How do I get my dog to stop barking in the morning?
Our charming rockaway wolf is about 9 months old and is turning out to be a great alarm clock. He is up at 5:55 am every morning trying to nose us out of bed. If nudging and blanket yanking and elbow nibbling and face licking don't work, he starts barking. It doesn't matter how late his last walk was, he is up and he wants us to get up.
When I do take him out he doesn't seem to have to pee urgently -- he waits until we get three blocks away to the park and then sometimes longer yet.
It seems like the same bark that he uses with dogs in the park that won't play with him. It's his "hey guys! Guys! Get up and play with me!" bark.
We can tell him to get down, which lasts a few minutes, but he will not just let us go back to sleep. I really need him not to wake the neighbors up. I know they rise much later than us and I'd be pretty annoyed if I was hearing him hours before I had to wake.
Any suggestions for reigning this in?
(3)3 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
I got my black lab puppy at 8 weeks old. I immediately created a routine with him for bedtime or for when I leave the house and also immediately crate trained him.
The easiest way to do this is to feed him his meals in his crate. This makes him go into the crate on his own. I put the bowl in said 'go to your crate' and when he was inside I closed and locked the crate while he ate.
Once he was done I would wait for him to turn around and patiently sit to be let out and I would immediately unlock the crate and let him out with praise. We did this for two weeks every meal time.
He sleeps in the living room away from me, in his crate. This creates a space for him to sleep (and I) peacefully. I know that sleeping time is a bonding experience but he's going to get much bigger and there's simply no room. I am also a light sleeper and he gets up and repositions himself 300 times a night so... He's crated. I did not miss out on my 'bonding' experience my dog loves me and is very loyal to me.
Our routine is that when it's time for bed I grab three small treats out of the cubbord and point to the crate. I turn off the TV and day 'okay babe time for bed' he knows to go in and he gets the treat. He knows that going in is a positive experience. I give him treats and lock up the house and we go to bed.
Unfortunately for me he wakes me up everyday at 7am. By this time his bladder is full and I walk him and out him back in his crate.
All I'm saying is create a routine at night. My dog is fed twice a day on a routine, walked on a routine and sleeps on a routine and he is very happy.
FWIW, what finally worked was ignoring him. And time. Getting up before him didn't help (and we couldn't sustain it for long), but we did just get up and ignore him.
Three years later, he is still pretty assertive about telling us when he thinks it is time to get up, but he's not nearly as annoying about it.
We've been through the doggy alarm clock (barking and screaming) so we know how frustrating it is. Here are a few things that have helped us.
Crate Training
Spend some time training your dog to love the crate and then have him sleep there. I highly recommend Crate Games by Susan Garrett to help with this. Since you already have your dog in the room with you, it's likely that he'll be fine in his crate next to you, but if not continue to build value for the crate until he is. You can also try feeding meals in his crate. Of course, this will only help prevent him from jumping up on you, not stop him from barking in the morning.
Early Riser
It can be very hard for a dog to break a habit, and your dog has settled into a routine. At 5:55 AM he gets up, barks, and jumps on your bed. It's time to play! You want to stop this routine from happening by beating him to the punch. Wake up at 5:45 AM when he's not barking or jumping and have a good time. This not only stops his pattern but shows that he doesn't need to loud or boisterous to get your attention in the morning. You can then slowly move the wake-up time later and later by a couple minutes until you've got a pup who will happily wait until you wake up on your own. If he does start barking or jumping on you, wait until he's quiet to engage to help him understand he only gets what he wants if he's quiet and calm.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.