Bedtime?

Do you have a bedtime for your cav's?

Smurf went to bed fine his first night, last night he needed a little coaxing until he got sleepy, he seemed to be exhausted both nights. Tonight he had a nap on the couch, took him to bed and he was full of beans, he's in his crate now and yelping and barking. Should i just leave him? Put a kong in? Let him out until he gets tired?

Put him in with a kong full of a few goodies at bedtime if you'd like. You can freeze it (easier to do if you have a couple of them) and that keeps them busy a lot longer! If you have crated him then ignore his cries -- if you let him out then you are rewarding the unwanted behaviour and making him likely to repeat it every single night -- in other words he is now training you to let him out when he cries, not the result you want. You can put a sheet or towel over the crate so he cannot see out; this often helps. Also turning out the light; leaving a radio on low.

PS You also should give him a little walk or exercise before bedtime --he needs to do his wee and poop before being put in his crate of course -- assume you are doing that last thing before being crated! -- and some exercise helps to get him ready for a sleep.

Karlin said:

PS You also should give him a little walk or exercise before bedtime --he needs to do his wee and poop before being put in his crate of course -- assume you are doing that last thing before being crated! -- and some exercise helps to get him ready for a sleep.

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I let him out before i saw your reply, he plodded around the room for a bit and went back into his crate, going to close the door in a minute. He went out before, but then we played for a bit, which was prob a mistake. We'll get a proper routine going from tomorrow.

Do they always kick up a stink if they're not ready to go in?

Our dogs go to bed at the same time as we do and that time can very considerably. However we do have a little routine. I tell them it is beddy by time & take them out for a last minute wee. When they were little I used to give them a bickie each but I don't do that any more. They seem to know that it is sleep time and are no problem. When they are young, sometimes you do have to be strong & ignore some initial protests about being in the crate, but that should pass pretty soon, provided you don't give in.

it's easier with a younger dog if you can get them into a routine - so feed at the same time each day, then they will eliminate at approx the same time.

He should develop a sleep/play routine, and you can schedule this around your bedtime.

When one of us gets in bed, it's bedtime for the dogs. Doesn't matter what time it is, or when they last 'went to bed'. They sleep 'on demand'.

When i go to bed, doesnt matter who else is still up it is bed time for the guys as well.They get let out for a couple of minutes, let in and i say bed they now go to there beds i turn the lights off and thats it. I dont hear a word till next morning.

Do you stop locking the crate when they get older/housetrained?

9:00 sharp. And they will go into their crates if we're still up at 9:30 I continue to latch their crates shut at night. I doubt they'd come out but this is what they're used to.

She goes to sleep when we the last one of us goes to sleep, anywhere between 10 PM and 1 AM, with a trip out to the garden right before bedtime. Sometimes she needs a little coaxing (in the form of a hand in her basket) to go to sleep, but we never take her upstairs unless she's already snoozing in her downstairs basket or, more likely, someone's lap.

We never used a crate (it's illegal in Sweden and it goes against the grain for both me and my husband) and so never had the yelping and barking. We put newspaper around her basket so we'd hear when she got out of the basket at night and we then took her out to the garden to do her business. After less than a week she stopped peeing inside at night--she apparently understands the whole bedroom as the pack's den--and she never pooped inside at night. She also never wanders around the room at night. We do block off the electrical cables and the top of the stairs (our bedroom is a loft with a ladder). Of course this meant that we didn't sleep through the night for quite a while (and still, at 5 months, seldom sleep more than 6 hours straight, but that'll pass). She goes right back to sleep after we come back upstairs after toileting.

