Rottweilers are one of the smartest dog breeds out there. These dogs are energetic, responsive, and quite adaptive to their surroundings.
But once you’ve started training your Rottweiler, you’ll need to understand how they respond to your commands. Every dog is trained differently, so you may initially go through some trial-and-error during the training.
One of the most common problems linked to Rottweiler dogs is their barking and growling. Rottweilers growling at their owners is something that must be dealt with attentively. Not just matured dogs, but a Rottweiler puppy that growls and bites can also be pretty troublesome.
A Rottweiler’s barking on the otherhand is often linked to behavior problems, anger issues, fears, or health problems. If you own a Rottweiler, it’s important for you to have extensive information on Rottweiler training.
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Why Do Rottweilers Bark at Night?
So, you’ve brought a Rottweiler in the house because you’ve heard how energetic they are. To your disappointment, not only are they bursting with energy, but they also tend to bark a lot. Sometimes, owners even stay up during late hours of the night, because their Rottweiler barks too much.
It often seems like these dogs are barking at ‘nothing’ and are just scared or aggressive. However, there’s a lot more to understand about a Rottweiler’s emotions than just assuming that they’re calling for attention. Here are some reasons why your Rottweiler barks at night.
Being Territorial
Sometimes the barking is just an attempt to guard something that the dog feels protective of. It may be a toy, food, a pup, its territory, or any other object that may seem mundane to others. When anyone tries to get too close, the Rottweiler’s growl and bark become more threatening.
The dog’s body language indicates a protective guard. Agile, tense, and ready to attack at any moment; your Rottweiler is a real threat to anyone who tries to get too close to a certain object.
Fearful of Something
At night, people often let their dogs out to guard them against any danger. However, dogs often misinterpret what they see and start barking for no good reason. This type of bark is a medium-pitch, rapid, and continuous one.
Sometimes, your dog picks up a noise that sounds threatening, such as the rustling of leaves. While there’s really nothing to fear, Rottweilers do not perceive things the way we do and therefore get scared. On a more positive note, this type of barking shows that your Rottweiler is alert and capable of warning you when there’s a real threat outside the house.
Your Rottweiler Is Lonely
This is perhaps the most common reason why dogs bark at night. When there’s nobody around, your dog feels abandoned and calls for some company. When dogs are lonely, their barks are prolonged with long pauses in between.
The middle of the night is definitely not a suitable time to take your dog for a walk, but your dog doesn’t really understand that. If you have more than one dog as a pet, the chances that they’re barking due to loneliness is quite low.
Your Dog Is Greeting You
Suppose you’re returning home from a late-night party only to find your dog jumping around with excitement. Sometimes, Rottweilers bark to indicate that they’re happy to see you. They let out short yelps in a happy and sharp tone, which can come as a shock for dog owners.
But there’s nothing to worry about; this is a wholly positive reason for a dog to bark at you, even at night. When you’re attached to a Rottweiler, you should understand that leaving them behind for even a few hours can make them feel excited when you return.
This emotional bond is definitely something to appreciate, but you need to teach your dog not to bark at night.
Anxiety and Painful Memories
Anxiety is another common reason why a Rottweiler tends to bark at unusual hours. Dogs are lonely at night and have nothing to do, so they may get flashbacks of something painful that happened in the past.
Even when your Rottweiler is happy with you, it cannot forget past memories easily and will often bark out of fear or anxiety. Sometimes this barking is purely irrational. At other times, your dog may bark when current conditions seem similar to something that happened in the past.
For instance, if your Rottweiler has suffered from a car accident, it may start barking when a stranger’s car passes by. This is because the dog suddenly remembers the pain from a past experience that involved a car accident!
Your dog is also likely to feel separation anxiety. Suppose you’re going on a trip and leave your Rottweiler behind with the neighbors. Your neighbors will probably call you to complain that your dog has a barking problem and doesn’t sleep at night.
This happens when Rottweilers gets a sudden burst of realization that their owners aren’t around. As a result, the dog experiences separation anxiety and starts to bark out of fear or anxiousness.
The Rottweiler Is In Pain
When we say that Rottweilers are energetic, we mean it. Sometimes their energy is even counterproductive and causes them to hurt themselves. Rottweilers may be jumping around and end up injuring themselves with a fallen tree branch, a toy, or literally anything that’s seemingly harmless!
Even when they’re on a leash, energetic Rottweilers can get tangled up and hurt themselves. As a result, they suddenly yelp to give a call for help. When the barking is abrupt and high-pitched, it is an indication that a Rottweiler is hurt.
Asking for Attention
Sometimes a Rottweiler has no real intention behind barking. It’s just a call for attention.
To Let Them Know You They Want Something
Your Rottweiler may also bark to let you know they want or need something. A prime example, of this, is if they’re barking because they need to be let out, or because they need water.
