GudrunTheRed
Well-known member
It seems that folks are always asking how to get their furbaby out of their bed so I thought I'd share my current experiences with retraining Chester to sleep in his crate.
Basically, Chester will sleep through the night but for a few weeks now he'll wake up at 4 or 5am, stand on my chest for kisses, jump out of the bed, push the curtains aside to look out and wander around for a few minutes before getting back into the bed. Needless to say this was annoying the crap out of me and waking me up! So, I decided to put Mr. Wander-pants back in his crate. I love sleeping with Chester but my sleep is more important!
For the last 4 nights he's been sleeping in his crate from 9:30 or 10pm until around 6:15 or 6:30 when I get up to feed him and he's been doing fine. He will wake up and whine a little bit at least once early in the morning (4 or 5 am), but I ignore him and he stops after about a minute. I really should record him...he sounds so pathetic and sad and I know he's trying his hardest to manipulate Mommy. He's such a ham!
Honestly, the whole process has been painless. Aside from the brief bits of very fake, pathetic, overly-dramatic, drama-king whining he's been perfect and I suspect the whining will stop in a couple of days. To make the crate even more posh I made some padded/quilted bumpers for the inside of this crate that go up 12" on the sides so his head wouldn't touch the metal bars when he's sleeping on his side and he seems to like them. I also keep a towel draped over the whole thing so it's more like a little doggy cave and it looks super cozy to me. If I was small enough I would sleep in it!
Anyway...I just wanted to share my experience of kicking the Chester man out of my bed. Sometimes I miss cuddling with him in the middle of the night, but my human man is happier that I cuddle more with him now! :wink: I have to say it's been quite easy de-Chesterfying the bed and I sleep easy knowing that I won't have a dog walking on my chest at 4 or 5 a.m!
P.S. He sleeps in a Midwest crate that's 24"long x 18" wide x 21"high.
Basically, Chester will sleep through the night but for a few weeks now he'll wake up at 4 or 5am, stand on my chest for kisses, jump out of the bed, push the curtains aside to look out and wander around for a few minutes before getting back into the bed. Needless to say this was annoying the crap out of me and waking me up! So, I decided to put Mr. Wander-pants back in his crate. I love sleeping with Chester but my sleep is more important!
For the last 4 nights he's been sleeping in his crate from 9:30 or 10pm until around 6:15 or 6:30 when I get up to feed him and he's been doing fine. He will wake up and whine a little bit at least once early in the morning (4 or 5 am), but I ignore him and he stops after about a minute. I really should record him...he sounds so pathetic and sad and I know he's trying his hardest to manipulate Mommy. He's such a ham!
Honestly, the whole process has been painless. Aside from the brief bits of very fake, pathetic, overly-dramatic, drama-king whining he's been perfect and I suspect the whining will stop in a couple of days. To make the crate even more posh I made some padded/quilted bumpers for the inside of this crate that go up 12" on the sides so his head wouldn't touch the metal bars when he's sleeping on his side and he seems to like them. I also keep a towel draped over the whole thing so it's more like a little doggy cave and it looks super cozy to me. If I was small enough I would sleep in it!
Anyway...I just wanted to share my experience of kicking the Chester man out of my bed. Sometimes I miss cuddling with him in the middle of the night, but my human man is happier that I cuddle more with him now! :wink: I have to say it's been quite easy de-Chesterfying the bed and I sleep easy knowing that I won't have a dog walking on my chest at 4 or 5 a.m!
P.S. He sleeps in a Midwest crate that's 24"long x 18" wide x 21"high.
That's great that he adjusted so easily! 