There are many of us who have dogs as members of the family. We care for them like our children and hence we get worried whenever we don’t see them be their usual playful self. One such behavior that gets us worried is when he cries at night. Does your dog cry at night too? Do not panic. The key is to find out what is going on with your dog and here are the top 5 reasons on what might actually be going on that makes your dog cry at night

New house or place

Well this one is the most simple and obvious reason. If you had recently moved to a new place or did you travel over a weekend, that might be the reason your dog is crying. He / she just feels a little insecure of the new place and is expecting some surety from you of his and the family’s safety. You can attend to your dog without hesitation but do not make that a habit everyday as that might encourage your dog to cry/ howl every night as a way of seeking your attention.

Pain or Hunger

Did you feed your dog well? Or did your dog eat too much and has gone to bed without proper exercise. Either of these reasons could trigger your dog to cry in the middle of the night. Ensure that your dog gets proper exercise every day. Employ a dogwalker if need be. This can ease your dog, make him feel better and have a sound sleep. If you feel the above may not be the case, please plan a visit to the nearest vet to rule out any other medical issue. Ruling out medical issue can be a real morale booster to you.

Alerting you

As you might know dogs have acute sense of smell and hearing. The hearing range of an average human is between 20 – 20000Hz while that of a dog is 40 – 60000Hz. So, your dog can easily pick up sounds that you cannot hear and might just be alerting you to the presence of some movement outside the house that might be another wild animal. If that’s the trigger for your dog’s cry/ howl, it won’t happen every night as its unlikely your dog hears the sound every day. You should be thankful that your dog is so protective of you and your family.

Need to use the loo :

Another common reason could be that your dog needs to use the loo or just wants you to open the door so that he can go to the bathroom. This is an easy fix but beware of the consequences if you encourage this behavior. Your dog may get used to this and may start crying/ howling and wake you up to open the door every night. So you can give your dog an exception once in a while but do not allow this to happen daily. You can take your dog for a long walk before sleep so that he/ she won’t have to wake you up in the middle of the night.

Separation Anxiety :

Another important and a tricky reason for your dog’s cry in the middle of the night could be that he / she is feeling lonely. The dog just needs your attention, and this could be the reason why he/ she is crying/ howling at night. However, a dog with separation anxiety will not only cry at night but also any other time in the day whenever he is alone and not amongst rest of the family. You can work on this problem by starting to spend more time with him during the day. If you start attending to the dog’s cries always then your dog might understand that crying is the way to gain your attention and might repeat that always. So, the key thing is to engage with your dog more often but on your terms and not his. This will ensure that your dog will get back to being normal soon.

There you go. These are the top reasons for your dog crying every night. Hope it helps you in understanding your four legged companion better.