This is about the only time you should respond to barking and give them what they need. Just remember to give them what they need and not attention though.
(If it’s a puppy they may be hungry. Find out how much a rottweiler puppy should eat.)

How to Stop a Rottweiler Barking at Night
To begin with, every dog requires a lot of training and discipline. If you’ve seen a Rottweiler growling when hugged, you probably know how difficult it can be to condition the dog. Training a Rottweiler is important because if you don’t, the dog will probably end up with a habit of biting.
Here are different ways you can stop a Rottweiler barking at night!
Training Them
If you haven’t trained your rottweiler properly, then this is the perfect time to start. Whatever bad behavior your Rottie shows, whether it’s barking at night, growling or biting using the right training program is the key to having an obedient and happy pup.
The training program I love and highly recommend is Brain Training For Dogs.
With Brain Training For Dogs you’ll save yourself a ton of time and effort. Instead of banging your head against the wall trying to figure out why your dog won’t listen, you’ll follow a path that has been tried, tested, and most importantly, that’s given proven results. Not to mention the fact, you’ll be able to fit the course around your schedule, not fit your schedule around a trainer or obedience class.
So instead of worrying about whether they’re going to be well-behaved or not, you’ll only have to worry about how much fun you’ll have with them!
And in most cases it’s still going to be:
- Cheaper than hiring a professional.
- Cheaper than replacing everything they might break.
- And definitely cheaper than a lawsuit against you, if they decide to bite someone.
Just imagine how great it will feel to finally be able to have a calm, happy dog, not one that’s constantly barking. Instead, you’ll have the peace of mind that you have a well-behaved pup, and the boundaries you set for them, will always be there, EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT.
And the best part is it also has a 60-day money-back guarantee! So there’s no reason not to give Brain Training For Dogs a try!
So if you’re tired of your dog’s bad behavior, or how they react around other people and pooches, then give it a try! You’ll be amazed by the results!
(You can also check out a full review here, to learn exactly what the course has to offer!)
Keep Your Rottweiler Tired
If a Rottweiler doesn’t expend all its energy throughout the day, it’ll most likely spend the entire night being a nuisance. To stop your Rottweiler from barking at night, you should engage it in tiring activities and exercises.
This way, your dog will not have much energy left to bark all night long; it’ll sleep soundly without any fuss. This consumption of energy is also useful in keeping Rottweilers healthy and fit. Here are some activities that will let your Rottweiler spend its energy in a healthy way:
- When you take your Rottweiler out for a walk, try not to go too slow. Instead, let your dog run at a moderate speed. This is an enjoyable exercise that suits Rottweilers and also causes effective energy loss.
- Play games with your Rottweiler. A game of fetch or tug of war is enough to keep your Rottweiler busy. Playing games with your Rottweiler also strengthens the bond between the two of you.
- Allow socializing with other Rottweilers. These dogs love meeting other dogs and enjoy playing with them.
- Take your Rottweiler swimming. For those dogs that are too energetic, hobbies like swimming or other sports are pretty useful.
Command the Rottweiler to be Quiet
Rottweiler puppies are easy to train because it’s easy to shape their behavior. If you adopt the right strategy, you can successfully teach your Rottweiler how and when it can bark. If your Rottweiler is continuously barking, ask it to stop by saying ‘Quiet’ in a steady voice. Continue to do this until your Rottweiler understands that you want it to stop barking.
Teaching your Rottweiler when to speak is also important. Teach your dog to speak and stop at your command. Reward your Rottweiler when it listens by giving it treats. When your Rottweiler learns how to stay quiet, it’ll also help in improving its overall discipline. This way, you can also teach your Rottweiler that it isn’t allowed to bark at night!
Remove the Motivating Factor
Sometimes your dog isn’t barking merely out of habit. There are also certain stimuli that prompt Rottweilers to bark. These stimuli can include anything from a person to another animal (even a dog) to an object.
Usually, the stimulus is something that may have harmed the Rottweiler in the past. So, sometimes your scared Rottweiler is just fearful and wants your attention and protection.
In this case, you should focus on removing the motivation for the barking instead of throwing orders at your Rottweiler. If your dog barks at strangers from the window, you can close the curtains to stop its barking. In other words, keeping your dog away from possible triggers can help stop incessant barking.
An unsupervised Rottweiler at night will bark at anything remotely motivating. Therefore, it’s best to get rid of any possible triggers. Keep your dog in a room or a doghouse where interaction with the outside world is limited. A comfortable place to sleep also helps to distract a Rottweiler.
Discipline Your Rottweiler
Sometimes, it’s not good to just shun away everything that triggers your Rottweiler. You need to teach it some discipline as well. If you teach your Rottweiler how to behave with other pets during the day, it’ll also remain disciplined at night. Teaching your dog to not respond to every stimulus is also vital.
