wolf82 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Ok, where to start! Suspect: Loki Discription: 10 months old, Am Staff, very handsome. Habbits: Well, this is where the story starts! When we first got loki he was crated for a few months or so until he was toilet trained, he quickly out grew his crate. He was then allowed to sleep on the floor of our room on his little bed.... That quickly migrated to our BED when we were sleeping, he would sleep on his bed until we went to sleep, then jump up and cuddle in, he would be pushed down, and rinse repeat. After doing this for some time, i gave up, winter was here and i let him sleep at the foot of my side of the bed (much to my girlfriends disdane) and he has been doing that ever since, but lately he has been sneaking UNDER the covers in the middle of the night, quite often i wake up and hes sleeping ON my feet, under the blanket! I figured he was cold, so i didnt care So... one thing led to another, and we organised big crates. They arrived the other day and we set them up in the hall and since then have been feeding the dogs in them, we also put all their bedding and stuff in them too. Loki is really good with his crate, i figured if we left the door open in the hall he can get used to it being there, and hopefully get used to being crated again when the need arose. For the last week Loki has been sleeping in his crate with the door open in the hall (not at night), if we are busy and doing stuff around the house he will just go and sleep in his crate on his special bed. The problem we have happens at night..... He will goto sleep in his crate at night, all cuddled up and happy.... its around 4-5am that i want to kill him. He wakes up in his crate and sits there and crys, and crys, and crys, and crys, and crys.... Did i say he crys? to get out... this is at 5am, im a grumpy shit around this time and dont have patience for a dog crying. I told him to lay down this morning and tried to get him to go back to sleep, it worked kinda, i just dozed off again when he started crying, AGAIN! I eventually let him out, it was that or kill him. I know this was bad as he got what he wanted... but my sleep is precious, i need it! So here comes the kicker...! How do i get him used to sleeping in his crate all night? And NOT cry to get out? I know i kinda messed up by letting him sleep on the bed, but he is my son and he gets cold! Poor little shit. We eventually settled on crates since our sleep was going down hill from the dogs moving around at night etc and waking us up, but this is even worse! The bad thing is, im a light sleeper, so i cant just hope that i will sleep through it (like my gf). Help! For the sake of my sleep, and Lokis good health! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haven Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Personally I let my dogs sleep (crated) in my bedroom. It's against a dogs natural instincts to spend prolonged periods seperated from the pack although plenaty of people leave their dogs outside all day or night without issue. I'd try that and see how you go but if you have a preference for him to sleep in another room start psyching yourself up for a few nights of broken sleep because he will cry and you will basically have to grin and bear it. If you go out to him even to yell you give him exactly what he wants (your attention) therefore reinforcing his crying and ensuring he will do it again, probably loder and longer every time. *sigh* sometimes you just want to strangle them, the little brats that they can be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf82 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 He is crated in our room! Hes 2ft away from my side of the bed, right next to me! He crys because he wants to sleep on the bed with me! I wouldnt just put him in his crate and leave him in the hall or in another room. I just want him to be able to be crated in the bed room, so i get more sleep at night... Nothing like getting woken up because the dog wants to put his face over your face, or they walk on your stomache trying to move around, or even better, being licked on the eye ball at 3am. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji's Mum Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 (edited) Does he need to go to the toilet or is he cold? With small kids I am up early too. Join the club. I wee the dogs early and put them back to bed - which they are happy to do as it's so cold here in the mornings. Wait till you have kids! Edited August 14, 2006 by Benji's Mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf82 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Doesnt need toilet, and isnt cold (i think). I let him out this morning after lots of crying and he just launched out, jumped onto the bed next to me and went to sleep.... What a bastard! He didnt get under the covers, so i dont think he was cold. He is 30kg, and he pushes me over on the bed, ill wake up and find him sprawled where i was laying, and im in the middle of the bed, and my GF is falling out, so she cracks the shits at me for taking up the room, and i cant do anything about it! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Have you tried covering the crate with a dark sheet/blanket/doona cover? 5 am is when the birds start making noise. Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji's Mum Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Maybe an early morning hot water bottle with a cover on the crate and something to chew, quiet radio - or my standard never-fail solution - a rescue dog to keep him warm and happy..