Forgive me, this is long. Ok, I promise this is the last time I bring up this discussion where 5 1/2 month old Corona is concerned. And I know, that as a family we need to make a decision and stick with it so we can all finally get some consistent sleep. We have tried every scenario with her, beginning with the crate by the bed. She has NEVER slept thru the night in it, partly because she outgrew the 36" so quickly ( she is very long and tall and likes to sprawl right out like superman) and mainly because she had so many health issues and required many nighttime toilet breaks for the first 4 months of her life on and off. Anytime she whimpered, I was afraid she needed outside so she pretty much trained ME. We moved her to a pillow by the bed at 4 months which worked except for the constant jumping up on the bed from 4am on. And yes I just gave up and started putting her on the bed. Ackk!! I was desperately sleep deprived!!! She moves constantly and keeps me awake and she's already 22kg. I gave in and let her sleep with my daughter the last few nights who says it's fine but I'm worried about her lack of sleep now also. She says she will get used to it. Corona was up at 6:30am and ran into my room and up on the bed. Needless to say, I was awake after that. I don't know what to do at this point, is it too late? MY ideal situation would be to have her sleep on her pillow by the bed. Let me have it, I know I've created this misery, I deserve it. Any advice is appreciated!
How about having an arrangement in your room where she can see you but not get to you, would that work? ...
The only way I could do that is to recrate train her at night. She is crated during the day on the main floor in a 42" crate when we leave and doesn't seem to mind it at all. I would have to bring the crate upstairs and give it a try before committing to buying another 42" crate. Do you think it's cruel to put her back in a crate after being out of it for a month and half? I cringe at the thought of starting over with the crate at night,(the whining and howling) but if that's what it takes, then so be it.
Stanleys always been in his crate, in the kitchen. You've said she's ok downstairs during the day. Why not try her on a night? It might be more that you're there that's the distraction, she might settle better on her own.
We let Quinn chose between a dog bed on the floor of our room and our bed once we de-crated over night. Some nights, she is really annoying in the bed but most of the time she moves to an open spot at the bottom and we all sleep well. If you can't sleep with her on the bed and want her in your room, I think you have to consistently make her get off your bed when she jumps up and reward her for being on her own bed/pillow in your room. That might be some disturbed nights for awhile, but eventually she will get it. Have you trained "go to your bed/mat" etc?
We have Owen on his own bed next to ours. We are still getting up with him every night, but he goes back to sleep after we get up. There are a few times were he has issues going back to bed and tries to jump on the bed, but I just tell him off and he goes back on his bed. Then I lay my hand over the edge and let him lick it. He tends to fall asleep quickly after that.
You definitely need some unbroken nights - lack of sleep makes me really fed-up! I think my approach would be, as Ashley says above, to consistently put her back on her own bed every time she tries to get on yours in the night - though I must admit I haven't had this problem so not speaking from experience. I use a double quilt folded into thirds on the floor on top of three old pillows for Molly as a bed, as she likes to stretch right out and good dog beds are so expensive (and cheap ones are thin.) If you want her in her crate I certainly don't see that as cruel, and as someone else has said perhaps now she's used to it in the daytime, she'd be better in it downstairs at night. Lastly, although now Molly likes to stay asleep for as long as possible in the mornings, she wasn't like that as a puppy, and for a pup of less than 6 months I wouldn't see 6.30 as especially early to have to get up, provided you've had a good night's rest.
Our 6 month old pup sleeps downstairs in his 36" crate, we have a 42" one for when he has outgrown this one. Before this he had a 24" crate which only lasted until he was about 14 weeks. For the first week after we brought him home he was upstairs with us in his crate but he whined for the first few days, it got less and less then we transitioned him downstairs, also sleeping downstairs for a few nights close by and gradually moving his crate to where it would stay. I spent years without much sleep due to my youngest so still catching up now, having him in with us is not an option I would let her sleep downstairs if she's disturbing you. If she's used to the crate in he day now she should be fine at night and she's still young so will get used to it. Try sleeping downstairs near her for a while if you can My dog is also 22kg Also we are all up by 6:30am latest
Not at all cruel, so long as its a happy place for them and all their needs have been met and they are not left for long hours during the day. How about starting with it by your bed then slowly moving it out and then downstairs? ...
Very encouraging to hear! I could kick myself as I was doing this approach for an entire month before the holidays and she went from jumping up 14 times (yes I was counting) to just whimpering and on the very last Friday before Xmas, she almost stayed on her pillow until my alarm clock at 6:45. She was still waking anywhere between 4 and 5:30 though. I would take her out for a pee hoping to extend her sleep in and bring her back to her pillow by the bed. Needless to say, after going out in the cold, that was the end of my sleep for the night. So, with no alarm necessary over the holidays, and my desperation for some unbroken sleep, I tossed the whole thing out the window and let her on the bed, hoping that she would sleep thru the night. I didn't get any more sleep and have only achieved getting her more and more comfy on the bed. I also assumed that because she is an early riser, that I was going to be facing this scenario for the rest of her life. How old was your pup when she started sleeping in?
