Contemplating New Sleeping Arrangements

[Guest jupiterooos]

4:30 AM. Thunderstorm. Dog will not stop barking and whining. Strangle? Help.

[Walliered]

Put a large t-shirt on the dog. May have to cut the neck opening down into the chest for size. Also, Foster and Smith make an "Ultra Calming" tablet. I give my dog (82 lbs.) two of them.

[tamborine]

The Arms Reach co-sleeper is what we have I just call it a crib because not everyone knows what that is.

 

 

pet cosleeper

 

Holds up to 100lbs!

[Guest jupiterooos]

OK, last night sucked. So we are thinking about how to make this work better.

 

Step 1: move crate close to the bedroom doorway, so he can see in. Then scoot it back a little more each night, as per several poster's suggestions. We have to start outside of the bedroom because the clearance on that side of the room is too narrow - we had to take the crate apart to get it out.

 

Step 2: give him a Kong with peanut butter. In the past he was too stressed out by the crate to eat (highly unusual) but that was four years ago and since that time he has come to seek out the crate. Might help.

 

Step 3: Melatonin. Given prophylactically it helps with storm anxiety, and since we've been having them all the time, I really should just be giving it to him nightly for the time being.

 

Step 4 (possible): anti-anxiety medication or some such to help him chill out and deal with the transition better.

 

Thoughts?

[Guest jupiterooos]

We tried the melatonin/Kong/crate in view of doorway combo last night, and it was somewhat better. He still barked a bit this morning, but that was likely due to the fact that there was yet another freaking thunderstorm. The nutty thing is, if he wasn't in his crate during a storm, he'd be fussing and whining to get in it!

[jenn8]

Maybe if you let him sleep on a dog bed in your room and arrange some shoe boxes or tinfoil or something around yourself (to break his habit of jumping up), then leave his crate open in the living room, he will get used to running in there for safety during a storm.

 

I have no idea how I came up with all that.

 

Jenn

[Xan]

Have you tried D.A.P.? I'd use a collar, so it's right with him all the time. During a thunderstorm, maybe spritz some of the spray (it comes in three forms: plug-in diffuser, pump spray and collar) in his crate, and tuck him in (with or without a Kong).

 

Probably the easiest thing to do, and get settled before the baby is stealing all your sleep and you're insane is to get him used to sleeping every single night in the crate, and getting up at the same time every morning (make sure it's a time you can stick to). Once it's a settled routine, I bet he'll be fine, though there might be some acting out along the way. Don't give in, or you'll have lost a lot of training ground.

 

Good luck!!!

[cleptogrey]

my dogs who were thunder storm phobic were always comforted by being near something grounded.....bathroom pipes, bathtub,the toilet, pumbing in general. i used to find my scottie is the wierdest places, like under the sink! a friend used to find her borzoi in the tub.

 

do to the the changes in everyone's life he is probably more sensitive and reacting to not only the storm but all of the changes. it's a difficult period to introduce change, you are just going to have to carefully feel this one out so your new needs will be met.have you spoken to your vet about meds?

 

remember your dog came before the baby and the last thing you want is a jealous or anxious pup around a baby.

[Guest jupiterooos]

Maybe if you let him sleep on a dog bed in your room and arrange some shoe boxes or tinfoil or something around yourself (to break his habit of jumping up), then leave his crate open in the living room, he will get used to running in there for safety during a storm.

 

I have no idea how I came up with all that.

 

Jenn

 

Sadly, he has to remain confined somewhere at night, not just because of the mischief, but he always tries to steal whatever bed Angler is on. This results in a whole lot of noise. Plus, when not actively confined, he doesn't really sleep.

 

 

Have you tried D.A.P.? I'd use a collar, so it's right with him all the time. During a thunderstorm, maybe spritz some of the spray (it comes in three forms: plug-in diffuser, pump spray and collar) in his crate, and tuck him in (with or without a Kong).

 

I always forget about D.A.P.! There are about a million hits on Google, is there a brand that's particularly good? Worth a try.

 

have you spoken to your vet about meds?

