# 5 months old - barking at everything



## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

Indy is 5 months old. The past week he seems to have found his "voice" and he's been using it _often_. A bee flew into the window behind him = barking. Neighbors in their backyard (our yard is surrounded on all sides by active outdoor people) = barking. Birds in the yard = barking. People on the street in front of the house = barking. Someone walking down the stairs = barking. ... it's getting ridiculous.

Up until this past week we have the windows and doors to the backyard open as often as possible. He would bark at people he'd see but if someone would go out and tell him "quiet" and give him a few reassuring pets he would stop and just watch. The only other time he would bark would be if he was startled by something and again - he would quiet down as soon as we said "quiet". The past few days, nothing seems to help. He'll continue to bark even if I pick him up and hold him.

Our neighborhood has the houses all pretty close together and no one has airconditioning so the windows are always open. You really can hear a neighbor sneeze if there isn't any music or background noise so Indy's barking is sure to get on people nerves (and it's making me crazy). I know all dogs bark and I don't want him to stop completely, I like that he lets us know when the doorbell rings but the barking at everything needs to stop.

Is there anything I could be doing aside from the "quiet" followed by reassurance if he needs it or bringing him in, shutting the door and ignoring the behavior if he doesn't stop? Or am I just going to have to get used to our vicious protector.

Maybe he was a lion in a previous life.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Others have suggested teaching a command for bark such as speak so then you can teach a shush command. Also, behaviors that you don't pay any attention to at all will sometimes extinguish especially if you reward the behavior you prefer. Such as if Indy showed he heard a sound (ears react but didn't bark). I am certain others with more experience than I with barking will have suggestions. BTW Indy is really cute!


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## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

Pucks104 said:


> Others have suggested teaching a command for bark such as speak so then you can teach a shush command. Also, behaviors that you don't pay any attention to at all will sometimes extinguish especially if you reward the behavior you prefer. Such as if Indy showed he heard a sound (ears react but didn't bark). I am certain others with more experience than I with barking will have suggestions. BTW Indy is really cute!


I forgot to add that we try to encourage the times when he hears something 
and doesn't bark. We don't reward with food but with lots of petting and praise.

This really is a time when it's a good thing he's cute


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## FRANKBULLETT (Mar 31, 2013)

*Barking*

Bandit started to bark about 4 months and now at 5 1/2 is slowing down. She sits on the deck and barks at the dogs being walked that she can see across an open field. When I tried to say no and get her off the deck she turned into a chase game so now I just ignore it and I can tell its frequency is about 1/3 of what it used to be. If its not one thing its the other. they keep you guessing!! Cute Pup.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

That's when zoey started barking i think it part of adolescents. They for some reason are either guarding their territory or a bit fearful. I tried so many different things. I think what really helps is more socialization and learning what is triggering it. She now barks more at other dogs than anything else.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

m0rg4n said:


> I forgot to add that we try to encourage the times when he hears something
> and doesn't bark. We don't reward with food but with lots of petting and praise.
> 
> This really is a time when it's a good thing he's cute


That's a good tactic. You can TRY the teaching him to "speak" bit... I've heard some dogs it worked for and others where it only added to the problem, so pick your poison. I didn't dare  Kodi was a VERY quiet small puppy, then "found his voice" around 5 months and was a holy terror.

Nothing really seemed to have much of an impact... either praising good behavior or punishing bad behavior (by crating him and covering the crate)... at least in the short run. And it sure didn't FEEL short at the time.

I CAN tell you that he eventually DID grow out of it, and I do think our consistent response to barking probably did help in the long run. But it was NOT a quick fix, by any means. We didn't have the potty problems or the biting problems that some people have with their pups, but we had the full-on barking to deal with!!!


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

I could have sworn I posted the same complaint with Tim when he was about Indy's age. He was a HUGE barker, we couldn't even watch tv, oh it was bad! I did teach him to speak, as well as "quiet" which consisted of me saying "quiet" and holding my finger up to my mouth. He has quieted down considerably, now I only have to put my finger up to my mouth and he knows. Timmy was also a "bossy barker", which means if I didn't pay attention to him he would bark. This was easily corrected by totally ignoring him, turning my back, not even telling him to be quiet. Just so you know, I had the front door open yesterday, with the screen door there, and he was barking at everything. If he barked I told him quiet and closed the door, once he was quiet opened the door again and if he barked I closed it again. We went through this three of four times and he realized if he barked the door would be closed and guess what? He was quiet.... yay!!!! Just so you know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I know how irritating the barking thing is, but this too shall pass.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody is an alert barker and he started around 5 months of age. One day he just seemed to notice and hear EVERYTHING and react to it. I like to say he reacts/barks when he hears an ant fart 5 miles away. I won't say he's a holy terror, but he does bark at every sound he hears in the hallway (we live in an apartment so there are people going by all the time and the laundry room is across the hall from me). Things I do: I call him to me and then praise him for coming. Quite often this is enough to stop it. Other times he doesn't want to stop, so I'd put him in his crate. Stage 1 with door open. If he still didn't settle then stage 2: shut door. If he still didn't want to settle then stage 3: blanket over sides. It's at the point now where when he just won't stop it, he crates himself. Why he can settle in his crate and not while he's relaxing on the back of the sofa is beyond me!

