5 months old is an important time in the life of puppies. Because at this age, a puppy takes a huge step towards adolescence. This results in a number of changes in the behavioral pattern of a five month old puppy.
Today, we are going to discuss the barking pattern of a five month old puppy and find out how to stop it.
5 month old puppy barking
A five month old puppy can start barking excessively for a number of reasons. Lack of attention and care, sense of loneliness, sense of boredom, and lack of sleep can cause five month old puppies to bark loudly for a prolonged time. These issues will have to be addressed quickly to stop the barking.
Table of Contents
Let’s discuss in detail about why your five month old puppy might be barking in different situations.
In crate
First of all, let’s look at some valid reasons why a five month old puppy might be barking in a crate.
Due to lack of attention:
A five month old puppy requires constant attention from its owner. So it finds it difficult to get used to the environment of a crate at first. Your five month old puppy might start barking excessively to get your attention.
You can make the crate a happy place for your five month old puppy by providing food and treats in its crate.
Due to lack of play time:
Sometimes your five month old puppy might get bored sitting in the crate all day long. A puppy needs enough playing time to spend its burst of energy. When a puppy wants to get out of the crate and play, it will start barking excessively till you take it out of the crate.
It is a common tactic used by five month old puppies to receive much needed playing time.
At strangers
Let’s see why your five month old puppy might bark at strangers by taking the reasons below into consideration.
As a measure of protection:
Puppies can become very friendly once they get to know you and spend time with you. But your five month old puppy might start barking at strangers as a measure of protecting its area. Your five month old puppy can often view strangers as contenders for their area.
However, you can train your five month old puppy not to bark at strangers.
Due to paranoia:
Puppies feel the need to protect its owner. So they will end up barking at strangers even if they are your friends or relatives. If your five month old puppy still does not stop barking at strangers even after training, then you should consult a vet to find out what is wrong.
At night
The reasons why your five month old puppy might be barking at night excessively are given below.
It is scared:
Most of the time, puppies keep barking at night if they are scared somehow. It happens mainly during the earlier phase of their crate training. Your five month old puppy might find it difficult at first to sleep in a crate.
It will let out its scared feeling by barking excessively and interrupting your sleep.
Loneliness:
Your five month old puppy can start feeling lonely at night if it has trouble sleeping. When the feeling of loneliness hits puppies at night, they will break out into a streak of barking.
You will need to consult a vet to find out why your five month old puppy is not able to sleep at night.
At other dogs
Let’s discuss why your five month old puppy might be barking at other dogs excessively.
As a mean of communication:
Your five month old puppy might start barking at another puppy when it is nearby as a means of communication. Puppies often use their barking ability to communicate with other puppies. It is nothing to be concerned about until the barking gets really intense.
To showcase authority:
If another puppy invades the area of your five month old puppy, then it might start barking at it to showcase who is in charge. Puppies do not like when other puppies and animals invade their area and privacy.
But their excessive barking at other dogs is not perceived as being polite. So you might need to train your five month old puppy regarding this matter.
When left home
Let’s see why your five month old puppy might be barking when it is left home.
Sense of loneliness:
The thing about puppies is that they do not like to be left alone. So if you leave your five month old puppy alone at home, it will start barking due to a sense of loneliness. A lonely puppy is not a happy puppy.
Sense of boredom:
Being left alone at home does not do anything good for the mental stimulation of a puppy. Your five month old puppy will be heard barking excessively by neighbors if you leave it home alone. Boredom can often bring out in your playful puppy.
At everything
The reasons why your five month old keeps barking at everything are many. Let’s discuss in detail about some of them.
Imbalanced diet:
You will need to provide your five month old puppy with a balanced diet. Lack of food nutrients and a messed up feeding schedule can cause erratic behaviors in your puppy such as excessive barking at everything.
Lack of sleep:
Lack of sleep can also cause behavioral problems in your five month old puppy like barking at everything. So you will need to take into consideration how much sleep your puppy is getting on a daily basis.
Lack of playtime:
At the age of five months, a puppy is full of energy. Your five month old puppy will need to release this energy by playing and exercising. When it can not release its abundance of energy, it will start barking at everything due to irritation.
Why is my 5 month old puppy barking so much all of a sudden?
The five month mark is a crucial stage in the life of a puppy. Five month old puppies need a proper diet during this stage.
If you are failing to provide the foods needed for the optimum growth and development of your five month old puppy, then it will cause behavioral problems in your puppy. As a result of this, your five month old puppy will start barking louder than before for a prolonged time.
Lack of attention and care can also cause your five month old puppy to bark excessively. The needs of a puppy should not be neglected in order to have a well behaved puppy.
Can 5 month old puppy be trained not to bark?
It is possible to train a five month old puppy not to bark. The age of five months is still an early stage in a puppy’s life. The important thing to remember here is that puppies care about the feelings of their owner. So it will do everything in its power to win your approval.
That is why it would be easy to train your five month old puppy not to bark excessively. If you can make it understand that too much barking is impolite, then the job is half done.
How to stop 5 month old puppy from barking?
Stopping your five months from barking might seem like a difficult task without prior experience. However, there are some steps and methods you can try to accomplish the task. Let’s discuss in detail about some of them.
Using commands:
You can try to use commands to stop the excessive barking of your five month old puppy. If your puppy starts to bark loudly for a prolonged time, then you can give the “quiet” command to stop the barking.
Give Treats:
Your five month old puppy will have to be rewarded for following your command accurately. You will need to give the puppy a treat every time it adheres to the command. This will encourage the puppy not to bark.
Play with it:
Your five month old puppy can start barking due to lack of playtime. The puppy should not be given the feeling of neglect. You should take your five month old puppy outside and play with it for a certain amount of time everyday. A busy puppy is considered a happy puppy.
Train it:
If your five month old puppy has a bad habit of barking at strangers, then you can train it using a new method. You can select an area of your house and give commands to your puppy to stay put at that place when strangers come into your home.
Final Thoughts
It can be difficult to stop the excessive barking of a five month old puppy. However, giving the puppy enough attention and care, providing a balanced diet, playing with the puppy daily, and training the puppy have been effective in treating the excessive barking nature of five month old puppies.