Gun Dog Forum

Have a 5 month old lab that has gotten in the habit of waking up at 3 or 4 am and barking until being let out of his crate at 5:30. He does this regardless of the amount of exercise he gets on any given day and I know he doesn’t HAVE to go to the bathroom. Also doesn’t matter when he’s put in his crate the night before, could be anywhere from 9:30to 11. How do I get him to stay quiet in there? I’d like to wait until he stops barking to let him out, but he never stops. By 5:30or 6, he does need to get outside or I’ll have an accident to clean on top of everything else.

Your pup has established routine. You need to break that routine and establish one that you can live(and sleep) with.

I suggest a bark collar, ideally one of those which starts off very low but ramps up the stim if the dog continues to bark.

It shouldn't take very long to change that behavior and after he stops and you leave the collar off...when the youngster tries it again(and he probably will), it will take even les time to break the cycle.

RayG

x 1

Amen to above! It is a battle of wills and right now you dog is winning...

Do I need to be concerned that I haven’t collar conditioned him yet? Or can I pretty much just put the bark collar on him, set the lowest setting and let’r Fly?

And any recommendations on brand?

Put the dog crate outside in the truck or car and put him in the crate at night. Then let him out in the morning when you get up. Assuming your neighbors can't hear him bark. This is what I've done and it works.

Gordon Guy wrote:Put the dog crate outside in the truck or car and put him in the crate at night. Then let him out in the morning when you get up. Assuming your neighbors can't hear him bark. This is what I've done and it works.

That is an AWESOME option.

RayG

naperdog wrote:Have a 5 month old lab that has gotten in the habit of waking up at 3 or 4 am and barking until being let out of his crate at 5:30. He does this regardless of the amount of exercise he gets on any given day and I know he doesn’t HAVE to go to the bathroom. Also doesn’t matter when he’s put in his crate the night before, could be anywhere from 9:30to 11. How do I get him to stay quiet in there? I’d like to wait until he stops barking to let him out, but he never stops. By 5:30or 6, he does need to get outside or I’ll have an accident to clean on top of everything else.

Have you looked at how Crate training is established ?. There is loads of advice available . Dogs do not have clocks or relate to a specific time in the day or night like a number that Humans do .
They do relate to routine ..on a daily basis.

naperdog wrote:Do I need to be concerned that I haven’t collar conditioned him yet? Or can I pretty much just put the bark collar on him, set the lowest setting and let’r Fly?

And any recommendations on brand?

No collar conditioning needed for an anti bark collar imo. I use the Dogtra mini for my JRT but you'd need a bigger one. Don't overdue its use though. At 5 months pup needs to pee more often than an older dog. Shouldn't be unable to pee more than 8 ??? hours. Maybe he is barking because he needs to pee at 5 am. What time is his last outing at night?

google:
Dogtra YS300.
SportDOG NoBark 10R.
PetSafe Basic Bark Collar.
Garmin Bark Limiter Deluxe.

Don't get one of those citronella spray collars. I found them to be useless.

Then again ? ..Instead of looking for a device to Train a dog to do something ... One could look further In "Training a Dog a dog to do something" .

Any specific ideas Polmaise?

naperdog wrote:Any specific ideas Polmaise?

yea.
A visit with a good trainer of people with dogs .

Still mulling over the long term solution, but I won the battle last night with a pair of ear plugs!

naperdog wrote:Still mulling over the long term solution, but I won the battle last night with a pair of ear plugs!

You will win the war' by winning a few battles. I crate mine in our attached garage. I can't hear them. Sometimes a whole litter. Never had one that did not quit. Crates will likely need cleaning for a few days Good luck.....Cj

naperdog wrote:Still mulling over the long term solution, but I won the battle last night with a pair of ear plugs!

LOL When I get a new pup I crate it somewhere where I can't hear it - I have a big house. The good new is that as pup matures he will get better. I also crate pup/ dog when I go out - great training opportunity. He/she can bark his head off and no one comes. Lesson gets learned.

Enough is enough.

Crawl out of bed, give the crate a good shake, and yell Shut the He77 Up!

Crawl back into bed...ahhhh!

Get a smaller crate to avoid the going in crate deal. Move crate where you can't here it. He may still have accidents but by 7 months that should be finished. Just don't give in.

Doesn't need to be collar conditioned to use a bark collar. Bark collars are intended to be aversive as they're stopping a behavior. I wouldn't hesitate to put one on if that's what you're dealing with. I do like the idea of the vehicle as well. At that age he can handle having consequences to his actions. I've done as shags said - shake the crate and say "no" or "quiet".

did you go let the dog out ,or did you let the dog bark if you went and let the dog out he won the dog knows if it worked one time it will work again ,you got good advise put the dog in the truck if possible you have to be the one that says what time the dog gets out not the dog telling you

I agree with much that has been said about moving the pup away from the area you are sleeping in. Use a smaller crate or put a box in the end of the crate you have limiting the area the dog has. Only enough to laydown. I have never used a bark collar, but seems like another option.

Our current female Golden was a slow learner. We always take a young pup out side at night on lead. Taking them to a place where the are supposed to go and not letting them wonder around, that limited the time it took for her to do her job. This carried through to the adult dog where if we are traveling and I put her on lead she will go within second of my command 'outside'!

One of our Golden's actually stopped making noise the first time I shook her crate at night and gave a loud command "Quite"! She did not know that command yet, but he knew I was pissed. Might try that one also.

One other option is depending when you are putting the dog to bed, if you can keep him up a couple of hours longer, even if he wants to sleep. I used to play a high spirited game of fetch before bedtime. That extended the dogs sleep time the first time we tried it....

Good Luck

I was a GSPs last chance. The owner and his wife were having serious marital issues as a result of this dog. The owner had tried a number of folk/processes and told me I was the dog's last hope. If I failed, I was to send him the bill after euthanizing it!
I had lost my patience and had to go to two neighboring properties to explain the incessant barking as per, "I may have to euthanize him..." The neighbors both wanted me to try something/anything to give the dog a chance. I tried but failed. I reluctantly had to plan the euthanizing route, except that my wife chimed in with, "So....a dog finally got the better of you after all these years?"
So.....this 9 month old GSP barked incessantly until it vomited and then started up anew! A "stiff" bark collar did not work either, just like the owner told me. Scolding or discipline did nothing either, also, as the owner told me. Actually, the dog turned aggressive towards the owner's wife when she used discipline.
I had to use isolation. It was harder on me than the dog but it worked completely! Isolation in this hard core case meant putting this dog in a crate, in my office which is with-in the barn where he was left to bark. (Oh yeah....it was messy!) I had a radio playing softly too. In the daytime, I listened intently while sitting on a chair. As the barking ebbed somewhat, (usually spurred by a noise distraction) I would run like a banshee, open the barn door, (which also served as a noise distraction), then while calmly saying, "Good boy!" I opened my office door and immediately let the dog out of his crate to play retrieve games! Success.....or so I thought. Next, I allowed him to join the other dogs in the kennel runs BUT he would start right back up barking again so, it was back in the barn, in the office, into the crate. He figured it in out in three more days and chose not to bark any more, at least not as an incessant pain in the asterisk. Bottom line, the dog turned out to be a wonderful bird dog AND family companion.
You've got some good suggestions already from previous posts. I have faith in you!!