Sleep Trouble

[Guest LakeJenny060609]

Since we have got our little girl she has been very troublesome at night. I know i am forming bad habits and I really need to stop them before they get worse. Every night we put her in her crate with a Kong and Peanut Butter to try to settle her down and she goes to sleep. Sounds great so far but hear comes the kicker about an hour or two she is up whining and barking and will not stop. I have been bringing her out thinking she just has to go to the bathroom, she does go then back inside and repeat a few hours later.

I read old post that spoke of UTI's and such but she goes freely without any trouble or whining involved, and she never has accidents inside(as of yet)

I dont know if this is an attention thing or what. So to make a long story short I have been sleeping on the couch with her at night to ensure that we all get the best possible sleep. We can start being a little more leniant with her seeing as she has no interest in our cats and is actually more frightened of them, than them of her.

Any tips would be great!

Thanks

[Batmom]

May I say, "This too shall pass"?

 

Decide how you want the nights to go, and then be gentle but firm.

 

I might not use the Kong at night as that is when you want her to sleep, and it could contribute to her wanting/needing to potty.

 

Usually what I do is give the new dog a dog bed in my bedroom and ignore any fussing (or noncommittally guide dog back to her bed). Exception would be if I think the dog really does have to go outside, and it can be hard to tell that in the early days (I would rather get up extra-early for a time than have potty accidents indoors). You can hedge your bets on that score with some good exercise in the evening -- a nice long walk or some times with toys in fenced yard -- and taking the dog out one last time right before bed.

 

Most dogs will settle into a routine in a few weeks. You can lose a bit of sleep in the meantime -- I will admit I thought I would die of fatigue the first few weeks my Joseph was home, but even he eventually cottoned on to the program.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Batmom

[45MPHK9]

Do you need to crate her at night? What would happen if you just put her dog bed in your room and let her sleep in the bedroom with you?

 

I have a dog who hated his crate. He had three of his four canine teeth removed in his last dental. They were broken and cracked to the roots from prior years of crate chewing. Some greyhounds hate being crated.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm with Batmom.

 

You don't want to be giving her food at the designated sleep time--Kongs are great for when you leave for work--keeps their mind off of your departure.

 

Can you close your bedroom door (cats on the outside) and let her sleep with the crate door open?

 

I'm guessing she would not whine if she wasn't in the crate. You do want to keep track of her, so closing her IN the bedroom with you might be one answer.

 

George woke me up at EXACTLY 4 AM for the first month. Eventually I realized he was just eager to get up, and I stopped taking him out, and gave him a firm "go lie down!" when he started up. Took two or three days, but he finally gave up on the 4 AM mornings!

[Guest LakeJenny060609]

Thanks a lot for everyones input we were thnking of getting her another bed and kind of giving her a square of the bedroom so she could access her crate and another bed while still having close quarters with us.

[Fruitycake]

Don't let her fuss for a while and then get up and interact with her, either. That will just delay her satisfaction and make her more determined and make her fussing last longer until she eventually stops (because last time it took 20 minutes of fussing to get her up, maybe this time it'll be 30 minutes...or 40..). If you're going to get up, do it immediately at first fuss or don't do it at all.

 

I agree at the really good exercise and making certain she's pottied before bedtime so you know that isn't what's causing the fussing.

 

 

 

We went through this kind of fun too. Monty wasn't too bad at first, really, but then later he did have giardia and would fuss and we had to take him out every hour or so so we had to start completely over again training him to sleep through the night after he got well. It was weeks before we could be certain of a full night's sleep after that!

 

 

[OwnedBySummer]

Assuming she doesn't need the bathroom and there's nothing else wrong... I wouldn't use the crate. I'm not a fan of crating in the first place. It's certainly worth a try to see if being out of the crate at night will solve the problem.

[arandomchic]

You could try using a baby gate on the bedroom door if that's easier than closing the door (that's what we did) Sometimes they just want to be where everyone is, even if everyone is sleeping and not even doing anything fun.

 

 

I also agree with everyone who says not to give a Kong at bedtime. Save the Kongs for a special treat when she's left alone and needs to keep occupied.

[TheFullHouse]

One thing to remember is that at 2, she's still a puppy. The more exercise she gets the better. Really tire her out before bedtime, either a long walk, some rousing play in the yard if you have a fenced yard. Throw a ball and see if she'll go get it, frisbee's are another favorite toy that some greyhounds will play with, anything to make her really tired will benefit you at bedtime.

[greytpups]

I'd say you have your answer in your post. If sleeping near her quiets her, then she wants to be near you. I also suggest a pillow and a baby gate and lots of exercise. A tired pup is a good pup

[Guest BrianRke]

The only place mine will sleep quietly is in my bed.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I foster, and all new parents that crate in a separate room at night have about the same issue. What I do is to have a nice soft bed on the floor next to my bed. Then I take a baby-gate and put it between the bed and wall making a small area that the hound can sleep in (5'x5' about). When its bed time, I take the hounds out one last time, then say "lets go to bed". Lead the hound to its designated area, gate him/her in, then go to sleep. I ignore all protests and noises during the night. I would try this method, I really doubt your hound needs to go outside in the middle of the night unless you have been feeding in the middle of the night. Good luck.

 

Chad

[Guest LakeJenny060609]

Again thanks a lot everybody. I have a lot of tips to try!

[Guest LakeJenny060609]

SO last night we did the idea of an fenced in area next to the bed and she slept until i made her get up because she kept farting . Took her out to do her business around 5 then she came right back in and let me sleep until 830..

Hope this means we are turning a corner for night time.

[TheFullHouse]

Sounds like all she needed was to be next to you. Very common in greyhounds. Congratulations! It's definitely a step in the right direction.