How to stop a puppy from barking all night
Puppies often start crying and barking for long periods at bedtime or early in the morning despite having their needs met. This nighttime disruption leaves owners exhausted, feeling helpless, and worried that their puppy is stressed or anxious.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 21.6× more often in r/puppy101 than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Bringing the puppy upstairs to lay in bedDid this help you?
- 2Moving the puppy's crate into the bedroomDid this help you?
- 3Leaving the crate door openDid this help you?
- 4Taking the puppy outside on a leash for a potty resetDid this help you?
- 5Establishing a strict, 100% consistent sleeping routineDid this help you?
- 6taking the puppy out to pottyDid this help you?
- 7making sure the puppy is not thirstyDid this help you?
- 8sitting right by the cage with the puppyDid this help you?
- 9Soothing the puppyDid this help you?
- 10Ignoring the puppyDid this help you?
- 11Taking the puppy out for a wee on a pad outside the crateDid this help you?
- 12Trying a cat bed with a roof for extra comfortDid this help you?
- 13Letting the puppy out to do a weeDid this help you?
- 14Going downstairs to intervene so the puppy stops barkingDid this help you?
- 15Considering abandoning the crate and letting the puppy sleep in the bedroomDid this help you?
- 16sleeping with the puppy in a pen right next to the bedDid this help you?
- 17putting food, treats, and toys in the crate and praising the puppy when she goes inDid this help you?
- 18trying to start separation anxiety training with tiny bits of distanceDid this help you?
- 19Buying a carpet and attractant spray for indoor bathroom useDid this help you?
- 20Taking the dog outside on a scheduleDid this help you?
- 21letting the puppy sleep in the bedroomDid this help you?
- 22letting the puppy sleep outside of the crate near other pets or humansDid this help you?
- 23putting the crate in the bedroom so the puppy can see the ownersDid this help you?
- 24Giving bones in the eveningDid this help you?
- 25Checking if the dog needs to pottyDid this help you?
- 26Considering potential stomach aches or dietary issuesDid this help you?
- 27Putting the crate in the same roomDid this help you?
- 28Putting the crate in a separate roomDid this help you?
- 29Covering the crate with a blanket or leaving it uncoveredDid this help you?
- 30Doing boring potty breaks in the nightDid this help you?
- 31Using white noiseDid this help you?
- 32Feeding every meal in the crate with the door open and tossing surprise treats insideDid this help you?
- 33sleeping on the couch nearby to the crateDid this help you?
- 34taking the puppy out for potty breaks every time they wake up cryingDid this help you?
- 35limiting the puppy's water intake to only feeding hoursDid this help you?
- 36letting the dog sleep on the bedDid this help you?
- 37using a crateDid this help you?
- 38confining the puppy to the kitchen or dinerDid this help you?
- 39placing the crate next to the bedDid this help you?
- 40Checking wiki articles and resources on biting, teeth, and chewingDid this help you?
- 41feeding the puppy immediately when it wakes upDid this help you?
- 42taking the puppy into bed after a pee breakDid this help you?
- 43keeping low-value food like kibble availableDid this help you?
- 44using an automatic feeder timed for the early morningDid this help you?
- 45moving the crate to a separate room and letting the puppy cry it outDid this help you?
- 46Taking the dog out earlier before bedDid this help you?
- 47Withholding food right before bedDid this help you?
- 48Changing blanket layers to adjust for temperatureDid this help you?
- 49Locking the dog out of the bedroomDid this help you?
- 50Using a separate dog bed or a crate on or near the bedDid this help you?
- 51Putting on a soft harness and tying a leash to the bedDid this help you?
- 52Sitting outside with the puppyDid this help you?
- 53Enforcing daytime naps with a schedule of one hour awake and two hours downDid this help you?
- 54Hiding noisy toys like bouncy springs during the nightDid this help you?
- 55Trying to 'tire them out' with interactive toys and wands earlier in the dayDid this help you?
- 56Using more padding like rugs, soft furniture, and beds to dampen noiseDid this help you?
- 57Waiting out the whining until hearing footsteps or getting upDid this help you?
- 58Using the bathroom to make enough noise to stop the whining temporarilyDid this help you?
- 59Moving the crate to the bedroom or using a pen in the living roomDid this help you?
- 60Locking the cat out of the bedroom at nightDid this help you?
- 61Trying to ignore the cat's cryingDid this help you?
- 62Feeding the cat before bed and leaving food outDid this help you?
- 63Providing toys to play with at nightDid this help you?
- 64walking the dog moreDid this help you?
