Where Do Sleep My Dog Now.....

[shyfig]

that I have a crate!

Ended up getting a 42" and it is humungous....but smaller Jed wouldn't have had room to stretch out.

It's set up in my loungeroom (only arrived today) and now my question is should I make the loungeroom its permanent place and eventually encourage Jed to sleep in it or would he experience too much anxiety being separated from me?

I'd like to keep him out of my room permanently so the cats can have some house space again. He is cut off from the kitchen and my bedroom with my Hidden fence Skedattle which works a treat and I then carry him into the bedroom at night at the moment but the cats are still so isolated after 7 mths of staying outside instead of sleeping in my room

To give you an idea of my house setup imagine a rectangle divided into two areas of 2/3rds and 1/3rd. My kitchen and bedrrom represent the 1/3rd and the 2/3rds represents the loungeroom and bedrroms and bathrooms etc. It's very open plan that's why I've used a skedattle to section off.

I've loved having him sleep with me on the bed but maybe a move to the loungroom would be better for all animal harmony?

OR

I could get another crate for the bedroom

[persephone]

Crate for the bedroom The cats and he will have to meet at some stage, won't they?

[mirawee]

Crate for the bedroom with him being lock up at night so he can't disturb the cats

Are you planning on always keeping him and the cats seperate?

[Sunnyflower]

How come you keep the cats and dogs separate?

Oscar (Dog) & Cino (Cat) do everything together and have a bond that is amazingly close. The literally do everything together from eat together, wrestle, sleep and are constantly side by side. I appreciate not all cats and dogs have this kind of special dog but I'd like to think these two species could live in harmony together.

Oscar & Cino have their own room together (The study) and their beds are side by side which they sleep in every night.

[persephone]

This sounds a confusing setup - he is not allowed into your room, but sleeps in there?

Why not have him in your room and the cats in the lounge?

he has cats in the house, but they are not allowed to meet? Do your cats have a nice enclosure where they can be when he's outside, if you want to separate them?

Unfortunately, you have started off with him on the bed That is now where he thinks he should sleep.If you now crate him, and he screams/yells/gets anxious..it is not his fault ... he knows his bed is your bed

I suggest you put the crate where you want it ..and GRADUALLY get him used to it - feed him bones in it..play with him in it - make it a GREAT place to be !!

[SpotTheDog]

At a glance:

Work on integrating him with your cats. Not all dog/cat households can achieve the harmony that Sunnyflower describes, but as long as you're supervising their interaction, time together will help their bond instead of hinder it. It won't happen overnight but gradually they'll become less interesting to him, and they'll also learn to stand their ground, and he'll become less interested in them. (I have a system in my house: cats on the bed, cats on the couch, dog on neither. The cats sleep in their own room at night and a babygate separates that room from the house during the day so they can go in there and it's a dog-free zone, so they have space away from him.)

If you take steps to integrate them, it WILL get better. You may never have a setup where you can 100% trust them - I would never trust my dog outdoors with my cats, for instance. He's out and they're in; they're out and he's in. (Right now they're having their evening mooch about my cat-proofed yard and the dog's asleep on the floor behind me.)

If you work towards integrating them they'll gradually get used to each other. It takes time, and you have to reinforce the rules - and those rules are two-way: dog never allowed to chase or pester the cats, and cats never allowed to swipe at the dog (justified retaliation notwithstanding - if the dog's being a total pest and gets a smack on the nose before I get there, I don't give out to the cat - but there are plenty of occasions where the cats will have a go at the dog when he's pretty much minding his own business but just got too close to them in passing, and I will give out to them for that.)

[shyfig]

Ok I think I need to clarify my situation BRIEFLY as I shouldn't expect people to remember.

We got Jed 7 Mths ago (at 5 mths of age) with full intention of he and our two cats getting along. Originally the 3 of them slept on my bed together but unfortunately the "relationships" were very stressed and became dangerous. My oldest cat (male) is vicious with him now as a result of Jeds behaviour towards him....the younger female is very gentle and has had plenty of head cuddles etc but is very frightened of him. Jed food guards, toy guards etc and has pursued them enough times that they have become extremely frightened of him.

