Genabee Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Genevieve is now 20 weeks old. I bought her home at 8 weeks. From the first night I had her home, she always slept in her soft crate in the laundry (our laundry has central heating, so it is plenty warm enough in there for her). By the third night home I never heard boo out of her. She would toilet on her puppy pad. By 10 weeks old, she was holding through the night and would wake me up about 7.30am to be let out! Perfect!!! About a fortnight ago, she started waking me up in the night to go to the toilet. This didn't bother me greatly... I got up and let her out. After a couple of nights, she would do it more than once, but not so much to go to the toilet, but to be let out to play. She would just want to run around the yard and even once ran out the door with a toy in her mouth. I just kept scooping her up and putting her back in the laundry. I made a point of never turning the lights on either, so it was always dark. She would just scratch the door and not let up. I would hold out until about 5.30am where eventually I would get up and go into the lounge room and go back to sleep in there - and she would curl up with me and do the same!!! So, after talking to some of the savy DOLers, I decided to stop resisting it and try putting her crate in our room to see if she would go back to sleeping the whole night through again. It worked for two nights. :p She unfortunately is able to unzip her crate and let herself out. During the day if I need to have her in there for a period of time, I cable tie the zips, but I don't feel that is a good idea to do in the night (I actually have to cut them off, not practical in the dark with your eyes closed!). She has taken to pacing around the bedroom, scratching on my doors, tries to open my drawers.... in sheer frustration and desperation, I pulled her on to the bed with me to see if being close would settle her. It worked for about 45 minutes. :D Then she started walking all over the bed. She isn't able to jump on to the bed yet as it is that little bit too high and she certainly doesn't jump off it. At this point I am ready to send her to the home for naughty dogs. I always toilet her before going to bed in the evening. I get home from work about 9pm (I don't start work until late afternoon, so I am home all morning with her) and spend a large part of that time before going to bed, with her on the couch (she is usually asleep!). She gets walked most mornings. As far as I am aware, there are no cats or possums or other creatures lurking around outside. The only thing that has altered is that my Husband is away for work (but he was away for the first four weeks she was here anyway, by which time she was sleeping through. I don't think that would be too much of an impact). I am going to be starting obedience with her this weekend, as I think she could do with the mental stimulation. I want to do the right thing by my dog, but I am not getting any sleep and I am extremely grumpy and I still have to go to work and be nice to people!!! Please help me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Buy a metal crate. How much exercise is she getting outside your home each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuggaWuggles Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Maybe try not to let her sleep with you in the mornings,lots of play and exercise to ware her out.Do you go straight to bed when you get home at 9pm,or do you play and spend time with her before going to bed?It may be that she is still excited to have you home,play down the arriving home part,she may get a little less excited and a bit more tired. Sounds like it is just a routine thing,i am sure she will get used to it.I am no expert,but it took Wugs a while to settle at night times,but he knows when sleep time is now.I hope it all works out,and i am sure the lovely DOLers will give you some good tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Don't let her sleep on the couch with you before she goes to bed, play with her, do a little training, wear her out and, as PF says, buy a metal crate. Soft crates are good because they're portable, but they're easily destroyed and/or soiled and can be hot in summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 What happens if you just ignore ther? will she toilet in the laundary? I would get up as soon as she scratches at the door let her toilet and then put her back in the laundary and go back to bed. Also, don't let her sleep AT ALL one to two hrs before bed. You could play with her or do some training or maybe take her for a walk or something. Hopefully she will be more tired this way. It is very frustrating when they do this- I know how you feel I had the same sort of issues with my puppy! Mine were solved by moving the crate into my bedroom though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 One other thing. DON'T let her sleep when you get home from work.. keep her awake. She's not a baby anymore. Her need for sleep is declining. So she's looking for stimulus. If she's sleeping all the time you're at work (which is highly likely), then you need to keep her awake more when you're with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Metal crate for starters, and wear her out before bedtime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W Sibs Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Routine is a big thing in the household since we got Emmy. I do feel for you because i was in the same boat with you for 2 months when I got Emmy... I had to go away for the weekend somewhere to sleep! it was heaven!! I think it takes a while for you to figure out what works for you and Genevieve the best. I did try different ways of how to settle her down... I tried crate, I tried leaving her out in the living room, I tried ignoring her and then when we found something that worked.. it gets easier. Em and I have a big play session (usually fetch) and if she still wired, we got for a quick walk around the block, then she goes outside to do her business, then she waits for her pig ear or kanga bone on her heated bed on the floor and once I give it to her she settles down. In the mean time, I have Charlie settled on the bed. When I tell her light's out, Emmy jumps on the bed and makes her self comfortable. Charlie, even has a puppy, is a night owl. He will get up at 2 - 2.30am, I will put him on the floor and he will go and start chewing on the pig ear or kanga bone I have Emmy earlier in the night and then fall asleep on the heated bed till the alarm goes off, then I pick him up to put in bed for our morning cuddles. Then he remains in bed sleeping while I take Emmy out for her morning walk.