- 65playing with the dog moreDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“About two weeks ago for some reason he started randomly getting up 3-5x in the middle of the night, standing up by my head, shaking his whole body, and then just standing there. Sometimes he’ll walk around the bed or jump off the bed and come back. This is obviously it’s been very disrupting to my sleep.”source ↗
“I’m afraid that the only thing I can do is not have him sleep with me anymore, but it makes me sad knowing that he can’t know why I’m doing that.”source ↗
“Still struggling at night with my pup.”source ↗
“But some nights he just absolutely wails the house down, and he will not stop.”source ↗
“It's really affecting my health as my sleep is suffering tremendously.”source ↗
“Hes about 8 years old, not really old enough for age related things i think. And he gets the same exercise that he got as a puppy, if not more, so I doubt thats an issue. And we didn't change our schedules or anything. But recently hes been whining outside our doors late at night, hes always slept outside our bedroom doors, but never whined.”source ↗
“Could he just be craving a bone at 12 at night?”source ↗
“My dogs sleep in play pen still because one will otherwise guard the whole night by pacing restlesly.”source ↗
“He goes into his crate fine and will sleep until 4 am and then he’ll start crying.”source ↗
“He only stops once he’s fed. I can’t keep living like this. Someone please help me.”source ↗
“For a few months now he has become nocturnal and its messing up my sleep.”source ↗
“He hears stuff and barks loudly in the middle of the night and I can't figure out how to stop him.”source ↗
“I tried walking him more and playing with him more but he still sleeps a lot during the day.”source ↗
“She’s still having a hard time settling in the crate, up multiple times to bark. The no sleep is killing me after a month.”source ↗
“It’s been about a week though and we are so sleep deprived.”source ↗
“We then wake up atleast 4-5 times a night to him screaming.”source ↗
“I do not regret getting this puppy but man we need SLEEP”source ↗
“Last week it started with him waking up and whining at 5am or 6am.”source ↗
“Just this past week it’s now escalated to him waking up and whining 3-4 times throughout the night. Causing us to get very little sleep”source ↗
“we don’t want to give in and let him out since I feel it’s just re-enforcing the whining but I don’t want to let him whine the entire night either.”source ↗
“My sweet pup has starting barking very very early in the morning (5:00 am) and sometimes even all night.”source ↗
“Last night was one of those nights…she started late at night and genuinely did not stop.”source ↗
“I feel like I’m kind of at a loss and manly feel bad that she is up all night when nights like this happen…I don’t want her to be stressed or anxious.”source ↗
“My puppy has been sleeping all through the night for months now but the past week she started crying for long periods of time as soon as we put her for bed.”source ↗
“After she cried for like 10 minutes we took her potty and made sure she wasnt thirsty but nothing.”source ↗
“she crys even when we are right by the cage with her.”source ↗
“He is extremely unsettled and will be aggressive biting non stop no matter the commands ( which he useally listens to) and bark non stop.”source ↗
“i feel so desperate.”source ↗
“He then started crying more and more in the crate and now is at a point where he will cry and bark anytime he is left in the crate, even for a few minutes.”source ↗
“We live in an apartment so I feel anxious about controlling the noise.”source ↗
“Nothing seems to be helping. I am having a hard time narrowing down what could have caused this regression or how to help him learn to be okay with the crate.”source ↗
“When we put him in it he howls and pees. I want him to be able to sleep in his bed through the night.”source ↗
“If I leave him in kitchen/ diner he still howls and it doesn’t stop. I’m really struggling.”source ↗
“I’m getting no sleep and I don’t want to cave and just have him sleeping on my bed every night as he wakes me up.”source ↗
“We have also tried bringing the crate next to our bed, so he can see us. But he won’t stop howling and crying even when right next to us.”source ↗
“My 4 month old gsd mix pulled the exact same routine around that age, the evening zoomies turning into what felt like pure demon possession”source ↗
“We've had our 9 week old cockapoo for just over a week now and are really struggling with night time.”source ↗
“he cries and barks for a good hour before falling asleep. Then he'll wake up 3 or 4 times in the night, making a ton of noise.”source ↗
“We're so exhausted, is this normal?”source ↗
“she will start whining the second we step even one foot away from her.”source ↗
“she will still howl and whine for so long. If you aren't physically right in front of her, she gets upset.”source ↗
“we haven't been able to sleep good since Friday when we got her.”source ↗
“We have had to start locking him out at night because he will start digging at our necks and sides to wake us up. And when we do lock him out he will cry at the door for HOURS.”source ↗
“Non stop, sometimes from 1am to 8am if we want to sleep in.”source ↗
“We have no idea how to stop this and we are exhausted. We both work very long shifts and being woken up at 2-3am every day is a lot.”source ↗
“Now, my problem is they only want to play very very early in the morning, or very very late at night.”source ↗
“i literally now have to hide them during the night because they are being tiny elephants.”source ↗
“My downstairs neighbours (who are our landlord's daughter and son in law...) can hear them play, it's an old house and they've told us its pretty loud.”source ↗
“pls tell me you got a solution lol i don't want to anger the landlords daughter💀”source ↗
“12am would be nice, mine don't go wild until around 3am 💀”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 16How to stop a puppy from barking without harsh tools
- 27Puppy blues and regret when training isn't working
- 12How to tell normal puppy crate whining from real distress
- 25How to handle an extremely intense, high-energy puppy?
- 16How to handle puppy night potty breaks in a two story house
- 6Why does my dog bark and whine constantly in public and the car?