Ignore the Barking
If you feel like your Rottweiler is only barking for the sake of attention, you should ignore the bark. You can do this in the following manner:
- Don’t ask what’s wrong. Don’t pet your dog. Don’t even look at your Rottweiler.
- Once your Rottweiler realizes that the incessant barking isn’t doing any good, it’ll stop barking.
- Attend to your Rottweiler once it stops barking. Give treats, hugs, and whatever else to reward it for being quiet.
You should attempt to do this during the daytime. Once you know how to keep a Rottweiler quiet during the day, you won’t face any trouble at night, either. However, not all types of barks are to be ignored. If your trained Rottweiler won’t stop its frantic barking, there’s definitely a reason you should attend to your dog.
Distract Your Rottweiler
If your Rottweiler doesn’t stop barking in the middle of the night, you can attempt to distract it. Give it toys, some food, or if possible, try to play with your dog to distract it. Sometimes Rottweilers act irrationally because they’re feeling too energetic. In this case, you can keep some toys nearby to distract the Rottweiler.
Go to the Vet
Sometimes it’s necessary to visit the vet to identify what’s wrong with your Rottweiler. Your vet may diagnose a disease or a behavioral issue. Either way, taking your Rottweiler to the vet can help you find out why your dog barks at night, and thus help you put an end to it.
No-Bark Devices
No-bark devices are a useful recommendation for people whose Rottweilers won’t stop barking. These devices look like a birdhouse and are programmed to emit a high-pitched sound in response to barking. Human ears can’t pick up this sound, but dogs can. As a result, your Rottweiler gets distracted and becomes quiet.
However remember, relying on anti-bark devices for a long time may cause the barking to become more problematic.

What to Avoid Doing
If you’re a new owner, you may have no idea how to stop a Rottweiler from barking. The thing is, both trained and untrained Rottweilers are a threat when they’re erratic. Even if you and your dog have a strong bond, some of your actions can trigger its defense mechanism.
(Have you ever wondered how hard your rottweiler is to train?)
As a result, your Rottweiler can run away from you or attack you as well. There are certain measures you need to take while trying to stop a Rottweiler barking at night. A few of these are:
- Don’t yell at your Rottweiler. If you yell back at your dog, it’ll misinterpret your response as an argument or an encouragement. Whatever you do to calm down your Rottweiler, maintain your composure!
- Don’t encourage barking. Sometimes Rottweiler owners show encouragement when their dog barks to greet them. When you go to your dog to stop his barking, don’t entertain his excitement at seeing you. This will only cause the Rottweiler to be clingier, and it’ll continue to bark.
- Don’t get too close immediately. If your dog is aggressive or territorial, the worst thing to do is to try to comfort it. A growling/barking dog is either afraid or is preparing to attack anyone that tries to get too close.
- Don’t use muzzles. Sometimes, we feel that nuzzles can be a comfortable way to shut up a Rottweiler. However, muzzles can prove to be harmful to the dog’s speech if used for a long period of time.
- Do not attempt debarking. This activity is downright inhumane and disrespectful for your Rottweiler. Debarking is a surgical procedure where the tissues in a dog’s voice box are removed. As a result, your Rottweiler’s full-pitched bark is reduced to a low rasp. It’s much better to address the behavioral incompatibility of a Rottweiler rather than limiting its freedom to bark.
- Do not reward easily. Another habit that Rottweiler owners should avoid is spoiling their pets. Do not give your Rottweiler treats in hopes of keeping it quiet. A Rottweiler will only assume that the more it barks, the more it’ll be rewarded. Pay minimum attention to your dog while it’s barking, or else it’ll believe that barking will attract more attention.
To Sum Up…
Stopping a Rottweiler’s barking at night requires you to understand its behavior. This intelligent and energetic breed of dog doesn’t like being neglected. The most important thing to do is to train your Rottweiler to give an appropriate response to whatever is causing the barking with an effective training program. Once your dog understands that its pointless barking at night is causing you trouble, it’ll eventually learn to stay quiet.
If you liked this article make sure you check out the rest of the website! Otherwise have a great day!
Here are some other similar problems that people have with rottweilers.
- Rottweiler Puppy Growling And Biting
- Rottweiler Growling At Owner
- Rottweiler Puppy Biting
- Rottweiler Growling When Hugged
Sources
- https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/understanding-why-dogs-bark
- https://a-love-of-rottweilers.com/how-to-stop-constant-dog-barking-rottweiler.html
- http://rottweileradvice.blogspot.com/2010/09/stop-rottweiler-barking-now.html?m=1
- https://www.rottweilerlife.com/learn-9-wonderful-ways-to-tire-out-your-rottweiler/
- https://www.rottweilerlife.com/rottweiler-barking-pipe-down-the-music-before-it-becomes-a-constant/
- https://www.rottweilerlife.com/10-translated-rottweiler-barks-what-your-rottweiler-is-saying/
- https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/how-get-your-dog-stop-barking