How I stopped Reg’s frustrating nighttime barking —before our lovely London neighbours complained
Reg&Bob may be a dog business with the boys every day adventures and antics featuring on social media (when they aren’t modelling our collars and leads) but I’m adamant I won’t give advice on dog behaviour or indeed training. How could I - as gorgeous and funny as they are - I definitely couldn’t say Reg or Bob are well behaved. With a whiff of anything edible in the air - there’s no saying what they’ll do - for evidence see my Instagram post on Bob’s lake rescue!
Nothing against dogs in bedrooms
Reg planning some night time entertainment
However (and I’m still reluctant to sound over confident on this one) we’ve had an annoying problem with Reg which I think I’ve resolved! Here’s what happened..……
Out of the blue we started being woken at night by barking- probably Reg or sometimes both. We soon became frustrated, frazzled and very, very tired! Living in a terrace house in Fulham, south west London we are conscious of noise and especially waking up our very lovely neighbours .
Whilst unsure for certain why this had suddenly started I believe in some way it was due to their major illnesses - Bob with his liver shunt and follow up complications and the harrowing operations Reg went through. They both had to sleep in our bedroom during these very worrying periods. Illness or no illness that’s ultimately where they want to sleep - with us.
Unfortunately the logistics of having them in our bedroom are cumbersome- we have alot of stairs in our house and due to their short legs and Reg’s compromised back legs I don’t like them climbing the stairs - they have to be carried. As I’m often the last to bed I’m struggling with two heavyweights up endless stairs and it’s a task that nearly finishes me off. Nothing against dogs in bedrooms but logistically it just doesn’t work for us.
Bob - face of innocence
So from the kitchen this endless nighttime barking continued and we got more and more frazzled. I remember putting out a call on Instagram for ideas on what the problem could be and was inundated with responses - a number of helpful suggestions and other owners looking to solve the same problem. We tried calming sprays, pheromone plug ins, nighttime biscuits , wrapping them in blankets and many more ideas - we were willing to give anything a go. But the barking continued.
Reg never wanted to go to bed
Amongst this nightmare there’s also some totally justifiable barking. When home our boys come in at all times of the night and indeed morning and Reg and Bob always like to welcome them home. The squealing London foxes absolutely must be acknowledged not to mention the local cats padding over the glass kitchen roof without permission.
But the random barking was wearing us down - some nights I was up more than for both my children! And importantly the dogs weren’t happy either. We established it was mainly Reg sometimes egged on by Bob but Reg was always the one looking very, very guilty!
It was months of rarely a bark-free night when I remembered something from years ago. We were staying in a house in Cornwall in the middle of nowhere - and a nighttime as black as black could be . I remember commenting that when I let the dogs out for a nighttime pee Reg instead of galloping into the darkness like Bob, would lift his leg on the nearest planter and hurry back inside. I suggested to the family that Reg was scared of the dark - and boy was that idea laughed at - dogs aren’t scared of the dark!!!
The winning night light solution
Well one night I came down to see what the barking was and remembered this and decided to leave a couple of lights on - not another sound! The same the next night and the next. Most extraordinarily the barking stopped - except for late night returning boys and squealing foxes obviously. I suddenly started waking up in the morning feeling rested and refreshed.
In the midst of an energy crisis it really isn’t the time to be leaving lights on all night but we’ve managed to get three night lights and that seems to do the trick.
It seems so incredible that a problem that really was spiralling out of control and causing so much angst was so simply solved. I’m not suggesting there’ll never be nighttime barking again but I feel so relieved we have happy calm dogs again - and we all feel the better for a great night’s sleep.
I would love to know your thoughts - so please comment below.