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf82 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 We have a huskie too, the huskie sleeps in a corner on the floor tho, the dogs never sleep together because the huskie gets too warm and eventually moves. We left them together in the crate last night for a bit, but Odin the huskie got too hot and was very restless and eventually wanted out, so he went to his usual spot, rolled on his back and went to sleep, Loki just went back to sleep himself. Ill try the blanket over the crate tonight and see how we go. I think that he is just in the bad habbit of sleeping on our bed, but i dont want to reward him by letting him out of the crate for crying. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Don't crate your dogs together overnight. My Stafford is usually under the doona by that time of the morning, she doesn't start off there, but she does eventually wake up cold, so perhaps think about a rug or jumper for Loki to wear. Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf82 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Ill try the warmth issue. The dogs were only in the crate together becase they both fell asleep in there. We have 2 giant crates, one for each of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haven Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 He is crated in our room! Hes 2ft away from my side of the bed, right next to me!He crys because he wants to sleep on the bed with me! I wouldnt just put him in his crate and leave him in the hall or in another room. I just want him to be able to be crated in the bed room, so i get more sleep at night... Nothing like getting woken up because the dog wants to put his face over your face, or they walk on your stomache trying to move around, or even better, being licked on the eye ball at 3am. Steve Sorry, I mistunderstood that part where you said (twice) that the crate was in the hall. Either way you do yourself no favours by reinforcing his behaviour and letting him out when he cries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjk05 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 What worked for me with a similar problem with a puppy (kept waking and crying at 4am, then just wanted to play) was setting my alarm for a time before she would wake up (ie 2 or 3am), taking her outside for a wee, absolutely no playing, just on leash standing around until she weed, then back inside and to bed again. She'd whimper a bit when returned to her crate, but went off to sleep just like she did earlier in the evening- force of habit, I think, and then she'd go back into a new sleep cycle. And later in the morning we all got up at a more reasonable hour. Basically this stopped the habit of puppy crying for attention, me not being sure if she needed a wee, so giving in and getting up. By waking her up before she did it herself I could reassure myself that she was empty, and "reset" her for another period of sleep. Gradually I set my alarm for later and later (over a period of weeks), until the early morning wee-time was the same as getting-up time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILuvAmstaffs Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hi steve, sounds like your dog thinks that YOU are sleeping in HIS bed. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim1 Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Easiest solution would be is to purchase a king size bed and that way there's room for all of you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-j Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hi I agree with mjk05 as you don't know that he needs to go to the toilet or not as he could be cold, when you come back in put a coat on him and put him back in the crate, as before dawn is the coldest time of the night. He will learn that whinging just brings a trip out into the cold and then back into the crate, perhaps give him something to chew on. If he is demanding to get into the bed you will need to ride the extinction burst (the increased whinging), if you give in when/if you try again the whinging will be more intense. Not good news to those whose sleep is precious, in the short term, but the long term you will have fixed your problem without having to get ratty at the dog, which doesn't make for a peaceful sleep anyway. Another thing also when you wake up don't immediately let him out of the crate, do a couple of things first 1/2 min or so, and not the same things or length of time each time, so the dog doesn't learn that you stirring in your sleep means he is going to get out of the crate or after a certain amount of time or a certain behaviour pattern from you, you dictate that when you are ready. Or you could just let him sleep with you cheers M-J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K9Pro Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 (edited) K9: I would try to cover a few things at once, I would close the crate off during the day, he can wake uop at 4am as he has slept all day by the sounds of it... Crate is sleeping time at nite only.... He already has the positive association of the crate down pat... Next when you put him to bed, completely cover the crate, people with birds in cages will tell you how important this is to their sleep... If he makes a sound, get up, whatever you do dont let him out (again lol). Move the crate to a place in the house where you wont hear him, leave him there the rest of the night. When you move the crate, dont remove the cover & dont speak to him. The next night start with the crate in the other room. He can earn it back in the den with silence. One other thing, this is being driven by a leadership issue, my dogs would not wake me up at niight as they know it wouldnt