 

Not yet. We're going to try out the new arrangement for a bit and see how that goes before resorting to drugging him.

 

Last night he finished the Kong and began barking After being hushed he did stay asleep until daybreak, though. Then, more barking. Aggravating.

[Xan]

I have used with good results this brand with my tightly wound (and formerly fear aggressive) Pogo. Entirely Pets usually has good prices, but search on Amazon too. They often have even lower prices sold through Amazon.

 

About the barking and so forth, I know it's hard, but if you can just put your pillow over your head and let him bark until he realizes it doesn't get him anything, even a spray bottle attack and a bunch of yelling or shoes thrown at him it will eventually wind down and out. There might be an "extinction burst", where it gets worse for a time or two, then blink! Gone. You just have to hold out longer than he does, or you're back to square one. (We have to do this with Brilly sometimes when he suddenly decides for awhile that his dog bed is trying to get him, and won't settle down. It always works better than trying to sort him out, fluff his bed, move him from room to room, take him out to potty ... a whole dance that's All About Brilly! He can do that all night long! )

 

Good luck! Be the strong one!

[Guest jupiterooos]

About the barking and so forth, I know it's hard, but if you can just put your pillow over your head and let him bark until he realizes it doesn't get him anything, even a spray bottle attack and a bunch of yelling or shoes thrown at him it will eventually wind down and out. There might be an "extinction burst", where it gets worse for a time or two, then blink! Gone. You just have to hold out longer than he does, or you're back to square one. (We have to do this with Brilly sometimes when he suddenly decides for awhile that his dog bed is trying to get him, and won't settle down. It always works better than trying to sort him out, fluff his bed, move him from room to room, take him out to potty ... a whole dance that's All About Brilly! He can do that all night long! )

 

We tried this starting a couple of nights ago, and it actually seems to have helped! He barks for a far shorter period than when we hushed him. Amazing! AND no crack-of-dawn barks, either.

[BootsyCollins]

I agree wholeheartedly with Xan's advice. I've seen a few dogs come fresh off the track who are serious barkers, and the only thing that has stopped it, time and again, is completely ignoring it. Sometimes it takes days or even weeks, but eventually they learn that barking = nothing and being quiet = attention.

 

Good luck!

[Guest jupiterooos]

I think we will try the ignoring for other instances of barking. Ironically, one of the reasons we were attracted to greyhounds to begin with is their reputation for being quiet - and here we got the dog that was apparently the biggest mouth at the kennel! Not that he let on while we were considering him for adoption

 

I learned a while back that the only way to deal with his obnoxious barking at mealtimes is to stop what I'm doing and turn my back. It used to be that I'd pick up the bowls and he'd start yelling his head off, not stopping until he got his food, no matter what I said. However, I discovered that when I responded to the barks by dropping the bowl and turning my back for a minute, he quieted down! It took him approximately two days to make the connection. Smart dog, especially when it comes to food.

[Xan]

*nodding enthusiastically* Great! I'm so glad this is working out for you. I was just going to look you up to see if there were any new developments.

 

The "ignore it and it will go away" factor is good to keep in mind. It works both ways! If you ignore a good behavior, that too might go away. So, when he's being good, all settled in his kennel or whatever it is you want him to do, make sure you praise him for it, so he has a repertoire of behaviors to present that you WANT, and he knows what they are. For instance, Pogo now sits a LOT, for anything he wants that we're "slow" about letting him have: access to visitors, some food getting waved around above him, attention, his muzzle off.... If our response is slow, he ups the ante and goes into a full down. We always praise him for his sits or downs, even if we don't give him what he wants, so it's become a really ingrained behavior. It's a big improvement over his former tactic of the total body contact tackle.

Edited June 30, 2010 by Xan

[AliWest]

*nodding enthusiastically* Great! I'm so glad this is working out for you. I was just going to look you up to see if there were any new developments.

