Nighttime is your rest time. You feel comfortable with your soft-textured comforter as you turn the lights off, as well as your phone. However, bedtime is only for humans since some dogs are wide awake during this time.
If your furry friend starts to bark too much in the middle of the night, which keeps you awake, you are not alone. A barking dog will annoy not only you but also your neighbors. Every dog owner experiences this kind of problem. But most of the dog owners don’t know how to stop their dogs from howling at night. If you are one of them, you are in the right place.
Barking is one of the common issues with dogs. In connection with that, your dog can bark too much because of an accidental or simple reason. Most human parents don’t realize that they are teaching their dogs to bark. When you usually look at your furry friend or yell at them while they are howling, you are usually teaching them how to catch your attention – and this is through barking. This is always true, whether daytime or nighttime.
But there are lots of things that you can do to refrain your dogs from howling excessively, especially during nighttime. But take note that these techniques require your efforts and time.
Before we dive into the ways to prevent dogs from barking, let us first determine the reasons why your furry friend is yapping at night. So, if you want to know more about it, then keep on reading and enjoy!
Reasons Behind Night Barkers
The first thing you need to determine is the reason behind their sleep deprivation and frustrating behavior. Dogs tend to whine or bark for lots of reasons. Commonly, dogs bark because they want to tell you something or just want to catch your attention.
Confinement distress or isolation distress can be one of the reasons why your dogs are growling during nighttime. But for some dogs, the problem can be the cause of simple reasons. These include the following;
- You tried soothing the barking of your dogs by going near their area and babying them.
- It is your first time taking care of a puppy, and you don’t know where and when to start teaching them the correct behaviors.
Steps to Stop Dogs from Barking at Night
After determining the possible reasons why your dogs are barking excessively during nighttime, it is time to determine the techniques that you can do to refrain their barking. According to Pet Dog Planet, there are the steps you should do to prevent your dogs from nighttime barking.
- The first thing you need to do is to make your furry friend understand that whining and barking will not help in catching your attention. This only means that ignoring your barking dogs is an effective way to fix this behavioral issue.
- The key to fix this issue is to ignore it. Do not let the barks of your dogs control you to come to their area. Do not also yell at them.
- Comforting your dog when they barks make them think that barking too much is good behavior. So, if you are going to comfort your furry friend every time they bark excessively, barking too much can be their habit.
- Do not give your dogs a treat or even your attention because they whine and bark during nighttime. No attention or reward means their barks don’t do any good to them. After ignoring for several minutes, they will then stop their barks.
Take note that the steps we have mentioned above will not be easy. It needs your time and effort to make this successful. When you start teaching your dogs how to bark properly, you might experience the “extinction burst.” It is a situation that the barks of your dogs will get worse. This is because your furry friend is still trying to connect with you with their known strategies.
In connection with that, it might also affect the way you sleep as your dogs are adapting to the new technique you enforced to them. You might consider using a pair of earplugs and starts playing white noise or any sound that will make you feel relaxed.
Also, it will also help if you are going to ensure that your dog feels more comfortable and relaxed. This can be done by providing your furry friend a diffuser or DAP collar or even play classical music.
On the other hand, when you already performed the techniques we mentioned earlier, we recommend you to consider using a dog barking device. There are lots of devices designed to stop your dog from crying that you can see on the market today. But, since there are lots of brands and models of dog barking devices, it might be hard for you to choose the best one.
If you are going to ask us about a device that we can recommend to you, we consider the bare buddy device. This is because it only emits a sound that is undesirable to the ears of your pup. But there is nothing for you to worry since this sound is proven not to cause any harm to your furry friend. Aside from that, it is also inaudible to your ears.
To use the said device, you only need to turn it on and point it to your barking dog. This device can be used during the daytime and nighttime. This works even if you are meters farther from the position of your pup.
Conclusion
It cannot be denied that most dogs bark excessively and aggressively. This is the common problem being experienced by dog owners out there. This problem can be fixed easily. You might consider using the techniques we provided above or try using a technological device. But keep in mind that if you are going to use the natural techniques, it might take a little bit longer for your dogs to understand that howling at night is bad behavior. But, if you are going to use a device, a simple click on the start button can make them refrain from excessive barking immediately.
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