We've just started transitioning Tank (approx. 1.5 year old boxer/lab/Dane) to sleeping upstairs, uncrated instead of kenneled in the basement. We allowed him to do so a few months ago and he did okay except for some whining outside our door. We didn't pursue it further because my mother-in-law was staying with us over the holidays and we didn't want to disturb her sleep. We started again last week and Tank's slept on the couch every day this week. I thought it'd be a good time to try again because we were also babysitting a family member's senior lab and thought the company might helped. Well, we didn't have any whining but he barked regularly throughout the night - early in the evening after we just get in bed, and often in the middle of the night (3 a.m. or so). Any advice on what to do? Honestly, I haven't tried much because I'm at a loss! Usually my partner or I will come out of the room and give him a firm "uh uh", which he listens to in the moment, but it doesn't last. One night my partner kenneled Tank after he had about 4 barking fits, and then he cried in his crate for a couple hours (hasn't done this since the first night we took him home!). What's odd is he's not a huge barker during the day - just a couple episodes now and then. The few times he slept outside of his crate previously this was never a problem, but now it's every night! One detail is letting him sleep in our room is not feasible due to space. I would appreciate any ideas you might have!
Could you put Tanks's bed in your room so that he is near you? He'd probably just sleep then, knowing his folks are safe and close by.
Or leave the bedroom door open? You've just changed his sleeping arrangements in a huge way so it's not that unusual for a dog to be unsettled
Thanks to both of you for replying. Those are good suggestions, but unfortunately his bed doesn't fit in our room and, to be honest I'm almost positive he would just jump up on our bed if given any access to our room (he's allowed to cuddle with us, but is too big to sleep with us). I guess my concern is that I expected whining/crying, which we've previously solved by ignoring it, but I worry that the barking is self-rewarding and it'll just get worse.
If having him in the room or the door open isn't an option I would go back to square 1 and manage the transition differently. Choices would be to gradually move crate from the basement to the preferred location over a period of weeks ensuring that he us happy, not whining, crying or barking before you move it again. Other option is to de-crate in the basement and once used to nit having the crate slowly move the bed to the desired location. Again if any whining, crying or barking you've moved too fast so back to where he was happy and sleeping.
You are probably right that it was too abrupt. I will try moving his crate upstairs and go from there. It's challenging because his crate is HUGE (we thought he was going to get much bigger than he did) and our house is small so we avoided it, but I'll find a temporary place! Thanks for the replies.
Make sure he is happy in his crate in the original location (the basement?) for a week or so before attempting to move the crate. Have you thought of getting a slightly smaller crate which would fit better?
We have though, honestly, anything that would fit him would still be difficult to find space for. I've always imagined he would eventually not really need the crate and wanted to prioritize a nice bed over a new crate. Still, I would consider it if I thought he would really like it, rather than just accept it (where I think we are currently). I think of we kept it in a main gathering area, that would be possible.
Is he still a chewer? Is he likely to chew and destroy a bed or anything near by? If not you could look to try him in a bed in the basement and then look to move the bed gradually. If you decide on a bed I would go for something comfy but not too expensive to begin with, just to be safe
Well... That's a good question! Ha! He's gone through 3 (4?) beds in the past year, but we haven't tried one in the past few months and he's gotten much better. For example, we trust him by himself with the couch + throw pillows. I think it's time to try another but, as you said, he's probably not ready for something expensive! He may be more tolerant of the basement if he has something super comfortable to sleep on.
Just a quick update - I was waiting until the weekend to do something (in case it made things worse and I didn't sleep at all), but he hasn't barked since Wednesday night! I guess he just needed some more time to get settled (about 2.5 weeks-ish). He DID wake me up this morning with his sleep talking, but that's a different issue. Thanks again for your help!
