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My dog is 4 years old. She sleeps downstairs and always has. All of a sudden she's started to bark at early hours in the morning. I have taken her out to do her business, but not long after she barks again once I ignore her. I'm not sleeping well as I'm just getting woken up by her.

How do I stop my dog from barking?

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    Welcome to pets.SE :) Did you noticed some changes in the neigbourhood, that take place the same time your dog starts barking? Maybe there are some noises or likewise that worry her? Maybe she want to protect or warn you, because there is something new/not usual.
    – Allerleirauh
    Oct 11, 2020 at 17:45
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    You need to reshape your question, because there is no clear question in it ;) Then it tend to be closed/deleted. What is your question? (That we could maybe answer) or What is your aim? Want you to train her to stop barking, or Want you to know what causes it, or want you get sure, that it is no health issue... and so on :)
    – Allerleirauh
    Oct 11, 2020 at 17:47
  • Okay I added this question to your question.
    – lila
    Oct 11, 2020 at 19:34

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This is a difficult situation and it may take some time for a solution to work.

The first and most important question is: Why does your dog bark?

Is there a jogger or a dog running around? Are there rodents or other animals in / under your house or in your roof that trigger her? Does she try to get your attention because he needs to pee?

First try finding the reason for her barking becasue some of those causes (like rodents or anything in your house) may be removed. A webcam or baby camera can help you analyze her behavior without influencing it. See if the barks at a window or a certain wall and then try finding the cause for her barking in that direction.

If you cannot find the cause or have no way to remove it, the next course of action is to ignore your dog. I know this can be very hard and even ear plugs cannot guarantee your sleep (though they do help), but if you want to teach your dog not to bark in the morning, you absolutely must ignore her.

Dogs are very social and you may have noticed how you dog is excited every single morning to see you. If you stand up every time she barks, you reward her for her barking. Even if you only stand up to scold her, she's still excited to see you and feels rewarded for barking.

Without knowing the cause for her barking, your only hope is to ignore her long enough to teach her that barking won't be rewarded. Sorry I cannot give you any better advice.

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Have you tried a doggy door, so the dog can go out when he wants? Also, this may seem weird, but dogs can see spirits; maybe one is bothering him. And then, maybe he just doesn't like being alone and needs some attention or he may want to sleep on the rug in your room and be close. Dogs are like people, they just want to feel loved.

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  • Hi Connie and welcome to Pets SE, I had to delete some of your answers because they were flagged as rude by several users and were indeed unfriendly, unkind and attacked people with personal remarks, I see there is a lot of passion in your eyes and you have strong opinions about crate-training dogs, I have a sympathy for this opinion because crate-training isn't even a widely known nor used thing where I live, but please note that our Code of Conduct also requires all our contributions to respect each other even if we strongly disagree, this is to maintain high quality and prevent chaos.
    – lila
    Oct 14, 2020 at 9:43

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