Hi,

I wonder if you could help my friend out with a problem she's having with her dog.

She has a collie cross, approximately 3 years old.  It was a rescue dog and she's had it for a year. 

Apparently it sleeps in it's crate, and has always done so happily, but over the last 4 - 5 days it has begun barking through the night.  Her husband has got up to see if the dog needed the toilet, and once or twice it did, but after that this barking continued and seems to becoming a habit.

Last night the dog barked almost constantly through the night.  It was checked twice, to make sure there was nothing wrong, and put back into it's crate.  When it is barking it is a different bark to a 'distressed bark' or a 'warning bark', a more gentle bark, with a second or two's break inbetween each one.  As this continued through the entire night, at half hourly periods (sometimes with the dog stopping on it's own, but most of the time not) my friend got up herself and let the dog out of the cage, where it settled happily at the top of the stairs (where it hasn't slept for at least 6 months since being introduced to the cage).  She knows she did wrong doing this, as it's giving the dog what it wants, but she feared for her neighbours as she lives in a terraced house, and by now it was 5am and this had been going on since midnight.

The dog is fed on a dried diet of chicken and rice, is walked at least three times a day, with another final 'round the block' walk at night.  She has absolutely no idea what the problem might be, other than attention seeking, but having tried to ignore the dog last night and having nearly 5 hours of constant yapping, she's getting fed up with it!

I hope you can help.  (PS, she doesn't type and doesn't do computers - hence why I'm doing this for her, but she pops into the office so can answer any questions)

Thanks a lot.

Honestly? I'd let the dog sleep at the top of the stairs :D

Hi Chloeh, the problem she has with this is that he tends to mess when he's out of his crate, something that was going on for ages and it was only the crate that broke the cycle.  She's worried that if this starts up again she'll have to find him another home because she has children and their hygiene to think of.

What about putting the crate at the top of the stairs?

Unfortunatley it's only a tiny 2 bed house and if they put the crate at the top of the stairs they wouldn't be able to walk round it :rolleyes:  I guess putting it in the bedroom would be a possibility.  Would you have any idea why, after six months of being perfectly happy in it's crate, this dog suddenly decides it wants out?

I don't know really, sometimes they just want the extra company and he's learned that barking gets someone downstairs to him. Ideally, you'd ignore the barking, but I'd probably give in and have him in the bedroom. Willis goes through stages where he wants to come upstairs to sleep and will camp on the bottom of the stairs crying and whinging - sometimes we let him up and it doesn't make a rod for our backs - its just sometimes he wants a bit of company :)

The problem i see now she has rewarded the behaviour is it's going to be a lot harder and take longer to stop the behaviour. If they cant move the crate as suggested then your friend is going to have to cope with the barking for a few nights until the routine is established again. She might have to have a word with the neighbours and let them know the situation - a bottle of wine or chocolates would help soften the news i think!!
As you know the dog wants company and now knows it will get it if it barks long enough - it will get worse before it gets better, dogs are like kids they intensify their efforts if they don't get what they want.
If they go down to let it out to the toilet then they must make sure they dont talk to or give the dog any attention or stimulation other than what is necessary. It should be straight to the toilet then back in the crate. Make sure the dog is tired out when put in the crate last thing on a night too - so fill the days with lots of fun and activity, use the crate during the day with lots of praise and treats - as if you are first introducing the crate again. HTH.
Good Luck

Thanks.  That's interesting as now she has two sides to consider!  Should she let the dog sleep out of it's crate, or try persevering with the barking?!  lol!  She knew she had rewarded the behaviour, but I think for her own sanity she felt she had no choice.  The dog is such a persistent one, from what she said he barked non-stop for anything up to an hour before someone went down to it - where do they get their strength?!

I'll recommend what you've said and see how she goes. I think she may go with the 'perseverence' for another day or so, as she'd rather he got used to sleeping in his crate again rather than running the risk of him messing in the house again, which was a much much bigger problem.

Thanks again.

Personally, I think she should get the dog checked out by a vet, because any sudden changes like this in behaviour can often be triggered by something physical.