Jack Russell Barking In The Night

[mandy ostler]

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our seven year old jack Russel has bouts of barking in the night. He sleeps well until about 1 am and then barks intermitently for short bursts throughout the night. We moved house in august and have noticed the barking has got worse, even though we have kept his routine the same as it was in the last house. Today we visited the vet and he suggested a citronella collar. we will try it tonight. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Strix]

Hi Mandy, and welcome to DogForum

A little more detail would be useful in looking at your problem. Have you tried to identify what may be disturbing him during the night?

You say you've recently moved house. Do you still live in the same area?

Was he barking throughout the summer?

I'm surprised a vet suggested such an unpleasant punishment for your dog. Did he suggest a DAP diffuser first?

 

[mandy ostler]

Thanks for your reply Strix. Is that what the collar would be, a punishment? I certainly dont want to make my dog unhappy but I am now quite desperate for a good nights sleep and as far as I have learned, the collar would aid in breaking the barking habit and we may not have to use it for long. By a DAP diffuser did you mean Adaptil? If so, we have already tried that and it hasnt been effective in stopping the barking.

In answer to your other questions. We moved about 10 miles from where we lived before. We are living in a terraced house now, where as before, we had a detatched property. However, the dog doesnt seem to be bothered about the obvious noises from neighbours but rather, barks at things we cannot hear. We suspect that he may hear cats in the distance but to us theres nothing.

Anyway, lets see what tonight brings.

 

[Strix]

Yes, Adaptil is the kind of thing I referred to - there are a couple of different brands which seem to suit different dogs differently

A citronella collar is indeed unpleasant - that is how it works. It teaches your dog that something unpleasant will happen if he barks. If it was pleasant it would be a reward and encourage barking

I'm wary of citronella as the garden candles containing it give my skin a burning itching sensation for two days after contact... and a dog nose is more sensitive than my hands. It's also a substance used for disrupting hunting. It is effective as it spoils the hounds' scenting capability for a significant period of time

Have you tried leaving a radio on low to help mask other sounds?

If he's crated, do you cover it with a blanket?

 

[Hula]

Could you not put his bed in your bedroom ?

 

[mandy ostler]

ok I took your views into consideration and decided not to use the collar in the night. We had another disturbed night. Tonight we are going to leave him down stairs with the radio on low. That was a useful suggestion and worth a try. However, if he is attention seeking, as the vet said may be the case, I suspect the barking will continue. We have to try to ignor it which as you can probably appreciate is easier said than done. We are also concerned that the neighbours are getting disturbed as well.

 

[Hula]

I personally do not think dogs attention seek .

 

[Tigernidster]

I personally do not think dogs attention seek .

I agree. If he is barking then something is not right. Why don't you try Hula's suggestion of taking his bed into your room at night? You might find that he settles quite happily.

 

[Strix]

I do understand your concerns, and particularly wrt disturbing your neighbours too, and it is all the more difficult to tackle when you're suffering from lack of sleep yourself

Vets aren't usually behaviourists, and it sounds like he hasn't discussed the scope of your problem with you. If your dog was 'barking for attention', there would need to be a trigger, such as separation anxiety, where you'd expect constant barking almost as soon as you left him, or a noise that is frightening him so he's asking for your assistance

Most dog owners can identify the emotional tone of their dog. Can you tell whether his night time barking is a 'stay away' or a 'mum, dad, where are you', or something else?

I agree that it may be useful to spend a night with your dog, so you are able to respond instantly to whatever is disturbing him, and hopefully identify it - whether you bring him upstairs, or you sleep downstairs with him

We used to regularly be woken at 5.20am, and couldn't figure out why. One night I was already awake at that time and found a neighbour was setting their own house alarm off briefly at that time

I do hope you get to the bottom of it quickly, so you can all get some rest!

 

[Mahooli]

Try keeping him warmer, the temperature drops from around 1am onwards. The cheapest way is to by a cheap single value duvet from a supermarket or argos for his bedding, it will keep them a lot warmer.

Becky

 

[Dizzyjenni]

How is it going?

 

[eingana]

I do understand your concerns, and particularly wrt disturbing your neighbours too, and it is all the more difficult to tackle when you're suffering from lack of sleep yourself

Vets aren't usually behaviourists, and it sounds like he hasn't discussed the scope of your problem with you. If your dog was 'barking for attention', there would need to be a trigger, such as separation anxiety, where you'd expect constant barking almost as soon as you left him, or a noise that is frightening him so he's asking for your assistance

Most dog owners can identify the emotional tone of their dog. Can you tell whether his night time barking is a 'stay away' or a 'mum, dad, where are you', or something else?

I agree that it may be useful to spend a night with your dog, so you are able to respond instantly to whatever is disturbing him, and hopefully identify it - whether you bring him upstairs, or you sleep downstairs with him

We used to regularly be woken at 5.20am, and couldn't figure out why. One night I was already awake at that time and found a neighbour was setting their own house alarm off briefly at that time

I do hope you get to the bottom of it quickly, so you can all get some rest!

^^^What she says!

There's a huge difference in how you'd deal with a dog that's being disturbed by a noise and a dog that needs reassurance, for instance, and most dogs have lots of different barks that their owners can recognise.

A spoken radio station left on low to mask outside noises is a good idea, but a light isn't a good idea at all, and it's been shown that even very very low lighting levels can upset the sleep quality of both humans and animals, so turning off as many things that glow around where he sleeps would be a good idea.

Could there be any difference in, for instance, sleeping near a central heating boiler which comes on intermittently during the night? Even if he was used to that in the old house, boilers all sound different. A neighbour's security light that he can see when it comes on, a communal walkway where neighbours come home from nights out, a gate that swings in the wind can all be intermittent disturbances for a dog that doesn't know that they're nothing to worry about.