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 (edited) Hullo - poor you. Elbie cried, screamed and yelled non-stop for the first three nights we got him - drove us absolutely insane and we couldn't believe that he had the energy to keep up the yelling. We had the hot water bottle, alarm clock, 2CN radio with late night talk, soft toy .... towel with our scent on it .. everything! If you wanted to do an interim measure, then you could try for the travel-sized crate that we used for toilet-training Elbie. It was kind of a step before he went into the big scary metal crate that looks like a cage I hope you can tire her out before bedtimes with lots of obedience work etc. Alas for us, people kept telling us to tire out Elbie but he is a mega mega energetic dog and we found that there was absolutely nothing that we could do that really tires him out. It made absolutely no difference whether we tired to tire him out during the day. What we found worked for us was that we have a routine that Elbie follows at night. Things vary during the day but at HIS bedtime, we start the kettle, take him out for toileting, bring him back and he watches as we fill up his hot water bottle, wrap it up in a blanket and then he goes into his crate, gets two toys and is tucked in with his thick blanket - then he settles down for the night. He doesn't wake until morning and these days, in the morning we can actually even pop him back in his crate if we feel like sleeping in. Before, he'd wake up at the crack of down and so would we We find it really weird because even if he's slept heaps during the day, he'll still very obediently trot to his crate to sleep for the night when it's bedtime. So you probably just need to figure out your own routine for Genevieve so that she knows that when certain things happen - it's sleep time for her no matter what time it is. Also, because you've kind of 'given in' to her a couple of times now, you may just have to do the tough love thing and pop her in her crate and don't let her out even if she cries - and just take her out at regular intervals for toileting and no other time - try not to talk or play with her at all even if she is being very cute If she cries, possibly the most you could concede would be to stick your fingers in her crate to comfort her. I know I sound mean but Elbie could and can be incredibly manipulative and you give him an inch and he takes a mile. I know if we had ever let him sleep in our bed, there's no way he'd ever settle for less after that :D Good luck!! Edited July 28, 2010 by koalathebear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skitch Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 That sucks . If this was me.. I'd consider that behavior extremely intolerable and my dog would be straight in a metal crate and put in a room away from my bedroom. May seem a bit harsh but sleep is important and getting your dog into a routine is important too. Are you exercising her enough? My partner and I walk our dogs for about 40 minutes a few hours before bedtime.. seems to tire them out and they have no problems sleeping through the night at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9angel Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 I would get a plastic/metal crate. Put it back in the laundry, not in your room. Don't give in to her. I know it may be hard, she'll probably cry/howl throughout the night until she is back in a routine, but its important you deal with it now, rather than later. Maybe put some toys in there for her to occupy herself if she wakes up in the night wanting a play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nushie Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 (edited) I agree with what some of the others have said. Routine is key. Doesn't matter what time i go to bed (be it 9:30 or 2:30) we have the same routine. He goes into his pen to toilet while i put the kettle on and just do a wipe over the kitchen (he can see me when he is in the pen). Usually by the time the kettle is boiled, he has gone to the toilet sits watching me or chews on a toy. I then get his bed sorted (wrap hot water bottle up, put in a toy or two etc.) i then tell him 'into bed' and he runs in. We then go downstairs and the crate is put next to the bed and that is where he stays while i get ready for bed or read. And then i dont hear anything out of him until my alarm goes off at 6. We use the same routine when we go to my mums place in the car (about an hour and a half drive). He now sleeps the entire way there, cause when he goes into his crate, it is sleepy time. Have you tried giving her a kong to chew on. I did this with Jager in the beginning. Means that even though he may not be tired straight away. The kong would keep him quiet and amused and he would chew himself to sleep. He doesnt get his kong anymore but we always through in one hard and one soft toy for him to entertain himself with. When you do get up to take her to the toilet. Make it business only. If you have to, put her on a lead to take her out so that she cant run around, play or chew toys. I still do this now if i want to sleep in on the weekend. Jager wakes up, i take him upstairs to his toilet and i take every toy out of the pen so that there is no temptation to play. I also dont speak to him (only praise him for going) that way there is nothing to get him excited about. Once done, straight back to bed. If he doesnt want to sleep he can chew. If he becomes too restless i put him hand down between the crate and the bed so that he can smell / lick it if he wants and that seems to reassure him and he is often quiet in a few minutes. Also have you thought about getting some of those metal clips, i dont know how to describe them, you use your thumb to pull down the latch? Maybe get one or two of those (maybe a dollar or so from a hardware store) that way you can lock her in her crate (she cant open the zips) and you can get quick access if you need to (also saves you going through dozens of zip ties). Just an idea. We use them to lock the door on Jager play pen. Hope you get some sleep soon. Good luck Edited July 28, 2010 by Nushie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genabee Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 (edited) Thank you for all your replies. I walk her most days in the morning, usually for about an hour. I have been known to take her around the block at night, but lately it has been very cold and wet and to be honest, I don't like walking in the dark by myself... it's not safe. But maybe I will have to bite the bullet and give it a try. We usually do a bit of training and have a play when I get home, but not immediately before she goes to bed. By then I am having my dinner (she has already eaten) and she vegs out while I eat, shower, tidy up etc. I would love to come straight home from work and go to sleep, I am exhausted, but I don't because I don't think it is fair on her. I've been consious of that from the start. Hence