Skip to content

Crying at Night

Behavioral Issues
  • My husband and I are about to lose our minds. We are so sleep deprived. We got our basenji about a year ago as a puppy. Dacia is a little over 1 year old now. At night, she sleeps in a crate next to our other dog, a 4 year old mix breed. Starting two weeks ago, she'll wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning shrieking. She won't stop. We've let her go for almost an hour thinking that if we let her outside or acknowledge her we'll reinforce the behavior. My husband and I have started to argue because we can't figure out how to make it stop. I don't want to let her sleep in bed with us; my husband has sleep apnea and I don't want to disrupt him more than necessary. We can't think of anything that has changed other than we bought some 2x4s to finish our basement and have them stacked up near her kennel. Any suggestion?? She's starting to instigate our other dog into howling with her. We tried to separate them and while our mix breed, Roxy, stopped howling, Dacia howls more because she doesn't like to be away from her. HELLPPP!!!

  • First off, you might have her checked by the vet for a urinary tract infection, or something similar. She might be telling you that she really REALLY needs to go out.

    Secondly, once you rule out that there is any serious reason why she might have developed this behavior..I would move both crates to a far away part of the house. It is wierd that she developed this at a year old. Usually you see this in puppies as they are getting used to the change from litter to new home.

    Thirdly, if nothing else fixes it, I would let both dogs sleep in bed ;) You could do a compromise. When she wakes up, before she starts screaming…take her out of her crate, and either take her outside for a potty, or just let the dogs in bed for that last hour or two of the morning! That has got to be less disruptive than screaming for an hour, no?

  • Thanks for the advice. I'll get her into the vet and give your suggestions a try.

Suggested Topics

  • Crying by bedroom door

    Behavioral Issues
    8
    0 Votes
    8 Posts
    711 Views
    ZandeZ
    Three 15 minute walks a day is not nearly enough ! Try a couple of hours at least, morning and evening. If I do 2 - 3 miles, the boys cover at least 5 or 6, probably quite a bit more. These are hunting hounds and they need exercise - to be able to run and run ! She is just not tired enough and probably also bored.
  • Night Howling

    Behavioral Issues
    16
    0 Votes
    16 Posts
    5k Views
    DebraDownSouthD
    Sleep in your bed or not, sleep under the sheets or own cover or between sheet and cover...two issues only. Your personal choice and if it causes behavioral problems. As for " alphas"..nothing has done more to cause more harm to training than that outdated wrong concept. This is a nice article explaining how we got into the alpha stuff, and the way to think that will really help with how you see and train your dogs. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/dog-dominance/
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • Cry Baby!

    Behavioral Issues
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    wizardW
    You need to work on calming her – I've done this with mine by making sure I ignore the outside noises, yawning and sighing when there's noises, anything to show her that as alpha dog you choose to ignore the outside distractions and she will catch on -- it does take some time though. You might have her do some sit+reward or other behavior+reward to help her calm down when she hears the noises.
  • "Stupid Dog" kind of night…...

    Behavioral Issues
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    2k Views
    JazzysMomJ
    @Ninabeana26: That's a basenji for ya right? :p Yup, for "unpredictable" dogs, they sure are "predictable". :D Still think he's a big turd.;) And honestly, if Jazz would just scoot over….......:rolleyes: