You think you have evrything nicely under control and then you start to suffer with dog barking in the night!

Sometimes things go awry and it is usually because your dog is trying to deal with a new situation a dog starting to bark in the night is a prime example.

Fig is usually quiet after his last walk of the night, we have recently had a heatwave so the routines of our neighbors have changed significantly over the last week or so. There are people out and about at 2am or 3am trying to catch some breeze and chatting in the street. Our street is normally silent after about 11pm!

This change in routine caused Fig a few problems in the first couple of days as he did not understand what was going on and perceived the unexpected noise as a threat of some kind which caused him to bark at the slightest noise. It was fairly easily resolved by reassurance and him becoming accustomed to the change in environment.

Sudden changes in routine can cause stress in dogs (and humans too) this can set them on edge which sometimes manifests itself as them forgetting some of their training or not being able to apply it to the new situation.

If you find yourself in this situation just dig out your dog training manual and go over the steps you need to take to resolve the issue. A little reapplication of your dog training techniques in this new situation will soon have the unsettled behavior under control. A little reinforcement goes a long way!

How to stop dog from barking? – well before that question can be answered you have work out what situation is actually causing the barking.

In general the reason is likely to be one of those listed below:

The dog is defending his territory against someone or something.

The dog is over excited about something.

The dog needs something from you and has not managed to attract your attention in any other way.

The dog is feeling insecure.

The dog is suffering from separation anxiety.

Once you have identified which of the above is causing the barking then you can step in and take appropriate action.

I used to be very unsure about crate training a dog but my opinions have changed. I think that it is perfectly possible to crate train a dog as part of a positive reenforcement training programme.

The reason that I have changed my mind is fairly simple. If you step back and think about it is your dogs natural instinct to find and live in a den. This provides him with a safe haven and a place to call his own.

We don’t have any space in our house for a dog crate, Fig has a basket instead which is under a table. This provides the same type of environement.

Dog crates can be very useful as long as they are used in the right way, here are some guidelines on how the dog crate should be used:

• Your dog should not be shut in there for long periods of time.
• The crate should not be used as punishment.
• There must be enough space in the crate for your dog to stand up, turn around and stretch in.
• The crate must not be in a segregated area it must be somewhere where the dog can take part in normal family life.
• There must be a supply of soft bedding and fresh water to ensure your dogs comfort.
• If your dog is distressed by this training method you should stop its use immediately.

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Effective Dog Training – Ian Dunbar – The funniest bloopers are right here

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Part of the training process as a dog training manual will tell you is to introduce your pet to new experiences in a controlled manner. Of course life does not always go as you plan!

My daughter has a small furry creature otherwise know as a Syrian Hamster. All went well for the first few days at home the dog completely ignored the hamster even though it was in plain sight and made quite a noise. We were fully prepared to make an introduction once the dog seemed settled enough in his new environment.

The plan was to have the dog on his lead in the sitting room with the hamster already in there. Once he noticed and started to make a fuss we were going to ignore him but as soon as he stopped making a fuss we would praise him and/or give him a treat. the reason for doing it this way was so that everyone was calm and prepared for what was going to happen.

Unfortunately my youngest daughter brought a friend home from school to meet our new dog. He was quite excited at meeting a new person when she decided it would be fun to pick up the dog (he is a small/medium sized terrier) and show him the hamster. Well, all hell broke loose, the dog started barking and twisting in her arms as he desperately tried to get to the hamster. Of course the girls reaction to this was not calm there was a lot of screeching and uproar which just fueled his behavior even further.

This impacted really negatively on the dogs training because he was very unsettled. It took a lot of effort to repair the situation and get back on track. There was constant whining and attempts by the dog to try and find the hamster. He would build himself up into a frenzy which would make him anxious and at times distressed.

I took it upon myself to try and start the introduction process all over again, day by day I would sit with the dog on his lead with the hamster in the room ignoring his bad behavior and rewarding his good behavior. This process was extremely long and drawn out, as you should only make the introductions short and end them as soon as the dog has been rewarded for his good behavior, we are at the stage where he can be in the room with the hamster without making a fuss, sometimes he slips up but is easily distracted by a diversion into forgetting the hamsters presence. He can be left alone for short periods of time in the same room as the hamster without chaos ensuing but we don’t make a habit of leaving them alone together.

Things are slowly getting better, we are taking baby steps with this one as he seems to have a terriers natural aversion to small furry creatures.

Well it is very likely that you are all exhausted after your first day together. In our case we didn’t actually get Fig home until it was about 6pm.

After his initial potty training we let him roam around the house and explore. We have a pet hamster which we decided not to introduce the dog to on his first evening (I’ll tell you how that went in another post).

Whilst he explored the house being shadowed at a distance by my daughters I prepared his and our food. I gave him the same brand of food that he had been fed at the dog shelter, that night, so as not to cause any stomach upsets and then we all settled down into our usual routine of work, homework, watching tv liberally sprinkled with episodes of walking the dog every hour or whenever he showed signs of wanting to go to the toilet.

We all went to bed at our usual times, with a little trouble I find it’s not easy to get kids to bed with a new pet in the house even if they are teenagers, I settled the dog down in his basket just before I went to bed and we all settled in for the night.

Fig roamed around a little after we had gone to be, I could hear him, but he settled down soon enough. There were a couple of accidents awaiting me by the morning but that was to be expected as we were not in a routine as yet.