Any ideas please excessive barking (Attrention) I think

Dillon has never chosen to sleep upstairs as a young puppy we tried and he would pace and whine and was much happier downstairs.

He was always good about going out during the night early hours and settling back down again and whichever one let him out usually me settling straight back down to sleep.

Recently he has started asking to go out around 5am and not going back to sleep if we are downstairs with him he will constantly bark if we go upstairs he will constantly bark. It doesn't matter if we do the ignore bit he just gets worse and winds himself up plus me.
He will ask to go out again and bark we call him in not fair on the neighbours to allow him to continue he comes in goes to the door and barks we ignore him but it must be grating on next door he has a very loud bark even if sometimes high pitched because he isn't getting his own way. Plus they have a very young baby.

If I lived somewhere where I hadn't got immediate neighbours I would allow him to continue I could quite happily let him carry on till he got the message but we don't have that luxury we have close neighbours to consider and I am expecting the comments and possible complaints soon. Plus it is stressing me out big time now which isn't helpful towards the training and breaking him of the habit.

Unfortunately at the moment we do not have the funds for a behaviorist funds are very tight.
I have spoken to his breeder first of all we both thought bitch in season nearby him being an adolescent and raging hormones but this has proved not to be the case it is all attention seeking when we are both down and making a fuss of him or playing with him he is then happy.

This morning he went round till 5.30 Gorden let him out he went to the toilet he had been letting us think he needed the toilet then went outside and barked and in and barked and forgot or didn't need to go in the first place just wanted us down but even when down he will bark sometimes for two hours. (Yesterday) I didn't think it could get much worse then Saturday when he barked for an hour constantly which is when I emailed the breeder and she made her suggestions gave us some ideas which we have tried and they haven't worked.
At the moment he is happily munching away on a marrow bone which is fine but if it is the middle of the night and we need to be back sleeping I cannot leave him unattended with a bone.

I fear if I cannot break the habit it will get earlier and earlier that he will start calling and instead of breaking the habit we will be getting into it deeper.
We are at a total loss and I am on the verge of giving up if he won't come upstairs tomorrow and settle I really don't know what to do but ask the breeder if he can be returned and maybe find him someone who has the knowledge and the space to deal with it to allow him to have his barking sessions till he realises he has to move on from the behaviour. I don't have that luxury I need to sort this asap before I start getting complaints. He will then have to be returned if that happens.

He doesn't have problems when we are out he has been walked and he is quiet when we leave we cannot hear him while walking to the car it is always quiet when we return and when we are walking back to the house he normally comes to greet us all bleary eyed. None of the neighbours have ever mentioned he is noisy when we are out.

Sorry for the long post.

So sorry Lynn No wonder you're so stressed out about this, I would be too.

He's got himself into the habit now imo, and it's working, in that you come downstairs. He doesn't want you to go back up there, so he continues. You need to break the habit of what's going on at yours, so if this were me, I would sleep downstairs on the couch tonight, and when he wants to go out at 5.00 am he'd get a gentle stroke and told to go and lie down again, and mean it, he might just do it. OR, you could let him out, and then snuggle back down on the couch, with him by your side, trying to settle him again, gentle talking and a stroke if he's near enough.

What about teaching him TO bark in order that you can command him NOT to bark when he starts???

I'm no behaviourist, I have no training in this sphere, but this is purely what I would do, because it's this habit now that you need to break somehow or other and this could be a good start and it's purely what I would do.

My last resort would be to stick a soft muzzle on him or at least threaten him with it if he continued to bark like this when he got let back in (if none of the above works of course!).

It could be of course, that he is telling you, the neighbour's cat has just been let out and he needs to get to it, warn you about it, blah, blah, blah. It could be that he feels he is no longer the nucleous of your world because things have changed now that Gorden is home and he's a teenager now. Or it could just be the dreaded Kevin and he will grow out of this. Would having the snip change it (sorry, but I don't know much about males )

Nightmare for you I know that ((((((((((hugs))))))))).

No advice but just understand what you are going threw and feel sad for you.

Mine wake up about 5am to go out but they will go back to sleep till about 5 30 or 6 am. I just have to take them straight out then for a walk as cant risk upsetting the neighbours. Had some nasty annonymous Letters
a year ago, yet when i asked the neighbours they said they never hear them.

I have to take them straight out for a walk as they are just so hyper and will bark and race around. I have tried to ignore them but benji my springer spaniel will jump all over my head or just find something naughty to do. Once they have been out they will settle down and go back to sleep but by this time I an wide awake.

So I don't know if it's possible or even a good idea but could you maybe take him out for an early walk? And go back to sleep after.

Thanks both for the replies.

Helena we have thought about the snip firstly they do recommend waiting till 18 months if possible because of possible bone cancer and secondly we haven't the funds just yet.
If Gorden manages to get a full time job or if he goes back to Kazakhstan we will more than likely get him done earlier he will be about 15-16 months it may well help all the time at the moment he is sniffing while out walking and the dreaded teenage stage is a nightmare.
Good idea thank you one worth trying and yes I am with you it is a habit now and needs to be broken asap. He does get his blooming knickers in twist though and mine with him.

