may have been expecting :rolleyes:
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: PennyB on June 05, 2005, 08:47:30 PM: What's your normal routine at night.

Do you settle him down in his crate for a couple of hours or so before you go to bed or are you fussing with him downstairs and then just putting him in the crate in the spare room.
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 08:55:02 PM: our routine is feed him his supper around 10 he does his business then we have quiet time dim the lights etc and he chills out with me on the sofa then as he is falling asleep i put him in his crate around 11pm but by 12 (if im lucky enough to reach that long) he is howling the place down, i leave the light switched of but leave the door open a wee bit so that a bit of light is in the room i leave the radio on and also have a hot water bottle in his crate.

we also tried to tire him out before bed but this just made him more hyper
how long can i expect him to bark for at night then? and what is it im doing wrong why is he gettin so upset at nights? i hate hearing him cry and bark like that not just cuz i need to sleep but because i no how upset he getting

he uses his crate all during the day goes in of his own accord too so its not that he dont like the crate :(
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Pammy on June 05, 2005, 08:57:51 PM: Quote
that was ust last night he has barked and barked for hours before and gets himself in to such a state how did you get jasper to stop??
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by bringing him into our room. He never made a sound after that.
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 08:59:23 PM: but his crate wont fit in our room :(
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 09:00:17 PM: and so is the crate still in your room and thats where its staying?
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: suki1964 on June 05, 2005, 09:20:17 PM: Is there no way you can get the crate into your room? We had to squeeze the crate inbetween the bed and the wall and I had to climb over hubby to get into bed. Maybe you can move a bit of furniture into another room for the time being to make room for it? But even bringing him the room wont bring instant results, it will take time, patience, and consistancy.
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 09:23:47 PM: but if i manage to sqeeze the crate in is tat where it stays all the time? cuz he reall y likes his crate during the dAY but is your crate going to be staying their forever?
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: suki1964 on June 05, 2005, 09:27:39 PM: Quote
but if i manage to sqeeze the crate in is tat where it stays all the time? cuz he reall y likes his crate during the dAY but is your crate going to be staying their forever?
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I used to cart the crate up and down the stairs - or should I say hubby did :)

But by time he was five months we stopped using the crate at night and shut him in the bedroom with us so he still had to wake us if he needed out. Once we were sure of clean nights we let him have the run of the house
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 05, 2005, 09:33:15 PM: Quote
I used to cart the crate up and down the stairs - or should I say hubby did :)

But by time he was five months we stopped using the crate at night and shut him in the bedroom with us so he still had to wake us if he needed out. Once we were sure of clean nights we let him have the run of the house
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ok so should i try using the crate in with us at night then in the morning put it back in the spare room? will this not confuse him?
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: suki1964 on June 05, 2005, 09:47:52 PM: Some people advise against moving the crate around because it can lead to confusion, Im just saying what worked for us, others experiences may differ.

Alfies crate was kept in the kitchen during the day as thats the room we live in so when I had to leave him home alone thats where he was left. i will have to be honest and say that Alfie has never liked his crate and used it as a "safe haven" as other pups have but he does go into it when bribed with a few biscuits and settles down peacefully.

Probably if we didnt live so close to other people and have a very noise sensitive neighbour I would have done things differently. But we had to do what worked for us and our neighbours. Alfie is a year old now and we have just stopped crating him, something hubby is extremely pleased about as he hated the crate from the word go :)
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: PennyB on June 05, 2005, 09:57:50 PM: Quote
Alfies crate was kept in the kitchen during the day as thats the room we live in so when I had to leave him home alone thats where he was left

I agree, as I was always told (and read) that the crate should be somewhere that you spend a lot of time in. Your spare room sounds like its a room that is used on occasion (does the crate have to be in the spare room). Is he allowed in other areas of the house.

Do you spend time with him downstairs in the evening and if so do you let him
have a quiet time on his own to settle down before he goes to sleep or are you playing with him. It may be that he needs wind-down time (on his own and I dont mean in the spare room) before you go to bed.
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Cob-Web on June 05, 2005, 10:06:39 PM: Does Bo have anywhere like a playpen in an area of the house where you are most of the time - such as the kitchen or living room?

His barking at night may be due to him feeling abandoned, which will improve as his bond with your family increases - and a good way to do this is to allow him to spend time in the area's of the house you are - even when you are not interacting with him :)

Molo's playpen/crate is next to our dining table in the kitchen - and he rests in there during the day while I cook, and while we eat; so when he was a pup he could still see us, and (I believe), bond with us, even when we weren't playing or interacting directly with him.

He also sleeps there at night - and has done from the first day; like you are trying, with a radio, snuggle-pup, nightlight, a blanket from his breeder that smelt of his mum and blanket over the crate. For the first 10 days, I slept in the living room nearby.

An idea has just occured to me; have you left him an item of your clothing to snuggle up to at night? Or can you ask his breeder if they have a towel or piece of bedding that smells of his dame?

I know how hard it is not to get upset at his cries - pups have a way of sounding as if they are being massacred :rolleyes: Different people deal with it in different ways - as I have said before, I believe in starting as you want to go on, and setting the "rules" from day 1 - but I know others think this is cruel :ph34r: Its not that I'm not tempted........... ;)
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 06, 2005, 12:13:30 PM: he has a blanket with his mothers scent on it and i always put a piece of clothing in with him at night but.............................. last night i had a MAJOR BREAKTHRU i sqeezed the crate in our room he went in at 10.30 and i woke up at SIX O CLOCK this morning to find him still fast ASLEEP :D :D :D i couldnt belive it !
when he did wake up at 7 we moved the crate back in to the spare room and he has been going in and out of it all day as usual so this seems to have finally worked for us thanks for all the help and advice on this subject : :) :P no doubt il be pleading for more advice soon tho haha
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: suki1964 on June 06, 2005, 12:20:56 PM: So glad you got some sleep last night at last :)

Dont forget that tonight he may play up again, with pups it often feels like one step forward and two back, but perservere with the same rountine and he will get there.

Good luck with tonight
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 06, 2005, 12:22:16 PM: Quote
So glad you got some sleep last night at last :)

Dont forget that tonight he may play up again, with pups it often feels like one step forward and two back, but perservere with the same rountine and he will get there.

Good luck with tonight
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im glad i got some sleep too im more calm now jus hope it works for him xxx
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: Bo's Mum on June 07, 2005, 01:53:24 PM: yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy just to let you all know that is TWO nights sleep i have had now Bo settled straight away in our room again last night, again thanks fr all the help everyone xx :D :D
Title: Exessive Barking Part 2
Post by: suki1964 on June 07, 2005, 01:59:46 PM: Good to hear that its working for you all :) Now you will have more energy to cope with the daytime trials :)