[Wylie's Mom]

My Marcel (6 mths) is doing this lately (and Wy did it much more when he was younger, he's now almost 3) in the middle of the dang night. It's almost as if he is seeing ghosts, truly.

Sometimes though, these guys can pick up sounds and smells (coyotes in my neck of the woods) from outside and it really gets their instincts going. She clearly thinks she is responsible for everyone (alpha female) and needs to be taught "thanks for warning us, but we got it now".

With Wy, we would literally thank him for protecting/warning us - pick him up (if we were near by), and soothe him - "it's okay now, we got it, that's enough". It shows them that they aren't responsible - you are - and though you appreciate the warning, it is up to YOU when they stop.

So, if she doesn't stop after some soothing, that's when you do a more stern "that's enough!", "no bark!", or "no!" - and use the can. In the future, she may then consider stopping the behavior during the soothing stage rather than the can stage!