get them anywhere. If they wake me up, K9 Force must be under attack.... Edited September 1, 2006 by K9 Force Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crysti_Lei Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 what K-9 force said. when i was trying to get my puglet back into his crate as night, coz he was sleeping on my head, i did basically that. i got him a smaller crate (as he started in an extra large coz i was going to get a StBernard) and kept it covered (i used towels that block out the light completely) and when ever he made a peep i carried him into the other room, no words nothing. now he is perfect at night, and has even earnt a night or towo in the bed with us.... yes i know, back to square one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 He just wants to sleep with his daddy :rolleyes: My lot have their own beds but Oliver always ends up on the bed, so I bought a bigger bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhara Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Ok, where to start!Suspect: Loki Discription: 10 months old, Am Staff, very handsome. Habbits: Well, this is where the story starts! When we first got loki he was crated for a few months or so until he was toilet trained, he quickly out grew his crate. He was then allowed to sleep on the floor of our room on his little bed.... That quickly migrated to our BED when we were sleeping, he would sleep on his bed until we went to sleep, then jump up and cuddle in, he would be pushed down, and rinse repeat. After doing this for some time, i gave up, winter was here and i let him sleep at the foot of my side of the bed (much to my girlfriends disdane) and he has been doing that ever since, but lately he has been sneaking UNDER the covers in the middle of the night, quite often i wake up and hes sleeping ON my feet, under the blanket! I figured he was cold, so i didnt care So... one thing led to another, and we organised big crates. They arrived the other day and we set them up in the hall and since then have been feeding the dogs in them, we also put all their bedding and stuff in them too. Loki is really good with his crate, i figured if we left the door open in the hall he can get used to it being there, and hopefully get used to being crated again when the need arose. For the last week Loki has been sleeping in his crate with the door open in the hall (not at night), if we are busy and doing stuff around the house he will just go and sleep in his crate on his special bed. The problem we have happens at night..... He will goto sleep in his crate at night, all cuddled up and happy.... its around 4-5am that i want to kill him. He wakes up in his crate and sits there and crys, and crys, and crys, and crys, and crys.... Did i say he crys? to get out... this is at 5am, im a grumpy shit around this time and dont have patience for a dog crying. I told him to lay down this morning and tried to get him to go back to sleep, it worked kinda, i just dozed off again when he started crying, AGAIN! I eventually let him out, it was that or kill him. I know this was bad as he got what he wanted... but my sleep is precious, i need it! So here comes the kicker...! How do i get him used to sleeping in his crate all night? And NOT cry to get out? I know i kinda messed up by letting him sleep on the bed, but he is my son and he gets cold! Poor little shit. We eventually settled on crates since our sleep was going down hill from the dogs moving around at night etc and waking us up, but this is even worse! The bad thing is, im a light sleeper, so i cant just hope that i will sleep through it (like my gf). Help! For the sake of my sleep, and Lokis good health! Steve Geez Steve, This will require a little patience! The dog needs to pee, if it's whinging. If it's cold in the crate, put a douna over it, (if he's cold, he'll want to pee sooner, if he's comfortable he'll settle!) . If you are a light sleeper, put the crate in another room, with a douna over it, LET HIM OUT TO PEE BEFORE YOU GO TO BED! In the early hours, LET HIM OUT TO PEE and PUT HIM BACK IN THE CRATE, tell him to "GO TO SLEEP" in a sturn, but friendly voice, then go back to bed yourself. Eventually, he will get the message, don't have a conversation with him, let him out, tell him to "Hurry up", when you know he's had a leak, tell him to "Go to Sleep" when you put him back in the crate. You are supposed to be the pack leader, if you allow him to sleep in/on your bed, you become his equal, NOT ON BUDDY! Stick to the plan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhara Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 We have a huskie too, the huskie sleeps in a corner on the floor tho, the dogs never sleep together because the huskie gets too warm and eventually moves.We left them together in the crate last night for a bit, but Odin the huskie got too hot and was very restless and eventually wanted out, so he went to his usual spot, rolled on his back and went to sleep, Loki just went back to sleep himself. Ill try the blanket over the crate tonight and see how we go. I think that he is just in the bad habbit of sleeping on our bed, but i dont want to reward him by letting him out of the crate for crying. Steve That's why you don't have a conversation with him, or bitch at him. Out the door to the tiolet and back to crate. GO TO SLEEP! If he's jumping onto beds, PUT A LEAD ON HIM AND WALK HIM TO THE DOOR, out for pee, BACK ON LEAD to the Crate "GO TO SLEEP". remember no conversation! If like and arguing, determined child! It's called TOUGH LOVE! and RESPECT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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