Hello I have a now six month old Labrador who is just gorgeous however since she was about 12-14 weeks old we've been letting her sleep in our bedroom. The crate was too big for our room and was downstairs and got abandonded when she became ill with diarrhoea. We just needed sleep! Now she's pretty good and generally is on the floor but at some point climbs on the bed and then occasionally near wake up time crawls up on to our heads! The thing is we shut her in our room for fear of what she might find and chew during the night so it curbs all the romance out of the room... as soon as we even think about it it ends in disaster! What could we do any stratergies to help? We can't shut her out as I have kids and she'd just bark
Hi @Cadey's Mum I would retrain the crate. Make it the best place in the world. Place a really comfortable crate bed in it. Don't force her in it but encourage her to go in it during the day. Use food treats.At first leave the gate open. When she is really comfortable in being in the crate established say over several days of training when the gate is locked, then finally put her to bed and lock the crate at night. If she starts barking, do not let her out or even react to her noise. Good luck to the return of amour.
Haha, just give her a really interesting frozen kong or nylabone to keep her occupied,worked for us!!
Slowly get her back into a crate. Day time first, give all her mealtime kibble as treats through out the day in the crate. After day time success, begin night sleeps in the crate, maybe keep the crate in your bedroom first, then gradually move it into another room.
Sorry don't know why my title says 14 weeks??? very odd She's six months now. We're hoping with warmer weather she won't want to be on the bed. During the day her crate is just a glorified feeding place! It's too big to put her in our room in it - we'd have to buy another one.
Hi@Cadey's Mum, that's okay. The crates do take up a lot of room, and a 6 month old dog need a decent size crate. Instead of the crate being just a feeding zone, you have to retrain her to rest and relax in the crate. Cue her to go in the crate for a nap.
okay I'm home most of the day so I used to walk her to her crate when she was tired and she'd go in quite happily. Should I try and do that again? She doesn't go in there at all for sleeps anymore.
Yes, I'd try teaching her again that the crate is a safe and comfortable place to sleep. Not just a lodge for food. At the beginning the door is ajar, then shut but not locked, then shut and locked. The idea is to keep her calm. The crate is not a bad place. After going through the re-training you can put her into the crate at night, turn off the light and dream of sheep (or whatever).
great thanks understand the whole crate training principle think I just got into a habit of her being the boss! I'll probably have to get a smaller crate for the bedroom (just a bit) I couldn't put her in there during the night as its's in the kitchen downstairs too far from us and she'd be too upset I think. Thanks sometime you know it but just need to hear it from someone else!
That's okay. We learn and reflect from discourse such as on this site. You might consider a baby monitor instead of getting her another crate. In time, as she matures and with training, she can sleep in the crate with the door open in the kitchen and she could come to your room if she needs to go out. My black Lab who had been crate trained, now sleeps on her bed in the lounge room. If she needs to go out at night, (she is a sound sleeper, so fortunately an infrequent event) she wakes me at the top of the stairs). The decision is, of course, is up to you. It's just that if you ever want to sleep without a dog being in your bedroom, then it's easier to do it now while she's still young. But I suspect that is also something you already know
Personally, I'd rather have my dogs not in the bedroom - our bedroom is a dog-free zone. Dogs burp and fart and scratch themselves and move around and wake me up - even if they are in a crate. I would start with your crate downstairs and during the day, be working on crate training her. Make the crate a comfy bed, give her a Kong in there, and put her in there every time you are cooking or doing housework for increasingly longer amounts of time. When she is totally happy in the crate during the day for a few hours (might take a couple weeks), then just put her in there at night. Try to ensure she is tired beforehand and ready to sleep.
So even if he/she cries whilst in the crate (and you’re cooking for example) keep them in the crate? I take it in that scenario you would only let them out during a break in the crying?
If the dog was empty and had just peed or pooped and/or I was pretty sure the noise was not about toileting. AND I'm in the same room doing the cooking (or whatever), then I would totally just ignore the noise until it stops. Be warned that it can get very "protesting" and loud(!) - and usually is at its worst before it suddenly stops and is better. And yes, then I would take them outside immediately to see if they needed to pee or poop and then let them play whilst I supervise.... But these repeated 'putting you in the crate' times are very important as practice sessions. And it is far easier to have noise happening during the day than at night when everyone is trying to sleep. So - get the crate training done in the day...
