# 7 Month Old Puppy barking at night all of a sudden - need help



## Duffman31 (Aug 28, 2021)

Hey all,

I have a 7 month old Labrador Retriever who is as good as gold normally. Good on walks, well behaved around other dogs (albeit a bit annoying), and good with people too. Over the last 2 months I'd say, he's been excellent at staying asleep all night and not waking us up for any reason (loneliness, toilet, etc). However, over the last week or so, he'll sporadically bark in the night for no known reason, sometimes just after we head to bed around 11pm, and sometimes around 4am. Sometimes the barks will last only a few mins. This morning was fine, at around 6:30 he barked, but it's still worse than what we're used to and it went on for around 20 mins or so. Eventually I let him out, but only when the barking has subsided. He's in his crate and goes in very willingly without complaint, he has his bed in there and some toys, and sometimes a pair of my pants.

I'm quite sure this is anxiety/loneliness related, because it can't be toilet related, as he is never desperate when he's let outside. I try very hard not to come downstairs or let him out while he's barking, so I'll wait for a lull in the barking, or for it to stop completely before I let him out.

I understand having a puppy is never a smooth curve of progress, but it's odd for something like this to get worse as he gets older. Is it a teenage phase?

Either way, any guidance you can give on this would be great  I'm someone who struggles greatly if I don't get my sleep, so this is vitally important for me, and also I just want to make sure that my dog is okay too!


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

I wouldn't see it as ”rewarding his barking” by letting him out before there is a lull - especially as you think it might be anxiety. All that teaches him that if he calls for help, nobody responds. If you have kids, and one of them was distressed in the night, would you wait for them to stop calling you? I'd guess not.

Can you identify what might possibly be a cause? Could he be hearing something that disturbs him? Could he be hungry (does he get a bedtime snack - if not, that might be an easy fix)?

Can you have his crate beside you in your room? It doesn't have to be forever but you can reassure him and hush him. If he is anxious about something, just being close to you will help. Once he is sleeping through more reliably, you can start moving his crate, in stages, to outside your bedroom, across the hallway, bottom of the stairs etc until he is back in his sleeping place.


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## 1507601 (Jun 26, 2020)

JoanneF said:


> Could he be hearing something that disturbs him?


I was thinking this too.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Dogs hearing is far more sensitive than ours we have a fox who comes in the garden. The boxers can get upset by this. We normally have a cuddle and back to sleep if we hear scary noises outside. If you leave him to bark not only will you irritate your neighbours but reinforce his anxiety. 

What is the reason for the crate? Is he destructive or could he have a bit more freedom now older? He could be cold , uncomfortable, wanting to move around.


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## Duffman31 (Aug 28, 2021)

JoanneF said:


> I wouldn't see it as "rewarding his barking" by letting him out before there is a lull - especially as you think it might be anxiety. All that teaches him that if he calls for help, nobody responds. If you have kids, and one of them was distressed in the night, would you wait for them to stop calling you? I'd guess not.
> 
> Can you identify what might possibly be a cause? Could he be hearing something that disturbs him? Could he be hungry (does he get a bedtime snack - if not, that might be an easy fix)?
> 
> Can you have his crate beside you in your room? It doesn't have to be forever but you can reassure him and hush him. If he is anxious about something, just being close to you will help. Once he is sleeping through more reliably, you can start moving his crate, in stages, to outside your bedroom, across the hallway, bottom of the stairs etc until he is back in his sleeping place.


Thanks for your reply  No, nothing that could disturb him. We had two cats who like to mill around at night, but he's known them for ages now. His barking is more of like a bark, then a whine, indicating that it's perhaps more of an anxiety/separation thing, rather than a woof, woof, woof, guard dog time of bark, but I could be wrong. Nothing has changed in our house dynamic wise. He spent 3 weeks with my partner's parents when we went away on holiday, and then have a dog, but I don't think the night time barking was too much of an issue for the most part during that time.

My partner believes that because her mother answered his whining in the night, that he's got into the habit of doing it now, but again, who knows!

I could try moving his crate into our room to see if makes a difference, but it seems like a massive backwards step


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## Duffman31 (Aug 28, 2021)

Boxer123 said:


> Dogs hearing is far more sensitive than ours we have a fox who comes in the garden. The boxers can get upset by this. We normally have a cuddle and back to sleep if we hear scary noises outside. If you leave him to bark not only will you irritate your neighbours but reinforce his anxiety.
> 
> What is the reason for the crate? Is he destructive or could he have a bit more freedom now older? He could be cold , uncomfortable, wanting to move around.


I thought going down in the middle of the night to give him attention would be reinforcing the idea that barking/whining gets you attention?

The crate is because he can't be trusted outside of the crate at night. We tried it for a while a month or so back, and we came downstairs to wee and poo in the kitchen in the morning. If we both leave the home, I like to keep him in the crate, as long as it's not too long, because otherwise he can get destructive and barky/whiny, which further strengthens the idea that this is all separation related.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Duffman31 said:


> I thought going down in the middle of the night to give him attention would be reinforcing the idea that barking/whining gets you attention?
> 
> The crate is because he can't be trusted outside of the crate at night. We tried it for a while a month or so back, and we came downstairs to wee and poo in the kitchen in the morning. If we both leave the home, I like to keep him in the crate, as long as it's not too long, because otherwise he can get destructive and barky/whiny, which further strengthens the idea that this is all separation related.


It does sound like it is separation related. Dogs don't think like us, 'if I whine hooman will come' a happy dog is a secure one. By leaving him it's just reinforcing this is a scary. If he is pooing at night is this anxiety or that he needs a poo? My dogs are 3/7 but will still very occasionally get me in the night if they need to go.

How often is he left ? Lockdown has meant dogs are not used to a going out routine. What does his routine look like ? Is he getting plenty of exercise and mental stimulation?

There is a great sticky about separation anxiety which is worth reading.


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## Emlar (Sep 29, 2020)

Our pup is 10 months and seems to go through phases of not quite being happy left alone at night. We put it down to teenage hormones and still growing in confidence, etc. If he barks/whines at night we go down to make sure he is okay. Which I admit is hard at 2am! We've also taken to playing rain noise at night for him which seems to help drown out other noises from outside that might disturb him.


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