I had posted about this earlier and it was suggested to separate them from each other as much as possible...to create different areas in the house for them. Because I have a Hidden fence the cats have a five foot perimeter around the boundary of our 1/4 acre block which provides them with ample outside safespots for sunning themselves, sleeping etc. and in my original post in this topic attempted to described the indoor areas and how they are separated.

One reason the division of areas has been done like this is becuase the kitchen and my bedroom run off each other it is simply practical to make this the cats area as they are fed in the kitchen...Jed is fed on the other side of the house near the laundry. Both have entry doors and becuase the loungroom and kitchen are open plan you can see from one side of the house to the other through the doors. Eventually cat and dog doors for each side.

The second reason is that my kitchen cannot have a clean bench policy as we have 4 people functioning on 4 different sleep patterns and as kitchen is also the area for schooling the table and benches are never cleared off for very long. This has been a problem for us as Jed STILL bench surfs (yes previous posts about this) and separating kitchen from loungreoom with SkedattleLink was a foolproof solution after mths of training, retraining, implementing advice from forums, vet etc with no success and lots of damaged and destroyed possessions, schoolwork etc.

SO...cats right hand side of house ....dog left hand 2/3rds of house.

Kitchen separated from loungeroom with Skedattle which works off his collar as we have the outside hidden fence.

Jed knows he can only access my bedroom if I carry him through to it the same as he can only access outside the yard if he is carried through the front gates. This reinforces areas that are out of bound and apart from this he refuses to go past the out of bounds point as he knows he will get a zapp.

AND...I have NO intention of just sticking Jed in the brand new crate and expecting him to sleep there now!

If that were my intention I would not be posting for advise about his sleeping arrangements and how to best TRANSITION him to the crate for sleeping once he is USED to the crate.

I hope this sheds some better light on my situation and clears up some bizzare ideas that have been posted.

Edited May 2, 2011 by shyfig

[shyfig]

At a glance:

Work on integrating him with your cats. Not all dog/cat households can achieve the harmony that Sunnyflower describes, but as long as you're supervising their interaction, time together will help their bond instead of hinder it. It won't happen overnight but gradually they'll become less interesting to him, and they'll also learn to stand their ground, and he'll become less interested in them. (I have a system in my house: cats on the bed, cats on the couch, dog on neither. The cats sleep in their own room at night and a babygate separates that room from the house during the day so they can go in there and it's a dog-free zone, so they have space away from him.)

If you take steps to integrate them, it WILL get better. You may never have a setup where you can 100% trust them - I would never trust my dog outdoors with my cats, for instance. He's out and they're in; they're out and he's in. (Right now they're having their evening mooch about my cat-proofed yard and the dog's asleep on the floor behind me.)

If you work towards integrating them they'll gradually get used to each other. It takes time, and you have to reinforce the rules - and those rules are two-way: dog never allowed to chase or pester the cats, and cats never allowed to swipe at the dog (justified retaliation notwithstanding - if the dog's being a total pest and gets a smack on the nose before I get there, I don't give out to the cat - but there are plenty of occasions where the cats will have a go at the dog when he's pretty much minding his own business but just got too close to them in passing, and I will give out to them for that.)

Thanks SpotTheDog but 7 mths in their is no harmony...a long story with much advice from forums, vet etc but our purfect fur family just wasn't achieved. That part is water under the bridge

[aussielover]

Good luck with it!

My puppy slept in a crate in the laundry for 2 months then a crate in my room and then on the floor or her bed in my room and now finally on my bed!

She is a big bed hog and likes to lean against you (not so fun having 25kg of labrador lean against you and pushing you off the bed!) so I have attempted to transition her from the bed into her lovely new soft k9pro crate which she LOVES at all other times except bedtime. So far I have not been successful Partly because she whinges and partly because deep down I do miss her snuggling with me

But if I was more serious I would put her in my laundary again so I wouldn't have to hear her whinge. she actually gets over it within 10 minutes or so but then i feel guilty and miss her so I let her out (and onto the bed) after she has been good for a few more minutes.

To be honest I think you will just have to stick him in the crate at night (after you've gotten him used to it at other times) and maybe move him somewhere you can't hear any fuss- and then move him back into your bedroom. Or if you can take it, ignore any fuss he makes while having him crated in your bedroom is that is where you would prefer him to be.

ETA: he sounds very cheeky lol. Does he do anything like obedience, agility or herding that might help wear him out and challenge him?

