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Night time barking

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  • 25-02-2010 10:33am
    #1
    kylith
    Registered Users Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭


    My two dogs sleep out in the garden, this hasnt' been a problem until the last few of weeks when they've woken OH up a couple of times by barking for ages. They've barked until he's gone down and let them into the house just to shut them up so he can get some sleep. They're not barking to be let into the house; there are cats that pass by quite often and birds roosting in a tree, and I think it's that noise that sets them off.

    We don't want them to get the idea that if they bark they'll be allowed in, but we can't leave them barking all night and annoying the neighbours. I was thinking that it might help if we kept some dogfood in the bedroom and when there was a lull in the barking to scatter a fistful out the window and distract them, but I'm worried that this will be seen as a reward for barking rather than not barking.

    They're two Cairn terrier crosses; one aged about 10 and the other about 5.


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    #2
    lorebringer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,712 ✭✭✭lorebringer


    Why don't you let them sleep in the house? There wouldn't be any birds etc. for them to bark at and they might stay quiet so you could get come sleep!


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    #3
    kylith
    Registered Users Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    There's no need for them to be in the house. The barking has only been about twice in the last couple of weeks, so it's not a constant problem that they neighbours are complaining about.


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    #4
    rhonin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,248 ✭✭✭rhonin


    Do they sleep in a dog kennel in the garden? Is it well sheltered from the elements? Maybe their cold and they want to get into the warmth of the house? As we all know, the weather has been very cold for the last few weeks.


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    #5
    kylith
    Registered Users Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    The kennel is snug in at the corner between the house, the steps from the house to the garden, and the wall with next door's garden so it's in a very sheltered location. There's a swing-door on the front to keep the drafts out, and they have a deep bed of straw in there too, so it's nice and cosy. They've slept in the garden since I got them two years ago, and the younger one had hardly been inside a house before that (they're rescues). I knew that I'd need them to sleep outdoors, which is why I got a hardy breed.

    The weather and the accomodation isn't the problem; the problem seems to be with the cats and the birds. And since my back door is glass keeping them in at night (even if that were possible) wouldn't solve that problem.

    If I could see the cat coming then I could distract them, but since I'm asleep I can't.


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