He's a little over 2 now and he still barks quite a lot (ie at everything), except, apparently when there really is an intruder. Funny story: we were at my parents...he barks at every sound, every movement. Mom or dad get up in the night he's barking at them. However, they had workers on the roof doing something. Brody sat at the window and just stared at them! I'm like "seriously, strangers on the roof and you're just going to watch THEM?"

Luckily for me he doesn't demand bark and I don't think he really barks just to hear himself bark (entertain himself). For some reason when he actually wants something his way of telling me is very quiet and subtle.


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## jbucc16 (May 3, 2013)

I have a five month old havanese as well (Bowie!) and he's just started barking at night like crazy. I don't know how to post a new thread but since this is fairly similar I thought I'd ask everyone here for suggestions. I understand that puppies tend to go through a "second fear" stage but I kind of think this is his "attention" bark (I've grown quite familiar with his noises and what they could mean). I try to ignore it for as long as I can but I live in an apartment building with neighbors and roommates who I fear will start a revolution if this doesn't subside soon. This is a new thing he's been doing, he usually loves his crate. Eventually I just let him out because I needed to get back to sleep and within an hour he pooped in the middle of my bedroom (his first accident in weeks!). Any tips?


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

I had the exact same thing happen with Emmie. She was sleeping through the night but then started waking up and barking very loudly. It was awful. I tried ignoring her but she still made a ruckus; I caved and took her out of her crate and then she pooped on the floor. I was a wreck because I wasn't getting much sleep and I was worried the neighbors would hear her. What finally solved the issue is I took her out of her crate, no talking or comfort, and then went outside for her to pee/poop and back to the crate. Again, no talking to her or petting her. I only needed to do this a few times and then she went back to sleeping through the night.
- Jeanne


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## jbucc16 (May 3, 2013)

Thank you SO much Jeanne. I'm friends with a dog trainer who suggested the following as well:

1- as he's maturing, his exercise and mental stimulation needs are
increasing. Try giving him more exercise during the day. Also send him into the
crate with something to work on (stuffed kong or other long term
chewy)
2- did he have a bathroom emergency last night? He may have had a
belly ache or drank more water than usual and had to go to the
bathroom. You can always take him out (or to paper) and give him 3-5
minutes to do business (be really boring - no playtime or smiles) then
put him back in crate.
3- If you think he's just crying to get out and nothing more, try the
sheet over the crate trick. Have a sheet sitting on top of crate and
if he vocalizes say "oops" and cover crate with sheet. If he's quiet
for a few min, you can uncover. Let him learn being covered is a
direct consequence of making noise.

I'm just nervous that bathroom breaks throughout the night will become a routine (because up until now he's been like clock work!). I'm glad to know that after a few nights it was resolved. Did you do anything else different as well? Like feed him earlier or take him out later before bed? I appreciate the words of encouragement and desperately hope this is just a phase!!


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

I take Emmie out right before I go to bed which tends to be kind of late so that's helped a lot. But sometimes she wakes up 30-45 minutes earlier than I'd like to get up and then starts whimpering, which of course wakes me up. It sucks, especially on the weekend. I wish I had a dog that liked to sleep in. Maybe if I got blackout curtains she'd sleep longer. Though I shouldn't complain because when she was sick over the last 3 weeks, she slept all the time and I had a hard time getting her up in the morning. So it's a positive sign that she's waking me up early again.


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## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

So far Indy isn't pulling the night time potty emergency card but he HAS been pushing his wake up time in the wrong direction. I was really enjoying not getting up at 5:30am with him but he's moved from 6:15 back to 6 and today it was 5:53... anytime before 6 is just NOT a time to be awake.