Edited May 2, 2011 by aussielover

[MsKatie]

We crate our 2 in the bedroom at night - zipped in - the kelpie had no probs and with the hound we started by opening the side and putting his bedding in there - then having the front open with his bedding in there and finally zipping it up - they each get a dog biscuit when they go in there and they run for their crates each night - they also have a special chewy toy each that is only kept in their crate.

[Staranais]

My girl sleeps on the end of my bed, but clipped onto a short leash attached to the end of the bed (she can jump on & off the bed, but that's about it). That prevents her getting into any possible mischief in the middle of the night when I'm asleep. So that could be another option for you, if the crate doesn't work out.

[smooch]

Ok I think I need to clarify my situation BRIEFLY as I shouldn't expect people to remember.

We got Jed 7 Mths ago (at 5 mths of age) with full intention of he and our two cats getting along. Originally the 3 of them slept on my bed together but unfortunately the "relationships" were very stressed and became dangerous. My oldest cat (male) is vicious with him now as a result of Jeds behaviour towards him....the younger female is very gentle and has had plenty of head cuddles etc but is very frightened of him. Jed food guards, toy guards etc and has pursued them enough times that they have become extremely frightened of him.

I had posted about this earlier and it was suggested to separate them from each other as much as possible...to create different areas in the house for them. Because I have a Hidden fence they have a five foot perimeter around the boundary of our 1/4 acre block which provides them with ample outside safespots for sunning themselves, sleeping etc. and in my original post in this topic attempted to described the indoor areas and how they are separated.

One reason the division of areas has been done like this is becuase the kitchen and my bedroom run off each other it is simply practical to make this the cats area as they are fed in the kitchen...Jed is fed on the other side of the house near the laundry. Both have entry doors and becuase the loungroom and kitchen are open plan you can see from one side of the house to the other through the doors. Eventually cat and dog doors for each side.

The second reason is that my kitchen cannot have a clean bench policy as we have 4 people functioning on 4 different sleep patterns and as kitchen is also the area for schooling the table and benches are never cleared off for very long. This has been a problem for us as Jed STILL bench surfs (yes previous posts about this) and separating kitchen from loungreoom with Skedattle Link was a foolproof solution after mths of training, retraining, implementing advice from forums, vet etc with no success and lots of damaged and destroyed possessions, schoolwork etc.

SO...cats right hand side of house ....dog left hand 2/3rds of house.

Kitchen separated from loungeroom with Skedattle which works off his collar as we have the outside hidden fence.

Jed knows he can only access my bedroom if I carry him through to it the same as he can only access outside the yard if he is carried through the front gates. This reinforces areas that are out of bound and apart from this he refuses to go past the out of bounds point as he knows he will get a zapp.

AND...I have NO intention of just sticking Jed in the brand new crate and expecting him to sleep there now!

If that were my intention I would not be posting for advise about his sleeping arrangements and how to best TRANSITION him to the crate for sleeping once he is USED to the crate.

I hope this sheds some better light on my situation and clears up some bizzare ideas that have been posted.

when I clicked on your LINK it took me to my facebook page.

[shyfig]

Ok I think I need to clarify my situation BRIEFLY as I shouldn't expect people to remember.

We got Jed 7 Mths ago (at 5 mths of age) with full intention of he and our two cats getting along. Originally the 3 of them slept on my bed together but unfortunately the "relationships" were very stressed and became dangerous. My oldest cat (male) is vicious with him now as a result of Jeds behaviour towards him....the younger female is very gentle and has had plenty of head cuddles etc but is very frightened of him. Jed food guards, toy guards etc and has pursued them enough times that they have become extremely frightened of him.

I had posted about this earlier and it was suggested to separate them from each other as much as possible...to create different areas in the house for them. Because I have a Hidden fence they have a five foot perimeter around the boundary of our 1/4 acre block which provides them with ample outside safespots for sunning themselves, sleeping etc. and in my original post in this topic attempted to described the indoor areas and how they are separated.

One reason the division of areas has been done like this is becuase the kitchen and my bedroom run off each other it is simply practical to make this the cats area as they are fed in the kitchen...Jed is fed on the other side of the house near the laundry. Both have entry doors and becuase the loungroom and kitchen are open plan you can see from one side of the house to the other through the doors. Eventually cat and dog doors for each side.

