I have two dogs at the moment. One is a male Doberman male called George and my other is a female Greyhound called Izzy. They are both the same age of 2yrs and both have been snipped. They sleep in their own room downstairs in a large utility and have done for the length of the time I have owned them. I don't know what George's problem is but he has started to bark aggresivley at Izzy in the night, he has never hurt her but just barks very loudly at her. The result of this is he wakes the whole household up and the neighbours. I've tried every thing such as walkie talkies, baby talk, banging on the door without him been able to see me and other things. He does stop at the time but he seems to wait for a while then starts all over again. I really don't know what to try next. I've been thinking of buying the anti bark collar but not sure if it will work or is the right thing to use!!

Does anyone have any advice on this problem i'm willing to listen and try anything.

Hi ;)

How long have they been sleeping together without any problems? Did you have them both from puppies? And finally.......sorry about all the questions ;) How long has George been barking at Izzy? And does he do it every night. How does Izzy react to him when he does this?

Is there anything that you can pinpoint that has changed in your household recently? Very often, if you ask yourself questions, you come up with the answers yourself :) There is nearly always a reason for a change in behaviour and I know from experience, it's not easy when you are so close to the situation to try and find a cure.

Is it possible, for the time being anyway, that you could seperate them at night?  Perhaps he wakes up bored, knows that by barking, he gets yours and Izzys attention, so this in itself is rewarding for him. Or perhaps there is something that Izzy is doing that provokes him.

A camcorder would be very useful, then you could see exactly what starts him off :D

HTH

They have slept together for nearly two years on the whole. The problem with George barking at Izzy is on and off but this has been for months now. It's not every night for instance last week I had about two or three good nights sleep with no interuptions but then as time has pasted he starts it all up again. Last night was the worst one for weeks it took me banging on the door at 4am when he finally shut up and then they both slept til 7am.

I got George from a breeder when he was 9 weeks old and Izzy came from the local kennels and was about 5 months old. I suppose you could say I have had them both from puppies. George did spend a few months on his own before his sister arrived!!

Izzy doesn't always react to him at first but bless she must get fed up with him because she eventually starts to bark back at him. Like I said before they never touch each other just pointless barking.

The only thing I can think of is that both George and Izzy like to sleep next to the fridge thats in there room I guess it's warm and makes noises that they both like maybe George doesn't want Izzy next to it with him. Although saying that when I had the baby talk I never heard either one of them move first just George barking.

My partner has been off work sick last week and spent most of the time in bed and she said that he started barking at Izzy in the morning as well.

I personaly don't think anything in the household has changed but I know how sensitive George is to change it could be any small thing.

I've been thinking of rigging something up like CCTV or a camecorder to try and catch what's causing this. Maybe it is Izzy that provokes him and she's that sweet and butter wouldn't melt in her mouth to look at i'd never guess eh!!

Thanks for taking the time to reply to me on this prob.

Do they have beds or are they crated separately? One of mine barks furiously at his brother when he comes to share a bed. He hates being sat on!

I have been through so many beds- they've had plastic beds of there own but George decided he wanted to sleep in the same bed as Izzy, so I bought an XL plastic bed for both to share which was ok for a while but George started not sleeping!! Then I took the XL bed out and threw loads of fleeces on the floor which is what they sleep on now and have done for about a year!!

Are you sure he is barking at her and not something outside.  If he is barking at her I would separate them - different rooms, crates, divided room or something to see if this stops it.

Your banging is likely to make him worse as he may thing you are joining in.

He may be barking at something outside - early milkman, neighbour coming in/out of work - distant clock chiming ?

I personaly would say he is barking at her because George has different barks for different situations. I know that may sound nuts but I'm sure it's right.

I do think seperating them is a good idea just to see what happens. When there in the front room on an evening they sleep together for a short time and then George either gets too hot or something because he moves to lay near where I sit which is away from Izzy!!

On a tangent, are you sure he's not trying to get something from her?  My dobe boy Remy has a request bark when he wants something - today he was after my sister's pup's mini kong - and he will do it for a long time before he gives up.  He sometimes does it in the middle of the night, barking at my rott X Opi because she's dozing next to a bone or toy he wants - most of the time, she doesn't even want it!