[Reese]

Originally Posted by Bart's Mom

My Bart cried and cried his first night. NO sleep for anyone - including our two other dogs who looked at me with such pleading eyes at 3 a.m. ("Get rid of him!") I knew something had to be done, so I tried this - and it has worked like a charm from Day 2...

I put old towels over the top, back and two sides and only half-way down the front (for air) of his crate. This makes the crate quiet, dark and cozy. I put the crate next to our bed (with the opening facing the bed so he can see me) and then...put a wee-wee pad down right in front of the crate and then enclosed the crate and pad with a collapsible exercise pen (that can be folded down to a small size.) Then, I kept the door open all night so he didn't feel trapped. Not having that door locked made a huge difference for him, even though he was still confined by the doggie pen. (And you have to make sure that the pen fits snugly around the crate so that your dog only has access to their crate and the wee-wee pad.) In the middle of the night, when he has to pee, Bart just steps out of the crate, does his business on the pad, and then climbs right back into bed. I also add a hot water bottle, wrapped in an old sweater, and a ticking clock (this supposedly imitates his mommy's heart beat.) We've only had him 11 days, and from day 2, he's been sleeping 6-7 hours each night. Last night, he slept 8 hours - from 11 p.m. till 7 a.m. He cries for about 30 seconds and then goes into the crate and falls right asleep. In fact, last night when he saw me get his hot water bottle ready, he did a little dance, so hopefully soon, he'll look forward to going to bed. We got our collapsible pen at PetSmart or some other pet place. We've been using it for years now with our other dogs. They're a little price-y (about $50-70), but you can make the pen several different sizes - from a big pen or fold it down to something smaller. Here's a link at PetCo so you can see what I'm talking about. I'm sure you can get something like this at any pet store.

http://www.petco.com/product_info.as...cise+Pens&ct3=

That is actually a really good idea. She does have an exercise pen which she stays in during the day and I wish that it fit in my bedroom b/c I would leave it in there for her. She has been good for the past few says so I will leave her alone and see if she starts acting up again. I like the water bottle idea though. She does have a toy that has a pad inside that goes into the microwave to be warmed up. I started to give her that warmed up at night but I have not done that for couple of months now. She is funny b/c she does great for while but then regresses. Hopefully she will be fine from here on out!! Thanks for your advice!