I hope someone can give me some advice with a barking problem I have with my 8 month Golden Retriever. From the week I brought her home at 8 weeks, she has barked in the middle of the night to go out. Over the last month this has more or less stopped, presumably because as she grows she no longer needs to go as frequently. However she still barks in the very early morning and if I get up to her, doesn't always want to go out so I am guessing she wants company. Sometimes if I call down to her to be quiet she will settle again for an hour or so other times she won't. After 7 months of disturbed nights I am exhausted. It doesn't seem to make any difference whether she has had a normal day or a very exciting one. Due to living in a terrace property there isn't the option of just ignoring her and in any event I wouldn't want to do that as it can cause more problems than it solves. Today I have been looking at anti-barking options and I must say I am loathe to go that route with a retriever due to their sensitive nature. Other than this problem she is a very bright dog who was very easy to train and rarely barks when left alone in the house so I don't think it is necessarily separation anxiety. She is my third retriever and I didn't have this problem with the other two so am a bit at a loss as to how to deal with it without damaging the very close bond we have. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Can't she just sleep in your bedroom?

It may come to that but only as a last resort as I have always banned my dogs from upstairs in order to reinforce the hierarchy in the house. Also she would be certain to get onto the bed in the night which I really don't want so that would become another issue. Also if she wakes early in my bedroom she will still wake me up - just in a different way. I would like her to be able to wake and amuse herself without feeling the need to wake everyone else up! I have a friend with a similar problem and having the dog in her bedroom didn't make a lot of difference as she is still having to get up to him every night.

What time is she waking?  Is it the same time every night?  Have you listened for sounds in and around the house at that time?  It could be someone coming home from a night shift, your boiler, a passing fox doing nightly rounds - it's worth checking before you decided what to do next.  Also is she coming up to a season?  This could disrupt things a little

At 8 months her bladder should be pretty reliable but you might also want to look at the number of hours she is managing before calling you.  As you've said it could be nothing more than boredom but I'd say it sounds more like a bladder issue, even if she could 'hold on', her full bladder might be what wakes her.  So how long is she waiting?  I'd recommend you go back to classic night time training as follows:

First step might be to move her last wee back a bit - half an hour is a good idea to start then you want to try and stretch the mornings...

Once you've established her routine i.e. what time she wakes you then set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than that and quietly go downstairs to let her out for a wee.  Keep the house dark, keep it quiet and take her out (on a slip lead if she wants to play) then just wait whilst she wees.  As soon as she has finished give her a treat and some positive praise and gently put her back to bed.  After 2 or 3 nights start moving your alarm by 10 minutes later each time.  If you can get to her before she is fully awake you stand more chance of getting her back to sleep without too much disruption.  If she can't seem to manage that then take her to a bed next to the sofa so you can sleep.  Keep her on a slip lead if necessary to stop her wandering about.

I always have pups upstairs with me for the first few week so I can teach them how to sleep but I had to do this extra step with one of mine who just couldn't get through the whole night.  He was nearly 6 months old before he could get past 5am - and I thought he was late!!

A few other things to consider: do you have older dogs?  Dogs often wake in the night and don't always disturb you but will wake a youngster.  Is it quite cold in her room at that time of the morning?  A thermostatic heater might provide a bit of extra warmth and comfort.  Does she have any signs of a medical issue - bladder infection etc?  Finally, is she hungry?  Try giving her a bedtime snack to see if it helps her sleep - mine are raw fed but always have a Bonio before bed :)

Please don't try aversive options - it shouldn't be necessary but I understand your lack of sleep isn't helping.  Give her a month of intensive training and you should be able to crack this pretty easily.  You might also want to consider her sleeping upstairs as a last resort - it doesn't have to be forever and it won't have any long term negative affects on her relationship with you or anyone else in your home, BUT it is a valuable training technique to teach a dog how to settle at night.  Your room will always be warmer than hers and the sounds of your breathing will be very calming and soothing.  If she is getting distressed in the night then this is a perfect way to help her.  Good luck

BTW you can use a crate in your bedroom to keep her contained to her bed :)

I had a friends cocker who comes to stay with me for holidays who had the same routine.  He didn't need the toilet, he just wanted 'amused' in the middle of the night.  He was getting his owners up earlier and earlier, and of course, they complied as they had neighbours.  They were totally embarrassed when he came to stay and were apologising before they even left about his 'habit'.
First night around 3 am, he started.  I went to the top of the stairs (entire house in darkness) and just said 'No' till he stopped.  This continued throughout the night.
Second night was very similar except he settled quickly after being told 'No'.
Third night, he tried around 6am to wake us all, again I stood at the top of the stairs and said 'No'.
By the fourth night, he slept straight through to 7am with my lot!! and proceeded to do so for the rest of the 2 weeks.  Couple of tries but nothing note-worthy.

His owners were delighted when they came home and heard this.  I sent him home with strict instructions as I knew he would revert straight back to his 'controlling ways' and indeed he did.  His owners gave in on the first night!  He wakes that household up through the night whenever suits him and has done for the last 5 yrs but when he comes to stay here, he knows that behaviour is not acceptable and changes immediately.  I also wonder if it's perhaps because he is bottom of the pack here?

