Dreadful Nights! Need Advice....

OK. Drake has been driving Andrew and I crazy almost everynight. He does this for a while and then he stops for a few days and then goes back to it. I am going to ask our trainer that we are going to see today, but I would appreciate your input on this as well.

When we got to bed, Drake normally lays down with us for a few hours. Then at around midnight, he starts barking and scratching at the door wanting to go out. One of us gets out of bed, lets him out, and then less than 10 minutes later he wants to come back in. Scratching and barking at the door till he is let in. He won't stop all night long, In and Out, and In and Out! Till 6:00 AM when it is time for us to get up. This has been going on for a month off and on.

We have tried ignoring him and hope that he gets the hint, but he is so persistant. He will bark and scratch till one of us gets up and lets him in.

Andrew thinks it is because he can see out of the door and may spot something outside and wants to check it out. The door has a big glass pane in the middle.

What can I do? HELP!

Everytime you get out of bed to let Drake out, you are reinforcing his bad behaviour. Quit letting him in and out! If he sees something out the door then make it so he can't. When he barks give him a firm command to lie down. If he does then reward him. If he is quite for a few minutes you can reward him. Slowly increase the amount of time he is quite with a reward. His reward can be a biscuit or something he really likes but don't reward his bad behaviour by giving him what he wants.

After a few nights to a week at most he should realize it doesn't do any good to bark and carry on but when I'm quite I get a treat! :D You and Andrew are going to have a few rough nights but it will pay off eventually!

You & Andrew must be extremely patient people...Once, maybe twice would be my limit.

Sorry your having such a hard time! I agree w/Dixieland, you are reinforcing bad behavior by letting him out when he scratches and barks. If you are concerned about the scratching(you'll have to put up w/ the barking until this is unlearned) you may want to consider crating at night until this is over. Hey, we put our babies in a crib at night right?? :) Good luck to you, Terri

My lab Star just turned 3 and has had similar issues!! :D Only she wakes me up to play! Labs require a lot of exercise! And are usually puppy mentality until about age 3 or 4! But even with 1-2 hours of full out exercise daily (swimming, flat out running, retrieving and agility) she just power naps, then BING! Play time! Ahhhhh! She too only seems to need about 3 hours at a time! But you MUST try to ignore him! Like others have said. Remove all enticements, e.g. being able to see out the window. NEVER give in! You have to ignore him, even if he barks. You have to be firm, and consistent! After a week or so, he should begin to learn that his barking won't be rewarded. I know this is hard. But after a while he WILL learn that he will not get your attention. My vet and trainer both say not to give her a reward at THAT time of any sort. She might learn that if he can't go out, at least he will get a treat! I got into that vicious cycle for a while!!Learning the long down is good though. And at nightime, you can use that should he start to demand your attention. Crate training for bedtime too, might be a consideration! Believe me, I know you feel! Or more precisely, how tired you feel! :D But, finally, we're all almost sleeping through the night! Good Luck! BE FIRM!! :)

[ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: tatsxxx11 ]

On occasion, Hannah would hear the teenagers as they come home late at night and want to get up to bark at them. Our stance is always, "No, you go to bed" and bring her back into the the bedroom. She has learned we mean business and this kind of late night behaviour is not an option.