Hello!
I have a 1 year old purebred Australian Shepherd named Bandit. We adopted him from the humane society, and we absolutely adore him, but he has a problem with barking at night.
I am not sure what, if anything, causes him to bark. I do not see or hear anything, although that means little considering I am not a dog. He'll stop when we go outside and tell him to, but before long he's back at it. He is an outdoor dog, who spends the majority of his time on a dog run ( it is a 100ft/~30.5m run, and we take him off to play with him and walk him, and will usually move him to the otherside of the house once or twice a day for a bit of scenery change). He is taken on a brisk walk, at the very least, 30-45 minutes, twice a day (morning and evening), as well as long bouts of fetch and just running around the yard, and he plays with one of those balls that you put treats inside of and let the dog fuss with it to get the treats out for more mental stimulation.
What baffles me is that he is fine during the day, even when he is alone. He doesn't bark at anything during the day, it's only at night.
I'd welcome any advice you can give. It keeps us up at night and I'm certain our neighbors are none too fond of it, either.
Nightime Barking
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: Nightime Barking
Hello 
and welcome to the Board.
He may be barking at passing wildlife, in which case there is not a great deal you can do about it. How about putting a radio on low by his run? That might mask some of the more extreme wildlife sounds and also keep critturs from passing too close. It might also be a cat taunting him from outside the run. Can you put up CCTV and see what goes on during the night?
and welcome to the Board.He may be barking at passing wildlife, in which case there is not a great deal you can do about it. How about putting a radio on low by his run? That might mask some of the more extreme wildlife sounds and also keep critturs from passing too close. It might also be a cat taunting him from outside the run. Can you put up CCTV and see what goes on during the night?
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
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Re: Nightime Barking
Hm. Now that you mention it, there is quite a bit of wildlife up here (I live up in the mountains on Maui). We have a lot of pheasants, mongoose, stray cats, etc.
Re: Nightime Barking
My dog, Misty, does this. She hears something in the wetlands area two lots over and goes bananas. I can't see anything, but she is running back and forth full throttle at whatever she is seeing or smelling.
Blackie's and Misty's Mom