Hi all,

Our 9 month old Newf, Elvis, keeps waking us up! He used to sleep through the night but over the last few weeks he has started barking and won't stop until we come down. He has water and he doesn't need a wee because he just lies down outside when we let him out.

If we go back to bed leaving him inside he'll start barking again, and if we leave him in the garden and shut the door he'll start barking again. However, if we leave the back door open so he can wander in and out he's fine! This is okay if it's about 6am but he's started barking at 1am or 3am and we can't just leave the door open all night.

We've tried changing the time of his last meal, playing with him before bedtime, taking him for a short walk about 10pm, leaving the radio on overnight and nothing seems to work. He has 2 main walks every day of 30-40 minutes each.

I know some of you may say he's attention seeking and we should just leave him to bark, but we live in a semi-detached and we don't want to disturb the neighbours' sleep as well as ours.

Does anyone have any ideas to bring back our sleep?

Thanks,

Neil.

Have you considered taking him upstairs with you ?  Either in your room or on the landing .
Or could he be too hot or are noises waking him up , such as birds or the milkman ?

it's always difficult when you worry about other people being disturbed but maybe have a chat with the neighbours and explain that you are trying to train him, at least then they may give you a bit of time to sort this out.
i would not go to him if it was my dog but thats a choice you'll have to make. it really sounds like he just wants your attention, so either make decide not to go to him and he will soon realise after a couple of nights that he's wasting his time barking or maybe have him upstairs with you. i prefer my dogs down stairs but again thats up to you.
has anything changed that may of upset his usual pattern at home? as you said he used to be good.
as i have said before on posts i always have quiet time from 7pm ish in my house as my daughter goes to bed and all my dogs know that it's time to chill out asleep in the lounge with us. i do all my walking and playing before this time so they don't get wound up before bed time and every thing is calm.
if it were me i wouldn't do playing before bed keep things as calm as possible.,then do the out to the garden for the loo then no talking  or eye contact when putting him to bed etc after that if you want him to stay sleeping down stairs then i'd ignore him. As we know like children once they know how to pull your strings they will.
your soon know the difference in the sounds he makes if he really does need to go out at night but unless he has an upset tummy etc then he should be able to go all night with out going out.        

Our Bernese started doing this too, leaving the window open seems to have done the trick, as she hasn't done it since we did, she was obviously just too warm/stuffy. Worth a try. Like yours she would just lie down when let out.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Love the idea of having him upstairs with us but the thought of being woken by a 130lb Newf sitting on my head puts me off a bit!

We already leave the window for him so it isn't that.

Guess we'll have to have a word with the neighbours and ask that they be patient while we try ignoring him for a few days. Hope they still speak to us...!

Is he still crated ? maybe if he can be trusted you can give him a little more freedom?

leave the radio low when he wakes you go down ignore him get a drink then go back to bed he may be just feeling a little concerned that he is alone , 9m is a time in thier lives when they can worry and suffer from anxiety.

You could if you are at home during the day put him to bed ... but carry on as normal ie in and out of the room where he has been put for a sleep so that it become the norm for him to be separated from you, also if he is crated I put a cover over the crate to make it snug and dark making it den like.
I wouldnt leave him barking too long as he is a baby, if he is really worried I would crate/pen him in my bedroom as a last resort gradually moving back down stairs ie landing then hall , kitchen over a matter of weeks.The older he gets the more confident he will become.

No, not crated. He has two rooms to roam at night.

I dont let my dogs roam I give them an area that is thier sleeping room ie: a couple in the kitchen , eldest has the hall , when I say bed they know where to go for thier bedtime , he may be roaming during the night wondering where you are so I would confine him to a area ie kitchen or hall give him his bed and say goodnight turn off  the light . For the first couple of nights if he barks go down IGNORE him , let him see you are still around then go back to bed.

All dogs are different but i've found my dogs are more settled in a smaller space when left, i use the utility room with a bed in for them.
 

When my Golden was 1 year old we decided we could get rid of her crate and give her a dog bed instead. She started barking during the night, which I now know was anxiety. As soon as we got her crate back, she was happy again. She really loves the confined space, and even though we leave it open so she could wander around downstairs at any time, she doesn't. I think the advice to put you dog in a more confined space (i.e. kitchen) is a good thing. But I would expect the dog to bark to start with. And don't forget - now your dog is used to you coming when he barks. So I would expect it will take time for your dog to 'unlearn' that barking means attention... Good luck!

Maybe having the same problem as me with CATS!  Don't know where they are all coming from but my youngest Spanish goes mad when she sees them and the cheeky so and so's just sit there in my garden staring at her.

I've recently had this problem with my 14 month bitch.  She is 15 inches high, but has a freakish voice box!  When she barks she has the force, loudness and deep boom of a rottie.  Quite terrifying if you dont know where its coming from.  She has always been as good as gold at night, but suddenly started barking as if an intruder had broken in every night between 1-4 in the morning.  There was no reason for this behaviour, and after weeks of being severely sleep deprived she was being very sternly told off for such antics.  One night my OH was up very late and we discovered the reason for the barking.  Older teenagers were outside our house whistling and banging on the lounge window.  We think they were daring each other to wind up the 'ferocious' dog.  Not really wanting to confront such yobs, and not being in the best of moods to face them at 4am, the dogs were moved into our room for 3 weeks so the kids wouldn't get a reaction and so thankfully got bored of their game.  All above posts have good advise, and I would be saying the same thing, but after this experience I would just say make sure it is HIS fault before you try and fix the problem.

(And I wouldn't recommend having dogs in the bedroom.  I like having one room completely fur free but apart from anything my Cav can snore loud enough to wake me up, I hate to think how loud a newfie would be!)

Thanks to all for the suggestions. We warned the neighbours that it may get noisy for a few days and they were very understanding. He's actually been much better recently anyway, but when he does bark we just ignore him and he seems to be getting the message now. We also leave Radio 4 on quietly for him at night which he seems to like!

Just have to stop him from eating the sofa now...

Heyy im having a puppy for christmas my mum wants it to sleep in th kitchen because i have a hamster
is it normal to keep it in the kitchen
helllppp

>is it normal to keep it in the kitchen

Yes - the kitchen is the traditional place for house-dogs to sleep. The floor is more easily cleaned from all the pee and poo!