KM I am thinking the same just take him round the block then see if he will settle.
We have been out for just over half an hour and he is now laying by my feet snoring.

The other thing I am going to try is to split this usually one long walk into three smaller ones.
I will admit this morning Gorden and I were seriously wondering if we are the right home and the possibility of him being returned but I really don't want him to go any other time except for his hyperactive behaviour with visitors he is such a lovely boy.
I am going to email his breeder again and have another chat with her as well.

That's what I do Lynn. I split my long morning walk into 2 walks, as it breaks up their day, settles them for the afternoon/evening, otherwise, if I don't do that 2nd walk and just one really long one in the morning, Zena just won't settle in the evenings, it's too long for her to go without being allowed to be hyper and runninga round (and I hate to remind you but she's 4 now!!!!).

You'll get there, don't even think you are not the right home for Dillon, everything has a solution and you will find yours with him.

If he's a nightmare with visitors, and you can't get on top of it, then shut him in a room out of the way, until he learns he cannot come out until he's calmed down, it works fine for us this way now.

Don't give up.xxxx

Hi Lynn Dogs always bark for a reason and there are a number of these. First we need to try to work out why Dillon is barking.
You say..
You use the word 'recently'..
When exactly did the barking start,
..were there any changes in his life or routine at that time, eg less exercise and attention, Gordon going away, your changing your routine , feeding times etc.
.. Did this start with him being woken up by a noise like the heating coming on .
Look for any change however small.

If you can give this some thought we may be able to come up with a strategy to help you

Poor you! I replied on the Daily Thread:

It's very hard with neighbours because you don't want to upset them, but if you go to him when he barks, he thinks if he barks, you come.

Is there anything that could be causing it - hunger, thirst, needing the toilet, cars starting/birds singing telling him it's time to get up? Heating coming on?

Could you teach him a command to stop barking during training time? Then perhaps he would respond to this in the early hours? You could use some word when he barks, then when he is quiet, you could reward with treats.

Aww Lynn, I have no good advice for you other than what the others have said, but I do feel for you lovey as you sound frazzled

The not so little ****** has definitely got into a real habit of doing this hasn't he, so I guess that breaking the habit is the solution, but how I don't know.

If it wasn't for the neighbours I'd be saying let him out for his business and then straight back in and to bed, as you would with a puppy, but I appreciate your concerns about the noise factors.

I know you don't want to leave him with a bone, but how about a stuffed Kong? Although, that's just replacing one habit with another, but at least it'd keep him quiet?

You are the best place for him Lynn and I'm sure this time will pass, you just have to persevere and see it through unfortunately.

Thinking of you and sending you a mahoosive virtual hug

i have also made the suggestion about teaching him to 'speak' and then the stop command on the Good Morning thread, as I have heard this recommended many times for people in your situation
I really don't believe having the snip is going to make any difference to his behaviours, it is most probably an adolescent thing where he is trying stuff on to see what works and what doesn't. If he has the snip it is going to be at least another 6 months before his hormone levels drop and by then he will have passed the stage he is at anyway, which is why many people believe having the snip is a solution to all sorts of issues.
Not sure why you won't leave him with a marrowbone, I have always done that and never had any resulting problems, so must have missed something on that score.
Of course if you give him a marrowbone, or anything for that matter, you are rewarding his behaviours which you don't want.
You probably won't want to do it, if I have had excessive barking outside from a youngster I go out and squirt them with water and it works every single time, they get the message very quickly, there is a squeazy bottle on the window ledge of the utility by the door for just such times. I only have to say Thank you that's enough nowadays. One of my neighbours was saying Mabs was howling when I took her mother (Lona) out a few weeks ago, despite the fact she had Cariad with her, and I said OMG I'm so sorry, and she said Oh I just went out and shouted Shut Up, and she did The other thing a trainer told me around 20 odd years ago, and again probably be frowned upon and never used it myself, squirting a Jif Lemon in their mouth when they bark.

Samson is an early riser, a dog of exemplary body clock, he wakes me up every morning at the same time half 5 not for toilet time always but because he thinks I should be up I get up let him out feed him and go back to bed and he is fine with that although he just sits waiting for me to get up again or plays around with Sasha but 6am is wake up time anyway so not long to wait and he doesn't bark he nudges whines and licks me awake, Is Dillon the same way? could you set an alarm to wake you say 20 mins before he normally starts barking so you wake him up, let him out feed him then tempt him to your bedroom for a marrowbone (on a towel?) he could chew that and you would hear if he choked, and you might get a little more sleep, also he wouldn't then be practising his barking behaviour and hopefully forget about it with a little time????
Feel for you, It is one thing I hate the repetitive bark Good Luck x x