We have a bedtime routine also...they go to bed when we do...they go out to pee right before bed....they get on our bed and we massage, snuggle, kiss & talk to them for 10-15 minutes then they go into their kennel at the foot of our bed and we shut the kennel door. (they have a water dish attached inside the kennel) They go off to sleep on their soft thick mattress without a fuss what so ever. I can sleep better knowing that they are safe...they are not wandering around the house.....and most of all, I know where they are should something happen and we have to get them out of the house quickly. (I am paranoid about a fire)

We also have a routine. Our dogs go outside one last time around 9:00 pm. When they come in, they literly stand by their crate and dance around because they know its treat and bed time. Everyone gets a treat and they are put in their crate. The only exception are the 4 (3 in the bed, 1 on her bed on the bedroom floor) that sleep with us. They also get a treat, then usually sleep on the couch until we go to bed. About every 6 months or so a different 3 dogs sleep in the bed with us. What's always kind of surprised me is that the 3 who go back to sleeping in their crate never have a bit of issue.

In the morning, everyone gets up at 7:00 and Kris lets them out; I have already left for work much earlier. The reason we use 7:00 is that's the City's noise ordinance. We don't want the dogs out barking before then. Right after they come in, they are fed in their crates. Again, they are all by thier own crate, dancing around and wanting to get in so they can eat.

This routine works very well for the dogs and us. They get really upset if we change their routine.

Bruce H said:

When they come in, they literly stand by their crate and dance around because they know its treat and bed time.

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Exact same thing happens in my house. Bella reckons that any time I shut the blinds on the patio doors its time for a treat and bed and she will jump into her x-pen looking at me expectantly

I always take my guys to bed when I go no matter who else is still up. I call bedtime and rattle the treat bag. The first night or two with my newest was quite rough (I have a snorer in the house). She would keep waking up and crying. I finally moved her to the far side of the room and put a light blanket over her crate with a radio playing softly. She settled down and went right to sleep!

Baldrick tends to cuddle us on the sofa in front of the telly late evening. When we get ready for bed its a last visit to the garden, then into bed with us.

We put Candi to bed when we go to bed usually around 11 or 12.

Sometimes there is a little fuss made from her, by digging and yelping. Nothing too bad though. We tend to just ignore her and after about 5 minutes or so it all goes silent.

In the evening after our dinner, myself or Ails usually trains her some commands for about 10 minutes (before she gets bored), we come in and watch telly, this is when she usually gathers all her toys up in one place and plays by herself.

Normally about 9ish we take her out for a walk, when she comes in we give her wee paws a wee clean. she comes into the living room and normally has a little nap in our laps.

When its time to go to the bed, she goes out to the back garden and she does the toilet no problem. When she goes to her crate (with some toys) she normally goes right down to sleep, as i said before sometimes she digs and/or yelps, which we ignore.

She normally doesn't wake until we do at about 7.30am, when she goes to the toilet and plays a little, gets fed and normally she goes back to her crate for about another hour or 2, which lets us get the house work done and the business started for the day.

We have found though (maybe it was just us), if we let her sleep too long on our laps in the evening we noticed that she doesn't sleep too well at night, even when she goes to sleep no problem she will be up tossing and turning all night.

sallymum said:

When i go to bed, doesn't matter who else is still up it is bed time for the guys as well.They get let out for a couple of minutes, let in and i say bed they now go to there beds i turn the lights off and thats it. I don't hear a word till next morning.

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Just the same as me. He usually crashes out at 10 or 11pm and I let him out for his last toilet when I go to bed then just say "get to bed".

Mine usually falls asleep around 9pm so I go out with him once more around that time, put him into his crate and there he sleeps to 7-8am.

sallymum said:

When i go to bed, doesnt matter who else is still up it is bed time for the guys as well.They get let out for a couple of minutes, let in and i say bed they now go to there beds i turn the lights off and thats it. I dont hear a word till next morning.

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Same here they go into their basket together and I fasten the pen round them.I don't use the pen when I go out in the day time but at night when pippin sees the pen closing he knows it bedtime and he's there until morning. I did have a little trouble with him about a year ago waking up in the night but I persevered and he settled down after a week or so.I tried not putting the pen up but while Gus is fine,Pippin won't stay in bed!I feed them between 10 and 11pm and then they cuddle on my lap or the sofa until I go up somewhere between 12 and 1:30. It's toilet and then bed and then they sleep until I get up at 7.