 

The "ignore it and it will go away" factor is good to keep in mind. It works both ways! If you ignore a good behavior, that too might go away. So, when he's being good, all settled in his kennel or whatever it is you want him to do, make sure you praise him for it, so he has a repertoire of behaviors to present that you WANT, and he knows what they are. For instance, Pogo now sits a LOT, for anything he wants that we're "slow" about letting him have: access to visitors, some food getting waved around above him, attention, his muzzle off.... If our response is slow, he ups the ante and goes into a full down. We always praise him for his sits or downs, even if we don't give him what he wants, so it's become a really ingrained behavior. It's a big improvement over his former tactic of the total body contact tackle.

Mensa does that too! He is a fiend when it comes to popcorn. He has learned that if he sits, quietly, he will get some. Other times he will go into a full down with a quiet woof.

[Guest SusanP]

I love the co-sleeper idea for the baby. I gave up on putting our kids in a nursery in a crib early on. DS was nursing every 1.5 hours day and nite, and I was turning into a zombie. So we co-slept the old fashioned way, and it saved my sanity. The extra security of the co-sleeper sounds perfect. That way you won't have to disrupt the dog's life. Check out the Baby Delight Snuggle Nest (Target, Amazon.com, etc).

 

Has he always had T-storm issues or only since you started changing his sleep space around? We never get to sleep during storms with our poor old girl, Zippy, even with meds.

Edited July 1, 2010 by SusanP

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I would never let a baby CIO. Mine slept in my bed and breastfed... I had no trouble moving him to a small bassinet and later, his own room.

[Guest jupiterooos]

Has he always had T-storm issues or only since you started changing his sleep space around? We never get to sleep during storms with our poor old girl, Zippy, even with meds.

 

Always. He's been terrified of any loud noise since he arrived, though he did eventually get used to the sound of the El.

[Guest jupiterooos]

So, after three days of ignoring fussing, he's quieted down! Yesterday and today he slept quietly without even a peeplet until 10 AM!

[Xan]

Textbook! That's excellent news. Congrats on waiting him out and winning the prize! :

[Guest jupiterooos]

ARGH! So after a number of peaceful nights, he started acting up again. The barking and whining was continuous - I ignored it at first, but eventually had to spray him and tell him to be quiet, as we live in a condo building and just can't let him wake up the neighbors. It went on for half an hour before he FINALLY shut up for a solid minute and I praised him for being quiet, then DH took him out. I really can't let him just cry and cry, it's not fair to the neighbors. But he was doing so well?!

[Hubcitypam]

I'm sorry that you are backsliding. I saw a post about using the closet and some of the more shy and needy hounds I've known have very content in my bedroom closet as opposed to a crate. It there a way to gate him in there or do you have too much stuff he might mess that you have to puy on the floor in there? I moved my clothes to one side of the closet (or 1 1/2) and put the dog bed on the other side. Only downside was dog hair on the bottom of my longer clothes that were seldom used.

 

Good luck.

[Guest jupiterooos]

He was whiny until about five AM, we finally got back to sleep, the barking etc restarted at 6:45. We got about four hours of sleep and are really not happy right now.

 

I'm sorry that you are backsliding. I saw a post about using the closet and some of the more shy and needy hounds I've known have very content in my bedroom closet as opposed to a crate. It there a way to gate him in there or do you have too much stuff he might mess that you have to puy on the floor in there? I moved my clothes to one side of the closet (or 1 1/2) and put the dog bed on the other side. Only downside was dog hair on the bottom of my longer clothes that were seldom used.

 

Good luck.

 

Sadly, our bedroom closet is too small. We have just two in total, and every inch is in use.

[Xan]

What changed? Something. Maybe something subtle, that wouldn't really stand out to you, but is making a difference to him? Maybe he ate something and wasn't feeling well?

 

You're going to have a bit of an uphill battle now, sadly, since the strongest reinforcement is the intermittent reward, which he's just earned. It's a real dilemma, living in a condo like you do. I wish I could suggest some kind of sound-proofing! Maybe a few sleeping bags thrown over the crate??

[TheFullHouse]

Why not muzzle him and let him sleep in the living room on a dog bed. Put a baby gate across your door, leave the door open so he can see you and see how that goes.