Bedtime has become a nightmare

Hi all,

I am hoping you can all give me some advice. Just over a week ago Roxy was sick on her bed. As I had already ordered her a new bed, I just threw it away and put down a pillow for her thinking this would suffice until the new bed arrives. It was a little on the small side but just big enough for her. That night she started barking and making noises constantly, I went down and told her no, and gave the command "Roxy Quiet, night night time". This then carried on until 3 in the morning when I gave in and let her sleep in our room. This has since occurred everynight now for 5 nights eventually giving in through lack of sleep.

Her comfy new bed has arrived but she is still barking like mad. Last night I didn't give in and just ignored her until about 3am when it became to much. I was so angry and tired but managed to contain myself and gave her a stern "quiet".

Am I doing the right thing just ignoring her, or is there somthing else I can do to help this along.

Thanks for your advice and help.

Good of you for containing yourself--she doesn't know that she's making you angry.

Have you tried putting a dirty t-shirt of yours in the bed with her to make her feel like you're there?

What is her age? Have you tried crate training her? I do this for all my pups before they go to their new homes. It makes everything from travel, sleeping and going on holidays soooo much easier. How long have you had her?

Especially for a pup-- I would suggest a 'cleanable' dog bed

We have had similar problems with Chester, although he scratches & whines rather than barks.

I used to go down & tell him to be quiet, but it just made him even worse. Once I had realised he didnt need the toilet & there was nothing wrong with him, I started to ignore him. The first few nights he whined for ages but it gradually got less & less. The last few nights we havent heard a peep out of him so hopefully he is over it.

I find if I let him upstairs whilst we are up there during the day, he tends to get a head on him & want to be up there when it is bedtime so we have now got a baby gate to stop him coming upstairs.

I'd say ignore this behaviour as much as you can, but I completely understand how difficult it would be if they are barking. Chester isnt blessed with the sharpest of brains, as if he barked we would be straight downstairs giving him the attention he wants!

Once I had realised he didnt need the toilet & there was nothing wrong with him, I started to ignore him

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Exactly! When Jake would carry one I would take him out for potty. If he didn't potty and I realized he just wanted out.....I would ignore him. It usually would take several nights for him to get the message that he wasn't coming out, but eventually he caught on.

Could you maybe give her a couple of REALLY active days in a row, make her play hard and don't let her nap, so that she would sleep through the night?

I take it that her bed is in a different part of the house? If so, I think she's lonely at night. Is there a reason you don't want her in your bedroom at night? If there is then don't read what I'm about to write and follow the advice others have given you!

When my Golden Retriever was a pup we had him crated in the dining room, and not only would he cry at night he began acting out in negative ways during the daytime. Our trainer suggested he was lonely and needed to be in the room with us at night. Once we brought him in with us his behavior changed for the better all the way around. He rarely sleeps on the bed (except in winter when he's chilly ).

The three dogs I've brought home since then have automatically slept in the room with us at night. I think they need the company at night; I'd feel lonely and sad, too, if I was all alone at night. Of course, this is just my own opinion, and I love having 3/4 little warm bodies in bed with me, but if you feel differently that's fine!

Another option is crate training your dog, and then just crating the dog in the room with you as being in the same room does make a lot of dogs happier. Mine are all crate trained and will sleep in a crate in another room when they are being home boarded and are quite happy with that. I could crate them in my room, too, but generally they all sleep on the bed. The advantage for me though is that because they are crate trained, I have some choices. I know Bruce on the board rotates his dogs so that some sleep for a while in the room and some are crated elsewhere in the house.

Ignoring the unwanted behaviour is really important -- because otherwise the dog is training you to respond when it offers the unwanted behaviours! And you reward that behaviour by giving the dog what he wants. It is frustrating to get through the ignore period but it does improve.

Hi all,

Thanks for all the good advice, Roxy is just over 1 and was crate trained as a pup in our kitchen which is where her bed is now and has always been.

Last night I took her for a walk \ run for just over an hour. I placed my T-shirt in with her that I had worn at football. She slept like a log and I didn't hear a peep out of her until 7.30 this morning when she wanted to be let out.

Thanks again for all of your advice.

Hooray!!! Glad you got a good night's sleep!