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Originally Posted by gracielove  I know a lot of people here have their dogs in bed with them but of course there are those who use crates.
Gracie has slept with me since the first night I had her as a puppy. If your dog gets up after it is bed time it might not be getting enough exercise during the day. Just taking her out is not enough to tire her out. Also exercise gets the body functions moving and they will usually go more than once which helps them get through the night better.
It is your decision where you want your dog to sleep. If you keep her in the mud room all day while you are gone it seems a bit much to lock her back up while you are home. Maybe you could get her a dog bed to sleep in that is near you?
If you get up and give her a good walk before you leave in the morning and then another when you get home you will only need to walk her one more time before bed. Does that seem like too much? Well, think about how you would feel in a little mud room all day. You might think you needed to get out and see the world and stretch your legs a bit. You have a young dog and she needs lots of stimulation to keep her happy and healthy. |
To clarify, I only work 3 days a week 7am-Noon... so she's not cooped up in there all day. But I like having her close to me so I don't really want her to sleep in the mudroom anyways.
Also, she gets plenty of exercise! I had a lab/boxer prior to Zoey. We went on walks, runs, or bike rides every day. My daily routine had to change a bit with my little girl but we definitely go for a long walk and usually do some swimming every day. It's adorable how much she loves the water! Haha but anyways, she definitely isn't deprived of any sort of stimulation!
If she gets wound up at night (like I said earlier, it's only every once in awhile but it's when I am ready to sleep), it's because of our cats. Zoey loooovess cats! Which is great that they love to play together and run around and get each other hyped up - but it's an inconvenience when it happens at bed time.
Thanks for your advice everybody! With my lab/boxer, he always slept on his dog bed in our living room so it was never really an issue. But that was part of his routine so I guess I just have to figure out what I want to do so we can work on zoey's bedtime routine. Thanks again and if any one has any suggestions of what they do, throw them out! thanks!