Sleeping at night I was hoping some one could help me out with some advice. We have been crate training Toby and we put him in the crate at night to sleep. The crate is located in the bedroom across the hall from our room, no one else is in there. Most of the time he is good about sleeping in there, but he will wake up with the birds. First it was 6:20, then 6:05, and now he's started at 5:30. When I say started, I mean whining at first and if no response he then begins barking. I made the mistake of waking up with him and taking him out (not the mistake) but then I am still very tired so I want to go back to sleep, so I let him in the bed with us. He will try to play for about a half hour or so, then lay down and sleep. So that is problem #1, which isn't a huge deal compared to problem 2. If I have to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom (say last night around 2), then he wakes up and expects me to take him out (which I did) but he didn't want to go back to sleep quietly. He continued to whine and bark until I would have let him out. We ended up having to move his crate to another area where if he barked continuously, he would not bother us. I don't want to have to feel like I need to tip toe around all the time, does any one have any suggestions on what to do for either problem? Waking up earlier and earlier, and also waking up and understanding he needs to lay back down and go to bed? P.S. some background: Toby is 5 months old and we just got him about 3 weeks ago. I know this sort of stems back also to the previous owner because she told me she would go get him if he started whining and barking in the night. Please let me know if there is anything else I left out that would be helpful to know to help with these problems. Thanks so much! |
research Oh I did also research a bit on this matter, and came up with a few solutions (Dont know if they are good ones or not) * putting music or talk on * put an old shirt or something in the smells like us * put the crate in a room furthest from our bedroom * put the crate in the bedroom with us * instead of using the enclosed pet taxi as a crate, use an open type crate so he can see more things * put his food and water in the crate with him * give him toys to keep him occupied (which we do) * put some sort of warm water filled thing under his pillow and blanket in the crate with him (I thought perhaps this would be for younger pups who just got separated from the litter * put a ticking clock in the crate or room with him (again, I thought this would be more for younger pups) Has anyone used any of those suggestions? Has any worked or not worked? Have you used any others that worked well, or didn't work well (so I dont try that lol) Thanks so much! |
All those suggestions that you state were good. Another one I may suggest it putting the crate in your room so that he can see you. That way he knows Momma is close by and not just locking him away. Gizmo was terrible at night. Everyone said "oh he'll stop" Yeah 11pm until 7am (when I got up for work) he didn't take a breath. Gizmo does sleep in bed with us, but we still have him on a strict schedule. I.e. 7am wake up and get breakfest and go to bed about the same time every night. I remember even talking to the vet because I was so sleep deprived and she basically said to me that some dogs do not like their crates. Gizmo has no problem with it when we're gone, but bed time he has to be with my husband and I. P.s. the shirt that has your scent on it works really well. We still do that when we leave for a little bit and Giz is in the crate.... Good luck! Keep us posted! |
How old was Gizmo when you allowed him to sleep in your bed? I'm all for it cause if we take naps or something he sleeps with us then and does fine. I'm just afraid at night if he were to potty in the bed (he does a very good job at holding it btw, no accidents in his crate and very few in the house) |
We got him at 10 weeks and he was in with us 2 weeks after we got him. :) |
Our situation may be different than yours but when Zoey was a pup, I was using the crate to potty train. I had it in a large ex pen in our master bedroom. I would close her in at night and she would let me know when she had to use the bathroom. The first couple of nights there was a lot of whining and some barking too. I would give her two 'freebies' where I would open the crate to see if she needed to potty and if not, she went back in. After a couple of nights, she learned the system and was fine. I would note that she sometimes will whine now but that is usually if she can not see me, so I roll over to make sure she can, blow her kisses and she is fine. Now we do not close her crate but it remains in the ex pen and she sometimes sleeps there or in her bed in the open space of the pen. She has her water, a couple of toys that are safe without supervision, and piddle pad and she is great. The crate is also an open one, that she can easily see out. The only exception to this is in the winter, I use the cover I have (matches the bumper and cumfy bed) to give her a little more insulation - but she can still see out the full front. Like I said, she may be different than your little Toby but I do think that her being able to see us and knows that we too, are going to sleep - gives her comfort. Best of luck! |
We got Daisy at nine weeks and she was in our bed 2 weeks after getting her (the little sneak figured out a way to get out of her pen!) It worked like a charm!! No whining, no fussing, just sleep. There was one night she did potty in the bed with us WATCHING HER before we were ready to call it a night...couldn't believe my eyes. I was reluctant after that but was like maybe it was just a one time thing.... fortunately, it was just a one time thing. no accidents since. |
I would suggesting putting the crate in your room sometimes they just want to see you and know there not alone. |
Gabby was waking up at 5 am on the dot every morning! She would potty if we took her out, but that wasn't the problem, she was just COLD! I guess where her crate is in the floor the a.c. keeps it colder down there and every morning she would start "crying" wanting out & in the bed. Pajamas fixed our problem. =) |
I'm no help. After 2 nights in the crate, Ozzy was invited to sleep on the bed. He's a perfect gentleman and never even needs to have a pee break. I think he can sleep in better than we can! |
I would suggest moving the crate to where he can see you at night if you want to continue to have him sleep there. That worked well for us. When they were little we would let them out for a potty break during the night and then it was right back in the crate, even if they didn't potty. No cuddle or play or any attention at all. They learned the routine pretty quickly. If you want him to get used to the crate at night, you will have to be very strict and never let him out while he is whining. If you let him out while he is still whining, he will learn that is the way to get out of the crate now. |
Thank you all for the excellent suggestions! I really appreciate them! We decided to try letting him sleep with us for the past couple of nights. And these 2 nights are the first since we've gotten him that we've had full night uninterrupted sleep! I think (like a few of you said) he just wanted to be with us and not alone. He has also calmed down a lot during the day as well. Again thank you so much, if this doesn't work out I will move on to another's suggestion. |
I got Mango at 7 months, and had him sleep in the crate the first two nights where he wasn't barking, he just didn't stay asleep..trying to walk around in the crate, ect. Then I let him sleep in my bed...even though he was not completely 100% potty trained...He sleeps like a baby in bed. I got a dog bed from CVS for $5.99, one that he can curl up in, and I made sure that he knows that he stays in HIS dog bed (that i have on top of my bed next to my pillows), he knows he's not allowed to move out of the bed...he's so comfy that he just goes right to sleep :) Now i kinda just let him go wherever in the bed if i'm awake...sometimes i cuddle with him but he doesn't stay...he prefers his bed over being in my arms...lol. that's now comfy he is! Try tiring him out before bed, too. Like a long walk, or maybe a belly rub before bed. that usually puts mango to sleep right away :) |
I have Kody's crate in my room - which at times I think was a mistake. But he does sleep thru the night (up at 5:00 am) which is becus of my schedule. Only times I have problems with him at night is if he's sick, or has to go potty - then he will whine constantly until I take him out. Sometimes he want to keep up at 4:30 and I'll take him out - but put him right back in once he's done. Then he will stay put until around 6:00a.m. |
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