I figure they are pretty much like children and I did do the same thing with my kids when younger(not from the top of the stairs, I might add!!lol).  Darkness and 1 word or ignoring is all it takes for them to realise they are not going to get the attention they are seeking at the wrong times.

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately Mollie doesn't have a routine - it could be 4.30am one night, 3.30am the net and 5.00 the next - so I can't follow the advice given to alter her routine as she doesn't have one. Nor is it being cold, the boiler, foxes, neighbours etc. as I have checked all those. Until the age of 6 months I was getting up to her to let her out and then spending the rest of the night on the sofa as she barked if I went back to bed. We are over that now thank goodness as it was playing havoc with my back and I can now go back to bed if she wakes me at an unearthly hour! Like the owner of the cocker I live in a terraced house with thin walls so there is no way I can just let her bark until she realises she won't be getting any attention. If I only had myself to consider I would have got myself some earplugs and ignored her. As for having her in the bedroom, I know she would be straight onto the bed and I really don't want to share my bed with a large hairy dog and of course once she has had that privilege it will be even harder to get her to settle for the night in the kitchen. The most likely cause is probably her needing to empty her bladder but even that is not the sole reason as I sometimes get up to her and whilst I am opening the door to let her out, she has gone into the lounge and picked up a toy to play with! The only other possibility is hunger but she is unlike all my other retrievers in that she grazes her food rather than wolfing it down although she still gets through the same amount during the course of the day. I changed her last meal of the day from 5.30pm to 4.30pm to encourage her to empty her bowels before bed instead of the early hours which has worked and then she has a bedtime biscuit around midnight. I suppose it is possible she wakes because she is hungry although she gives no sign of it. Also when I put her breakfast down it usually stays untouched until late morning and sometimes 1/2 of it is still there at dinner time. There doesn't seem to be any one thing causing the problem and although I have had four retrievers, Mollie is the only one I have had a sleeping problem with and I have exhausted all likely causes I can think of. According to my neighbours she rarely barks when she is left alone in her house and doesn't seem to need to have me in her sight all the time so separation anxiety doesn't seem to be an issue either. I think it is probably company she is after but I have no idea how to break that habit without the use of a no barking aid which I am very reluctant to use. Sorry I am sounding very negative but I am so tired and am unable to see a solution to this. If anyone has any other ideas or has had any experience with barking aids, please do send a reply. Thanks.

I would take her outside on her lead when she wakes you up by barking. No interaction other than huge praise if she toilets and then straight back indoors, lead off, into her bed using your command for her going to bed, turn the light off and take yourself back upstairs. Minimum of interaction will hopefully give her the idea that it is fine to wake you if she needs to go out but it's not play time.

If she doesn't need to go to the toilet within a reasonable amount of time of being outdoors just bring her back in without speaking and go through the same routine of putting her to bed and leaving her.

My 3 retrievers sleep in my bedroom and only the youngest has ever tried to sleep on the bed and she was very unceremoniously removed. She only tried it a couple of times and learnt that it wasn't acceptable, even though the Cavaliers are allowed.  It would be a much better option than having constantly disturbed nights and I doubt that you are sleeping properly as you will be on edge, waiting for her to bark.  Please give the bedroom option a try as she can't be very happy either or she wouldn't be barking for nothing.  She might disturb you for a couple of nights by coming close to check you are there but it should soon stop and you should both have untroubled nights. Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies. Just to be contrary she slept through until 6.45am this morning and I almost was up before her!  I will try the silent treatment next time she wakes in the night and see how that goes and if all else fails will try her upstairs. Probably with a bed on the landing at first with a stair gate at my bedroom door and see if she is happy with that. Otherwise it will have to be my bedroom and hopefully she will stay in her bed and not on mine! Both those options seem better to me than using a physical barking control collar. Incidentally does anyone think she would settle better if she had a companion or would it probably not make any difference?

Incidentally does anyone think she would settle better if she had a companion or would it probably not make any difference?

Somewhat flippant reply.............You may find that they would end up having a party downstairs and making even more noise

In my experience,  once one dog starts to bark,  the other one barks too.

And it can be even more difficult to stop the barking

I'm just wondering, what's her/your normal daily routine? what time do you and her go to bed? It sounds a bit like she is just not tired anymore and ready to start the day!
She's getting to an age where she will need more 'input' and less rest than in puppyhood. I have a 9 month old vizsla, she has always been good at sleeping at night but on the nights we come home after an hours puppy class or a play-date with riend she is utterly exhausted.
Could you try and do 20-30min training session during the evening, exercising her brain might help take the edge off and let her stay chilled enough to sleep?

I have the same problem with my wire fox terrier - see my post about sleeping on the bed.  Sophie was difficult to housetrain and even now (at 12 months) is not the most reliable in the world in that department.  So for ages we have been up and down in the night until a couple of months ago she started to sleep until 6am - whch I could live with,  However that was shortlived and soon she was barking every night at 4am.  We live in a rural area and it could have been foxes etc that woke her but there was no going back to sleep - she wanted a game

So we have allowed her in our bedroom (on the bed which is not ideal) but at least she is now sleeping until at least 6 am.  My other dogs sleep in the kitchen as quiet as mice and always have been