Oban had a crate but the door was open and he was gated downstairs in our kitchen. He slept quietly through the night except for the two times a night he'd need out to pee and poop. We could hear him rustling around from our bedroom and would go down to take him out, then back to sleep for all of us. At 5.5 months he'd been sleeping through the night without needing out so I decided to give him free roam of the whole house. He slept all of the first night quietly on the mat on the floor beside me in my bed. After that he slept on the dog bed (he was third dog to use it) on the floor at the foot of our bed. A couple of times a night he would move to bare floor to cool down, then go back to the bed. It was winter with heat turned down and still he got hot. He was very, very, very good. The surprising thing was how he immediately was calmer during the day. No more frantic charging from room to room, as if to see what might have changed overnight while he was sleeping in the kitchen. It was amazing and completely unexpected how free roam at night (but he didn't roam, he slept) made him more relaxed during the day. He still spent time gated in the kitchen when we had to go out shopping or something but this did not seem to affect his overall calmer demeanour.
The reason I cracked and let Quinn sleep in our bed is because she slept so much longer before getting up (in crate she was getting up at 5am). In bed, Quinn was up between 6-7am for her first pee until 8ish months...after that she would be able to hold it until we were up. Now at a year she is last up! I have to wake her up most morning to go out for our 7:15am walk (and she is less than pleased), and on weekends she pretty much sleeps until we get up, sometimes needs a pee around 8-8:30 and will go back to sleep if we do. This also depends on her last pee the night before - if we are up late, she goes out for a late pee and sleeps much longer. We have a nylabone that she has been working on for months that she chews on while waiting for us to get up when she is up early (rare - but used to be more frequent when she was younger) - it is on her bed. That actually bothers me more than her moving around!
Bailey has a pillow bed by the side of our bed and has done since we decrated him. We still block the stairs off at night as I don't want him up and down the stairs (they are steep as we live in a early 1900's town terrace house). He starts off the night on his bed, or a cooler spot either elsewhere in the room or on the landing, then at some point in the night he gets on the bottom of our bed (my side as I am shorter than my OH and apparently am obliging enough to move my feet and legs to let Bailey on the bed!). Around 6.30am Bailey starts to creep up the bed between us until my alarm goes off anywhere between 7am and not being set (depending if its a work day or not). Once the alarm goes off I get a damn good face washing and ear cleaning until I get out of bed...if no alarm then he generally waits until 7.30am before nudging me with feet and nose, until I start to wake up and then its face and ear cleaning time! The annoying thing is once I am up he goes back upstairs and gets into my space and goes back to sleep! However, our bedtime, due to my job is usually around midnight or later! In fact on New Years Eve due to working I did not get to bed until 5.30am on New Years Day and Bailey kindly let me sleep until 8.30am!!! Needless to say not best pleased with that one!
I didn't have either of my two in the bedroom until after they were toilet trained, and even before that they were in a pen and I didn't get up at night. Charlie sleeps on the bed, and Betsy sleeps on her dog bed. Sometimes Betsy gets on the bed, and sometimes Charlie sleeps in his dog bed. But neither of them move once settled. Betsy needs to get up to go and have a wee and poo about 6.45am, but Charlie will sleep until about 8am. If I had a puppy that wasn't properly toilet trained, didn't settle in the bedroom, or was otherwise a pain - they would be back downstairs in a pen until they were old enough to sleep in the bedroom.
Big puppy on the bed. He doesn't move much. Sometimes lies on my feet so they're dead. Sometimes OH's feet. He will stand up, turn around & flop dawn again. It's annoying. He snores. We are victims now.
We have a raised extension on the bed that Chandler sleeps on. It keeps him close to see us and have our smell, but he is definitely too large for the actual bed! We tried the floor but I think he feels better being at the same height as us.
We have been so lucky with Archie. I crated him in our room when he was young. I got up every few hours to let him out, not necessarily because he wanted to, but because I am the world's lightest sleeper and when he stirred I figured I'd best let him out. I totally get where you are coming from with feeling that Corona trained you! After a few weeks of that, I got more used to having him snoring and snorfling in the room and didn't wake up as quickly when he did (Check out the video on my "Archie needs a remedial class in 'Down'" post to hear his snoring in action). Thank goodness I got used to it because I was like a zombie at work! I can only imagine how tired you are feeling after this long. When he was about 12 weeks he started sleeping on his bed in the room uncrated. He still snores and snorfles there to date, but can go right to 9:00 if I am able to actually catch a few Z's. We are very lucky. Once he settles on his bed, that's it. He's out for the night. I would definitely try Corona in the kitchen or another space in which she can be "contained" at least for a few nights. You know that she will be safe until the morning, and you will feel so much better after a good night's rest. Sending lots of REM snoozing vibes your way!! Deb
I think you're right, I'm gonna have to be very consistent. She definitely knows the "pillow" command and abides to it during the day but at night, when she wants up on the bed, it's a different story. Probably because she's learned that if she does it enough times, she gets her way. My fault entirely
So funny, Corona does the same thing in the morning, except she goes to the couch and waits for me to get my coffee. As soon as I sit down, she cuddles right up in a tight ball and goes right to sleep!
Well, what started out as a very encouraging night turned into about 5 hours of broken sleep. Corona went straight to sleep on her bed of pillows, blankets and 2 favorite toys. BUT then started trying to jump up on the bed at 2:20. I guided her back and gave her a treat. Then continued to do so every 20-30 minutes until 5:20. I brought her out for a pee and a poo, and straight back to her pillow. She continued trying every 10-15 minutes until 6:45 when I finally got up. I have to say that I expected this completely and can only hope and pray that tonight isn't as bad.
