If she's been doing it for a while now, it may have become a habit, that you will have to train her to break it. This will take some effort on your part and probably some additional sleepless nights.
Or it may be a matter of her thinking she is the "top" dog and HAS to be the protector of the "den". But, because she is so small, she is finding the task very enormous which has caused her anxiety and that is why she is constantly barking. In this case you will need to reassert yourself as the "in charge dog" so that she can rest better. (there have been many threads on this forum about how to go about re-establishing your authority)
When Millie was younger (she will be 2 in April) and housebroken, I thought she could sleep outside her crate. But she barked incessantly, so we put her back in the crate until she had matured some more. She probably has been out of the crate now, for only a couple of months. She sleeps in our room either on the bed or on her bed, which is next to our bed. She has only barked once since we let her out of the crate again. She never barked in the crate, because I think she felt "secure" in it. It was covered. But now that she is older the house noises don't bother her anymore.
If you don't do so now, how about closing the door to your bedroom with her in it with you. This will make her environment smaller and maybe less scarier for her. Does she have free access to your bed, like with steps? If not, get her that access.
My husband and I work and are gone from the house about 9 hours 5 days a week. We do take Millie on walks when we get home, we do play with her and give her lots of attention when we are home. We also, use the week-ends as "Millie days" and usually find things to do that involve her. Whether it be go to parks, take her shopping with us, or go to friends houses. She usually is with us all day long on these days. On the week nights that we work, we never go out to eat or delay our return to our home.
Hope that helps. |