Phoebe difficult at nght...again!

At night the dogs sleep outside my bedroom where there is a baby gate at my door. Every so often Phoebe starts scraping the gate to get in but she usually gives in and goes back to sleep.
However the last few nights she has been very determined. She banged the gate so much :bang::bang: that she drew blood on her paw and I had to give in eventually. Can't afford to have the dogs in my bedroom as I have a slight allergy...otherwise I wouldn't care. Feel like a bad mother/dog owner!!! HELP!!

Can you put them somewhere away from your door?

Moved Phoebe up there as she used to get stressed int he kitchen.

Just wondering - if she has accepted her sleeping place for a long period of time, could something have happened recently that upsets her? Were there fireworks, a storm, could she have had to go potty? My dogs wake me up at night if they have to go out - doesn't happen very often, but they are persistent if it's bothering them.

It's something to think about alright. I think however she just wants to be in bed with me.

It could maybe just have been something that spooked her, as has been mentioned. My two sleep in their own separate crates at night, which are the in the spare room next door to ours. A few times either Holly or Murphy has been spooked by something and we've had to go in, a firm no, and then put a blanket over the top of the crate. If they persist, then if we realise that it is because they need out, then myself or OH will take them out to check. This did backfire a few times and meant that Holly realised she had trained us into taking her out if she scratched at her crate enough.

Its a difficult one to judge. You'll generally know your own dog, but with my two, i do think its often that they want in next to me. Sometimes i guess it is just like a baby, once you've figured out there doesnt really seem to be anything wrong, it is a case of ignoring the crying and they will eventually fall asleep though.

(I need to stick cotton wool in my ears though as i cant bear to hear even a tiny cry from either of mine. They so much as move and im awake )

Yes I put up with a lot last night as I was determined. So she had settled and then I had to get up and get a pain killer for myself and this set her off again. I'm just worried now that the damage has been done. I'm conscious of her barking as well because of next door!

Hi Bríd,
can you crate her outside the baby gate and cove all sides and top of the crate so that she can only see into your room? it might help.
I had to crate train Cara and Minnie because of my bad back and initially, Cara didn't like the crate and banged down the gate. Then I covered the top and side; now she is quite happy to go into it.
If you want to borrow a crate to try it out, I can lend you one of mine. My two are quite happy to bunk in together.

Thanks Claire. I have crates but she will bark a lot in it. I'm thinking of trying her in the kitchen tonight where she stays when I'm out!

When we got Dora first she was barking a lot at night, kept us awake and i was also worried about the neighbours! She hadn't been crated before but we decided to get her one to try it out and she absolutely loves it now. She really likes a safe place to go... I know Phoebe would be different as it's not nerves that is her problem, but definitely worth a try. It doesn't work so well if it's not covered. My two now sleep in the kitchen, each in their own crate and it's completely covered with a blanket until morning. They don't complain, and seem to like going into it at night

Just a thought - now that it's winter, maybe she needs an extra blanket? I had to cover Geordie and India last night with their little fleece blankets. I find they sleep very well with the extra warmth.

Hi Brid, hope you get this sorted soon (for your allergies sake) - after meeting your two girls today I know it must be so hard trying to resist those cutie faces in the middle of the night! They are both adorable!!!

Thanks everyone. Last night I did lots of training work with Phoebe to tire her out. So I grabbrd my keys and bag and pretended I was going out( in my pjs!!), opened the front door, shut it and snook up stairs for the night.
There wasn't a squeak out of them for the night....couldn't believe it!!!:rah::rah:

:rotfl:cl*pclever thinking!! Bet you wont get away with that again :badgrin: