Geriatric Protective Female

Question
Hello my 12 year old female dog Bailee is giving us difficulty in the middle of the night.  If my new husband of 2 years gets up in the middle of the night to use the washroom she has begun barking at him.  Last night it got worse and she even has started barking whenever he turns over in bed.  I have tried disciplining her but it is kind of a bad time of the evening to even begin that.  Bailee is a great dog.  She is a shitzu/poodle breed but has always been a bit of a barker to begin with.  She is completely blind now with cataracts and has some hip/joint problems.  She also has a bit of an enlarged heart and a heart murmur.  I have her on glucosomine for her hip. I think she may have some hearing issues also. It is getting quite frustrating and she is worsening. Please help.

Rose

Answer
Well what you can do is earlier in the evening/afternoon pretend it is nigthtime for the dog-lie in bed ect and have your husband get up at random times,if she barks ignore her,but when she doesn't praise her give her treats ect Since she is getting older yelling at her will probably do more harm then good your best bet is to 'reherse' for her so she will get used to it more often

It also won't hurt for her to be looked at by your vet,in case there's some underlying health problem