We'll keep doing what we're doing with the barking. I think some of it really is that it's getting nice to everyone is spending more time outside so there are just MORE noises to get used to. Hopefully he'll get used to them quickly and our neighbors won't kick us out


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## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

The barking has gotten SO MUCH worse! This week Indy decided that he doesn't want to share his yard with the birds anymore and just barks and barks all day long. He barks when he hears someone walking by or shutting their car doors outside. He barks when he hears someone in the house that isn't with him in the living room. He barks when the wind blows and yesterday he started barking at the rain. It's spring in germany - it rains ALL the time, the birds are everywhere and people walk a lot here so there is always someone walking by. Up until this week as long as I was in here with him he would stop as soon as I said quiet and I could distract him with a game of fetch. Now he's gotten so much louder and persistant. 

Anyone have any other advice or things to try?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

m0rg4n said:


> The barking has gotten SO MUCH worse! This week Indy decided that he doesn't want to share his yard with the birds anymore and just barks and barks all day long. He barks when he hears someone walking by or shutting their car doors outside. He barks when he hears someone in the house that isn't with him in the living room. He barks when the wind blows and yesterday he started barking at the rain. It's spring in germany - it rains ALL the time, the birds are everywhere and people walk a lot here so there is always someone walking by. Up until this week as long as I was in here with him he would stop as soon as I said quiet and I could distract him with a game of fetch. Now he's gotten so much louder and persistant.
> 
> Anyone have any other advice or things to try?


Kodi drove me NUTS with barking as an adolescent. I was told that if I couldn't distract him and stop it that way, to put him in his crate if he wouldn't stop. If he still wouldn't stop, cover the crate so he couldn't see out. At the time, it didn't feel like it was working very well, but I guess, with consistent consequences, it did work, because it's not a problem any more.  But I thought I'd go out of my mind in the midst of it. (one of those "WHAT have I gotten myself INTO?" moments! <ggg>)


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

krandall said:


> Kodi drove me NUTS with barking as an adolescent. I was told that if I couldn't distract him and stop it that way, to put him in his crate if he wouldn't stop. If he still wouldn't stop, cover the crate so he couldn't see out. At the time, it didn't feel like it was working very well, but I guess, with consistent consequences, it did work, because it's not a problem any more.  But I thought I'd go out of my mind in the midst of it. (one of those "WHAT have I gotten myself INTO?" moments! <ggg>)


That's what I did/do with Brody. First I call him to me to try to distract him out of it. If he still isn't stopping, the next step is being gently put in the crate. After that it's blocking his view by putting the cover over the crate. He's a little over 2 now and the barking is a lot better. He's past the stage where he barks at a shoe left in a weird spot, etc. He's still an alert barker though and does bark at every noise though he does settle much better/quicker than he used to, but I do still have to be vigilant with him.

He also thinks that EVERY space is his and everyone else is an intruder. At my parents' place he barks at them if they get up at night, etc.

And if he finds he just can't seem to stop himself after I've told him to be quiet, he actually crates himself now! Oddly enough, he'll settle right down in his crate.


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## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

misstray said:


> That's what I did/do with Brody. First I call him to me to try to distract him out of it. If he still isn't stopping, the next step is being gently put in the crate. After that it's blocking his view by putting the cover over the crate. He's a little over 2 now and the barking is a lot better. He's past the stage where he barks at a shoe left in a weird spot, etc. He's still an alert barker though and does bark at every noise though he does settle much better/quicker than he used to, but I do still have to be vigilant with him.
> 
> He also thinks that EVERY space is his and everyone else is an intruder. At my parents' place he barks at them if they get up at night, etc.
> 
> And if he finds he just can't seem to stop himself after I've told him to be quiet, he actually crates himself now! Oddly enough, he'll settle right down in his crate.


When he starts barking I respond with calling his name and just getting his attention, then move to getting a toy to see if he'll play and finally he gets crated for a minute (maybe not even that long). I know he has some sort of recognition that barking = crate because if he's barking and I start walking toward him, he'll try to walk to a different part of the room. What I don't know is if that's good because maybe he knows what to expect, or if it's bad because I don't want him associating Me coming closer to being crated. We haven't hit the part where he's still barking once he's in the crate - usually he'll start whimpering because he wants out! ... to go bark some more. :doh:


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## swaye (Mar 28, 2013)

In regards to the early rising, we have noticed Sofie has moved her wake up time earlier since the time change. If we stay up an hour later it helps some, but fact is, we all nod off before going to bed.

Sofie will be 5 months old in a week and I have noticed she also has found her voice. So far, it is manageable and I attribute it to (mostly) curiousity/attention. Just ignoring it for now. If I think it is fear, she backs up, and then I just tell her reassuringly it is ok.


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