NIght Time Issues....Any/All advice welcome!

[Kelly S.]

Hi All!

Haven't posted in awhile (can't believe miss Zsusie is already 2.5yrs old!!! How time flies!).  She is doing so well, and we love her to death, but we've encountered a bit of an issue at nighttime and I could really use any/all help or advice I can get!

Bit of a Backstory:

Back when I first got Zsusie-doodle it was just the two of us, so after about 6months of age I allowed her to sleep in the bed with me.  I crate trained her up until this point, but after about 6months was having a lot of trouble with it... she HATED being in there and would cry incessantly... so I gave in and let her sleep in the bed with me... no big deal, right? Haha.

So, fast forward 2yrs:

Now there is a DH in the bed too, things have gotten ALOT squishier!  So we have been trying to get Zsusie to sleep in her own bed (still in the bedroom).  Zsusie will not have any of it though... she wants to be in our bed too!

Anyway, about a week ago we bought one of those octagonal dog pens (about 3'x4').  We thought this might be a better option than a small crate so she could move around, have her bed in there, etc, etc....while not allowing her to jump on our bed.  But it does not seem to be working.  She has gone back to incessant crying/moaning/screaming/barking and NOT sleeping. She actually sounds like she is dying (although we know she is 100% safe and fine)

We introduced her to the pen positively... allowing her to go in at her own pace, giving her tons of affection and treats while in there.  And gradually putting her in for longer periods prior to putting her in for the night. 

Then at night she goes in the pen and lays down, we close the door and after about 5mins she starts to cry/moan/scream/bark.  We only acknowledge her if she barks loudly (we are in a condo building and can't have her barking or being loud at night).  The first night she did this for pretty much 7hrs straight (we kind of predicted this would happen).  The next few nights she would do it for about 20min then settle for about 10-15min, then starts up again... and it goes through this cycle all night long. It has been a week.  Last night was the first time I caved, and let her come into our bed at about 6am, so we could at least get a few hrs of sleep.

So I need help!  How long does it take for a dog to accept a new routine?  Am I doing something wrong, or could I be doing it in a more effective way?  

Any help or advice would be awesome!  We are extremely desperate to get some sleep! 

Hope to hear from you soon!

-Kelly

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I had the same problem with my children lol.  I had a camp bed set up beside our bed at the same height and put baby in there.  Every time she cried I just reached a hand out but didn't allow her into the bed.  I wonder if the same thing would work for a dog? Mind you that only worked for one of them!

[Kelly S.]

Thanks!  Her bed/pen is in our room... right beside the bed, and I have placed one of our "used" blankets in there with her.  She is definitely "in charge" in many situations (she is on the furniture with us, jumps on the bed whenever she wants, lays on us/paws us for attention, etc.), but she always sits for her food, follows us out the door/during walks, and generally does a reliable "stay".

So should I get rid of the pen thing, and just kick her off the bed every time she tries to jump up...? Or keep trying with the pen as well?   I don't want to give up, as she is quite the little squirmer and a huge source of heat in our bed, and likes to curl up right up against my legs... which makes it hard to adjust during the night.  She is also constantly moving on/off the bed during the night, which wakes us up.   

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

As others have suggested I would just keep her bed besides yours and correct her whenever she climbs back on your bed.  My doodles are allowed on the bed in the daytime whenever I am showering and/or  cleaning the room..........well Baxter the puppy has gotten in the bad habit of jumping in the bed next to me when DH leaves for work.  But, both doodles know not to jump on the bed in the evening.  I have had several foster doodles that were used to sleeping with their owners but after several days they learned to sleep on their bed next to mine.  It is so much more challenging to change a behavior after it has been allowed for a long period of time.  I don't know what I will do if I ever get new couches because I will be in serious trouble with my couch loving doodles!!!   I wish you all the best!

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Let her be in the bed but don't make room for her, get her a nice comfy bed of her own which she will prefer. This will probably be highly difficult to change unless you make it her idea because she is no comfortable in your bed.

[Kelly S.]

Thanks for the advice!  We have actually always had her bed in the bedroom with us, and she goes back and forth between that and our bed during the night as she sees fit... DH has been making it increasingly more uncomfortable for her in our bed, but she still returns.  It's just been this past week that we put the dog-pen around her bed to stop her from coming on the bed.  

[Jen and Annie]

With Annie, she used to whine for about the first 10 minutes we put her in her crate to sleep.  I would lay down next to the crate until she fell asleep, and this calmed her down.  We kept her in crate at night for about the first month, until she was reliably potty trained.  The crate was also next to our bed, so if she got up and started fussing, I would stick my hand into the crate and tell her it was ok, much like Nicki did.

Now she is 5 1/2 months old and has been sleeping in our king sized bed with my husband and our other 65 pounder.  At this point, THEY are letting US sleep in the bed with them. 

It might be worth a try to try and lay down with her in her 'area' for a few minutes until she is calm or sleeping, and then quietly return to your bed for your sleep.  It might sound like coddling her, but she has been yours only for 2 years, and it sounds like she needs a little TLC...this is a big change to go from mommy's sleeping partner to a bed on the floor without mommy.  Someone else mentioned the pack ranking, and they may be onto something there.  She may feel like you are rejecting her from the pack.  

If that doesnt work - you might need to get a king sized bed. LOL  Best of luck!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Our family dog, Hershey, slept with my husband and me in our FULL size bed for years, so I have no ideas for you....LOL! Hershey weighed 75 pounds and my husband and I are not tiny. I still don't know how we did it, but I have always loved sleeping with my dogs. Good luck! Personally, I would get rid of the pen and just keep nudging her off the bed, if possible.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with getting rid of the pen. Losing the bed is hard enough for her, I wouldn't add to her anxiety by confining her. Let her at least feel she can choose anywhere in the room to sleep except the bed.

[Kelly S.]

Oh man, I don't know how you did it!  I don't mind her in the bed, but DH finds her quite annoying during the night... hopefully we can come to some sort of a solution where we are all happy!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I agree that after having been on the bed, the pen is too confining.  I think the only solution is to tell her firmly "off"  everytime she gets on the bed, day night, whatever.  The first few nights are going to be tough - I wouldn't wake up when she got on, if I was asleep, which would make it tougher.

Zsusie needs to see DH as a leader too, so she minds him.  If he could feed her often for awhile and teach her new behaviors that would help establish his place in her life.

 

Good luck!!

 

[Kelly S.]

Thanks, I'm starting to lean in that direction, as it seems to be predominant advice.  It's funny though, pretty much since the day DH and I started living together, miss Zsusie has been HIS dog!  She LOVES him and hangs off his every word...She listens to me, but she follows him! He is definitely the dominant in the family! (and that includes the cat too!) haha.  

[Kimmy & Chewie]

When Chewie first arrive from the breeder, he was VERY CLINGY and we had some challenges in the bedroom too. He would whined/cried when put in crate. Here's what I did...

- Put crate (pen, in your case) right next to the bed. I put it on my side of the bed, so I can stick my finger in the crate now and then to calm him down. In the beginning, he will sleep right next to the crate wall nearest to me.

- I also put one of my old t-shirts next to the crate so he can smell me even though I'm not right next to him

- Over a period of a few weeks, we slowly move the crate further and further from the bed until it's in the corner of the room

- I also find that covering up a corner of the crate (so that it's like a den) helps calm him down too.

Hope that helps. Good luck!