My Dog's Annoying Outbursts

There's something that happens in the morning. My wife is sleeping and the dog is in there with her. Then the cat comes skulking around -- I don't know exactly what he's doing.

This makes the dog annoyed, apparently, and she'll suddenly do an outburst, a short, quick barking noise while jumping off the bed in a threatening way. I can hear it from where I sit typing this.

It's already happened a couple times this morning. Meaning that it's not good for the wife's rest, because of course the closer she is to being naturally awake the more it's going to disturb her.

There's no way I know of, though, to make the dog quit it. I've told her in the past to be quiet, and "no," but I can't be right there to govern the situation all the time.

Why it only happens in the morning ... is because the cat likes to jump up there and be petted, to settle in to a certain extent, and to get attention. He's not really that afraid of the dog, since they've been together for over 10 years now.