Why do dogs bark at night?
People are mostly always annoyed by annoying daytime barking of dogs, and especially loud night barking. Frequent night barking interrupts sleep, tires and seriously irritates the owner. The reason for this is understandable, because every owner has to get up for work in the morning and work hard all day. After nights of sleep deprivation and headaches, it is unlikely that the owner is happy to greet his Ponytail at the gate after a hard day’s work. Barking in the middle of the night can occur in both backyard and pet dogs. It doesn’t matter what breed of dog it is or if it’s just a street dog, they are all capable of creating loud noises and barks, and often, it seems to the owner, for no reason and in a variety of situations.
The main causes of dogs barking at night in the apartment
The main reason why there is loud barking outside at night is that the dog has no understanding of time. Four-legged tails equally perceive the daytime and nighttime. Dogs do not separate time, and they also have excellent vision at night, so anything can disturb them and they will start barking loudly. Dogs also have a keen sense of smell, so when he is disturbed and he hears someone else’s odor, he will let his owner know right away. At the time when the owner goes to bed, it seems that the dog should go to bed, but it is not so. Tails main task is to protect his home, his master and his territory. Faithful Friends immediately take to barking, wrestling and even furious running towards danger. We often think of it as barking into the void, but also as running into the dark, as if into the void, because there is no one there. In fact, all mammals are endowed with the reflex of fight and defense and their main task is to protect.
Anxiety. Often by barking loudly at night, the dog wants to reach out to his master to hear him. The dog may be looking for his stick, a toy, or the bowl is out of water – this is a reason to call out to the owner and it is a cause of anxiety for the dog. The pet may be hungry, perhaps the owner has forgotten to feed, to reward with an evening treat. Loud barking is always a reminder of something important. Another reason could be danger. When the dog smelled an unfamiliar odor, heard human footsteps, rustling of trees, purring of a kitty on the street, this will also be a reason for barking. If all this “threatens” his territory, which he protects, he will always bark loudly, as if he will fight the situation or ask the owner for “help”. Owners often underestimate animals, but a dog’s excellent sense of smell and good eyesight will help him see and sense danger, both in the yard and in the apartment, through doors, windows and closed curtains.
Aggression. Barking loudly at night and running fast enough, this is how a dog can show its aggression to other animals. When encountering a fly, bee, bird or cat, the dog wants to show that he is stronger in spirit, more courageous and can destroy them. And also if there is an owner nearby, the animal gets even more angry to show how strong he is and how he can fight and defend his territory and his home. Such aggression and anger can be seen and heard near the front door or gate, if the dog senses a stranger, its behavior will be just that.
Communication. Often the dog loudly “fights”, and also howls like a real wolf, because he is lonely. There is not a single person nearby, the animal and the dog is very sad. If it is a yard dog, it will be able to call others to itself and running in a pack will be much more fun. And it will also be much more fun to attack together on the prey that will fall on the road, as well as to look for food. Therefore, night and loud barking is an opportunity for the dog to “express himself”.
Play. The reason for this can also be that if your puppy has had a good night’s sleep during the day, he will want to play at night. The doggie will demand with all his might attention to himself. He will “mug run”, or “back and forth”, it will be a wolf howl and a loud “woof-woof”. The animal also needs to be understood, because if it is healthy, has no hunger and has had a good night’s sleep, it will need attention and play. Energy in Tails, as well as in people, can appear and disappear, so it is important to treat it with understanding. This is most often the case with young puppies.
Excess energy. The cause of loud barking at night in an adult and healthy dog can be excess energy. If the owner spends most of his time at work and returns late at night, and the dog is closed and alone all the time, this can be the cause of howling at night. You need to consider the fact that the dog is young and healthy and well nourished. It needs regular walks and runs, possibly playtime and definitely socialization. If the dog will be longing all day in the apartment or lonely in the yard, it will remind the owner of his longing every time he meets him late at night and in the evening and thus call him to play and socialize. Remember socialization for a young dog is life, it is his meaning and learning about his master as a true friend and as the meaning of life.
Nerves. For dogs of any age, breed, maybe they were yard dogs, after a person tamed – everything changes. Four-legged dogs are very nervous about anything new. If you have moved to a new house or apartment, if you have taken the doggie and transported by car and he is on vacation with you all the time. New premises, that is a house, apartment, hotel, boarding house, beach, for the animal it is all new and stressful. From such a fright the animal will not control itself, its eyes will not perceive so well new places as the previous ones, which it has already seen, by sense of smell it will hear foreign odors, steps for it will be strange, because the sounds of steps on the asphalt and sand will be different. Everything new is stress, which will provoke fear and barking at night, in fact barking and “wolf howling” in such situations is an expression of longing for native places and stress from everything new.
Age. Under 8 months of age, dogs are just getting used to their home and owner, they don’t yet have a sense of “home”. Adult hormones begin to be produced closer to a year, so night barking can be a manifestation of fear of the unknown and the beginning of habituation. In such situations, you need to give time and attention to Tails, play with him, pet him, hug him and take him to you.
How to help your dog overcome night barking
The owner should first understand the cause of night barking or track it down to get it right. There are too many such causes, so there will be too many ways to deal with it. If you realize that an older dog is showing anxiety and aggression in this way, you can lock him in a booth at night so that he sleeps well. You can set the budoo further back in the yard, a little further away from the street or driveway itself, so that loud noises don’t annoy the dog. The owner can go out into his yard and show the dog to make sure the owner is around and calm him down.
If you spend most of the day at work, you can increase your walking time and devote more time to socializing and playing with your dog. Your pooch will expend more energy and be more satisfied from socializing, and if he’s also well fed, this will 100% increase the likelihood that he’ll be exhausted from physical activity at night and sleep better.
But all owners of Faithful Friends should remember that some of them have a rather strong character and will always react strongly to all external stimuli with loud night barking. Unfortunately, this issue can only be solved by a systematic approach with the help of a specialist dog breeder. This systematic approach is regular training. The canine specialist will teach your dog various commands and the most important command is “quiet”. If you add a tasty treat as a reward, you are sure to be successful.
If you want to entertain your doggie, to calm him down or you are at work all day and realize that your faithful friend is longing, he is too sad, we will gladly help you!