The second reason is that my kitchen cannot have a clean bench policy as we have 4 people functioning on 4 different sleep patterns and as kitchen is also the area for schooling the table and benches are never cleared off for very long. This has been a problem for us as Jed STILL bench surfs (yes previous posts about this) and separating kitchen from loungreoom with Skedattle Link was a foolproof solution after mths of training, retraining, implementing advice from forums, vet etc with no success and lots of damaged and destroyed possessions, schoolwork etc.

SO...cats right hand side of house ....dog left hand 2/3rds of house.

Kitchen separated from loungeroom with Skedattle which works off his collar as we have the outside hidden fence.

Jed knows he can only access my bedroom if I carry him through to it the same as he can only access outside the yard if he is carried through the front gates. This reinforces areas that are out of bound and apart from this he refuses to go past the out of bounds point as he knows he will get a zapp.

AND...I have NO intention of just sticking Jed in the brand new crate and expecting him to sleep there now!

If that were my intention I would not be posting for advise about his sleeping arrangements and how to best TRANSITION him to the crate for sleeping once he is USED to the crate.

I hope this sheds some better light on my situation and clears up some bizzare ideas that have been posted.

when I clicked on your LINK it took me to my facebook page.

Oh jeeze I'm brilliant tonight

Will fix the link

[JulesP]

I would put the crate wherever it is that you want him to end up sleeping. There might be some noise the first night if you pick the lounge room.

[shyfig]

My girl sleeps on the end of my bed, but clipped onto a short leash attached to the end of the bed (she can jump on & off the bed, but that's about it). That prevents her getting into any possible mischief in the middle of the night when I'm asleep. So that could be another option for you, if the crate doesn't work out.

That's how I've had Jed for a few months now but it just doesn't work even with a short lead as he can still reach much of my stuff and eat it. He'll also try and block the cats from getting up if they do try and come in. It's good to know that someone else does the leash thing though!

[Red Fox]

Where you set it up depends on what you want to use it for. If you only want to use it for nights and very occasional daytime confinement then put it in your bedroom. If you'd like to use it to keep him out of mischief during the day and/or a place that he can go to of his own accord to chill out then put it in a more accessable area of the house.

Big wire crates are a massive PITA to be carting around the house, it's much easier to have it set up permanently in one area.

[shyfig]

Big wire crates are a massive PITA to be carting around the house, it's much easier to have it set up permanently in one area.

Definately agree with that! It is mainly for night time and I think it will end up in the bedroom once I rearrange the room to accommodate it a bit better. Perhaps the cats will be OK if they know that Jed's confined. I'd rather have him in with me as I'd miss him if he were in another room. Just trying to get it worked out in my head

[shyfig]

How come you keep the cats and dogs separate?

Oscar (Dog) & Cino (Cat) do everything together and have a bond that is amazingly close. The literally do everything together from eat together, wrestle, sleep and are constantly side by side. I appreciate not all cats and dogs have this kind of special dog but I'd like to think these two species could live in harmony together.

Oscar & Cino have their own room together (The study) and their beds are side by side which they sleep in every night.

That's just so lovely that your two have developed such an amazing bond. What sort of dog and how old are they both? You should post a photo

[shyfig]

Crate for the bedroom with him being lock up at night so he can't disturb the cats

Are you planning on always keeping him and the cats seperate?

Yes crating at night in the bedroom is sounding the plan of choice.

The dog and cats stay away from each other through fear and choice...I am trying to achieve more organized separation for when the cats try and come in for meals and time with us. I would love it if they could be together.

I'm hoping that my separation strategies may also help reinforce with Jed that he does not own the whole house...that the cats are entitled and in fact were before him so should be above him in the pecking order.

[Red Fox]

Big wire crates are a massive PITA to be carting around the house, it's much easier to have it set up permanently in one area.

Definately agree with that! It is mainly for night time and I think it will end up in the bedroom once I rearrange the room to accommodate it a bit better. Perhaps the cats will be OK if they know that Jed's confined. I'd rather have him in with me as I'd miss him if he were in another room. Just trying to get it worked out in my head

Put it in the bedroom and see how you go. You can always move it out if you change your mind. Plus crates make excellent bedside tables

The cats will be fine with him in the crate.