my bed time has become quite late (which is fine if I can sleep to at least 7.30am!!). And I usually go to the toilet and change my shoes before I attend to her (usually she is quiet and I know she is listening to me). She is definitely going back in the laundry - I didn't really want her in our room in the first place! And given it hasn't worked, I won't be letting it continue. She is fine going to bed, she just doesn't want to be in there for more than a couple of hours! So I guess you are right, she isn't tired enough! I guess I just have to continue letting her scratch it out and work on wearing her out in the mean time. How long do I let this go on for though before if it more of a serious problem? This is now going on two weeks... the odd night in there she is good, but most of the time she has me up unnecessarily. Yes, she has some toys in there with her. Can anyone direct me to a good 'games to play with your dog' link please? PS. The idea of the metal clips could be a good one! I will investigate that! Edited July 28, 2010 by Wizzle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 It doesn't need to be physical exercise. You can tire her out by doing some training with her such as sit, down, shake hands, roll over, beg, crawl, go back, come. All stuff you can teach her whilst you are still resting on the couch but it will make her brain active as she works out what you want her to do. I trained one pup to know the difference between shake and hi 5 whilst sitting with my Dad in the hospital. (It was a rural hospital so puppy was allowed in his room too). Then I taught her to hi 5 with the opposite paw so if I lifted my right hand in a hi five she would reciprocate, if I lifted the left then so would she. She only ever shook hands with the right one. All of this training was done with her regular kibble so she had to work for her dinners. Pop into the training thread and there will be heaps of things you can teach her and tire her out at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 (edited) It doesn't need to be physical exercise. You can tire her out by doing some training with her such as sit, down, shake hands, roll over, beg, crawl, go back, come. All stuff you can teach her whilst you are still resting on the couch but it will make her brain active as she works out what you want her to do. In another thread you'll see that wizzle's already been doing heaps with Genevieve in terms of training - see . I don't know if it's normal but in the early days, my puppy used to get sooooooooo tired after doing his little 5-10 minutes of obedience training but these days he doesn't get tired AT ALL and runs through all of his tricks in 5 minutes without batting an eyelash It means that we are constantly looking for new things to tire him out and keep him occupied - all suggestions very welcome Edited July 28, 2010 by koalathebear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genabee Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 It doesn't need to be physical exercise. You can tire her out by doing some training with her such as sit, down, shake hands, roll over, beg, crawl, go back, come. All stuff you can teach her whilst you are still resting on the couch but it will make her brain active as she works out what you want her to do. In another thread you'll see that wizzle's already been doing heaps with Genevieve in terms of training - see . I don't know if it's normal but in the early days, my puppy used to get sooooooooo tired after doing his little 5-10 minutes of obedience training but these days he doesn't get tired AT ALL and runs through all of his tricks in 5 minutes without batting an eyelash It means that we are constantly looking for new things to tire him out and keep him occupied - all suggestions very welcome I think Elbie and Genevieve need to have sleep overs - they can tire one another out!!! I am hoping that the new obedience classes we are going to start, will give me new material to work with her on during the week and will help to wear her mind out. We've nearly mastered 'say hi daddy' (wave) by the way! I think she is too smart for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 I am hoping that the new obedience classes we are going to start, will give me new material to work with her on during the week and will help to wear her mind out. We've nearly mastered 'say hi daddy' (wave) by the way! Video please! Also, obedience classes should tire her out. Elbie seems to have a reduction in energy levels every Sunday afternoon If you ever come to Canberra, we should definitely have a play date for our puppies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genabee Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 I am hoping that the new obedience classes we are going to start, will give me new material to work with her on during the week and will help to wear her mind out. We've nearly mastered 'say hi daddy' (wave) by the way! Video please! :D Also, obedience classes should tire her out. Elbie seems to have a reduction in energy levels every Sunday afternoon If you ever come to Canberra, we should definitely have a play date for our puppies ;) I used to love Sundays while she was at puppy school, because she would come home exhausticated and veg out for the rest of the day/night! No such luck at the moment! I can make it to two different obedience schools on a Sunday. Do you think that is too much for one little dog? Yes, I haven't forgotten about the video updates! Every time i get the camera out though, she never does it!!! I think I might just send her to Canberra... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genabee Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 Ok, so it is 11pm. I arrived home about 9.30pm. While I was cooking my dinner, I did some trick work with her in between - she sat patiently in the kitchen with me for most of it. I put her dinner (kibble) in a water bottle about an hour ago - she is still chasing it around the dining room floor! It was handy to be able to eat my dinner and do the dishes without her under my feet! If for no other reason, I might use the water bottle more often! It was pretty funny, she wasn't sure about it to start with and she sat there looking at it, like she was expecting it to do something. I showed her how to roll it along the ground and how bits would fall out. She was barking at it at one point, very frustrated! I have to say, I was being entertained!!! When she finishes chasing the water bottle around, we will do a bit more trick work then bed. Let's see how we go tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genabee Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 Oh, and I bought a trick book off ebay, one that was suggested in the training thread... On a mission people!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now