How to stop night time barking at apartment noises?
I rescued my 2.5 yer old pit bull terrier about a month ago from a shelter- for the first month she didn't bark very much at all- except when someone was directly at my door. This week she has started to bark at night at some new noise in our apartment building that I can't identify beyond it being a loud Bang that almost sounds like someone is dropping furniture (it's very inconsistent and intermittent and I am also not sure on where exactly is coming from upstairs) but now she is barking in the middle of the night at it. I do my best not to overreact or speak loudly so she doesn't think it's disturbing me also but I am just anticipating complaints from my neighbors about her barking and I need some help figuring out how to curb this behavior. Here's what I am already doing: white noise is playing (it doesn't drown out the sounds), calming music is also playing to try and relax her. When she does bark I pet her to calm her down (but I'm not sure this is encouraging the behavior- I can't let her just bark it out though in the middle of the night). I've tried to do a "speak" "quiet" command but she doesn't bark on command- however when she is quiet I tell her she's a good girl. Any advice on other training techniques or ways to react to this would be very helpful- I think both of us and my neighbors would appreciate undisturbed sleep. Thanks!
sounds like she is nervous or anxious which is why she will break at the noise because it scares her. try some calming aid pills or a thundershirt or some lavender to help calm and soothe her. also a good walk before bed is helpful.