# Barking In The Morning



## GLHF (Feb 21, 2013)

Hi all. Our lil 9 week Ruby seems to be getting worse in the crate. Once it is morning time, she will bark until we go get her. This has only started for the last few nights. A typical night now is asleep in crate around 9 pm. No barking. We get up at 1:30 am for a potty and put her back in the crate. No barking. Then she wakes up around 4:30 or 5:00 and will bark until we go let her out. I Also have suspicions she barks while we are at work. Because when we come home and approach the house, we can sometimes hear her barking. And there is no way she could have already heard us coming. The best solution I can think of is to continue to try to get her to enjoy her crate. Oh and on a slightly related topic - when she is out of the crate she always wants to be near. She will whimper out of excitement often and whimper to get up on the couch with us or wherever we are. Any ideas on what we can do?


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## DixiesMom (Feb 5, 2009)

I think your little one is doing great. You are getting much more sleep than most new owners. Remember that your pup is not able to "hold it" for more than 4-5 hours. 

If the pup is barking because it needs to potty, you don't have a problem.


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## GLHF (Feb 21, 2013)

I feel as if the barking is only in the morning. She has to potty in the middle of the night when we take her out, but there is never any barking then. It's only in the early morning. 

Oh and I should add - If we do take her out to potty when she is barking in the early morning and then try to get that one more hour of sleep we need, she'll just start barking again nonstop.


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Hi GLHF! DixiesMom is right, at 9 weeks our girl was up 6/7 times during the night barking, whining and howling and on average only two of these were for the toilet.

Here is the thread (my first thread ever) that I started re barking in the crate at 12 weeks - don't let that discourage you, if i'd have come on here and posted about it at 9 weeks I could have taken the advice and dealt with it then. 

http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,7414.msg56760.html#msg56760

Hope that helps! Also, she will want to be near or with you all the time, she is still missing her littermates and her Mum so right now you are her world.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

She's training you ;D 

And by the looks of it... must be working. 
Sammy did this every time he wanted something, sounded like "Hey, you, COME HERE and give me want I want"

At the beginning it worked, but come 20 weeks I turned the tables on him. 
Knowing he doesn't have to go potty, I simply listened to him or read HVF until he stopped and *rewarded him the moment he was silent for a while. Not with treats, but just by opening the gate allowing him to come out.*.. hugs and kisses (it's a Vizsla after all) and quickly go into sit, down, sit, stand, follow me... sit, wait...
And only after that did I reward with a few treats. 

Don't know if this is the correct approach, but it worked for me.


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## GLHF (Feb 21, 2013)

Believe me, she is not training us. Once 4:30ish rolls around, she starts barking. We don't come running. We can ignore it until 7 when we have to get ready for work. She will bark for that whole 2.5 hours.


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## dmak (Jul 25, 2012)

To put it into perspective. Your pup is 9 weeks old, equivilant to a new born child. You put her to bed @9-930pm and only let her out once at 1.30, then she's back in the box till 7am. That's almost 10 hours of solotairy confinement. I've never met a dog or infant child that will comfortably stay by itself almost half the day. Your pup is training you(with good reason) to be with her. When you researched the breed, I hope you realized that these little red devils are pieces of Velcro (more like barnacles on a ship hull). She needs the attention, so give it to her. You can try moving the crate into your room so she knows you are there. Also, in reguards to the barking upon your return. I guarantee she can her you when your car is on the block, and she'll definitely know you are approaching the domicile. The pups keen senses are much keener than you can imagine


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

As others have said, you must persevere, in order to be successful with your training. But temper your perseverance with the knowledge that she is still a baby, and is still (and always will be) a pack animal by nature. She wants to be with her pack.   All you can do is stick it out, but treat her gently. She is still learning.


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## GLHF (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies. I guess my only concern is what path we are heading down. If she will learn to be alone, then I can take some weeks of barking. No big deal. If she's developing separation anxiety, then I want to take corrective action ASAP.


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## dmak (Jul 25, 2012)

She's just beginning to learn, it'll take a few more monthes of hard work to help her on her path of life. She sounds great so far. She'll learn the ways of the kennel. Just wait till she becomes a devil shark, I'd go ahead and suggest a pair of leather work gloves and/or a spray bottle. She's going to rock your world!


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