Sleeping In Our Bed-There's No Room For An 80 Pound Dog Who Sleeps

[Guest LauraB]

Dillard wants to sleep in our bed and it would be ok if he stayed at the foot of the bed. We tried a few times but he sprawls sideways and there is no room for us. He has space aggression and frankly we are afraid to try and move him. He has been ok in his crate downstairs, but this week he started barking and howling and crying. By 1:30 am we gave in the last 2 nights and my dh wound up half on the floor so he spent the rest of the night in the guest room. The crate is too big to get up the stairs and into our bedroom. If we bring his bed into our room, he waits and then leaps into our bed. I would get another smaller crate for the bedroom, so he could see us, but I'm worried that I will be spending money just to have him whining in our room. I know we are the pack, but I can't see a solution. Right now, it's 8:15 I am keeping him awake even though he wants to sleep. Since 4 PM I've kept him awake, walking him and playing with him and I will put him in his crate at 10:00. Hopefully, he will be so tired that he will forget and go to sleep. I'm getting real tired. Any ideas, short of buying a king sized bed, would be appreciated.

 

sorry - it should say "sleeps sideways"

[Guest mld]

Sounds like you have to work on getting him to be able to comfort himself, separation anxiety will only get worse!

[Riverhound]

We tethered Joe to the bed using a harness and short leash when we first got him. He learned that his place to sleep was on the floor (on a dog bed) next to my side of the bed. He adjusted to that very quickly vs crying in the crate downstairs the first couple nights he was home. Made our lives much easier! (Now, I'd like to have him in bed at night, but like your guy, Joe takes up more than his share of the bed!)

[3greytjoys]

I'm not sure what size crate you have (most wire crates fold flat for transport), but I'd recommend asking your group if you can borrow a second crate temporarily to place in the bedroom. Greyhounds want to be with their family when family is home at night. (I'm assuming you're away during the day so that would be alone time for the hound.) After hound feels more comfortable at night, if needed, you could gradually move hound out of bedroom taking baby steps to move crate into hall by bedroom door, then into a preferred room.

 

Most hounds adjust fine being taught to sleep on a dog bed on the floor. If you work, it may simply take a few hours of teaching him not to get on the bed one weekend morning.

 

BTW, howling and barking could be a call for attention OR a hound may desperately need to go out for a potty break.

 

Best to not allow him on any human furniture. If he gets up and won't get off, try going into another room to shake a treat bag, squeak a toy or whatever positive excitement would capture his attention.

[Guest maidmarcia]

I had a huge problem with Licorice when I brought him home. He kept crying ALL NIGHT. I work shifts at the hospital so I was going crazy with lack of sleep. After three days of being woken up multiple times during the night (I don't know how I'll ever have a kid :/), I went onto their forum (gracanada.com) and posted that I was going insane and didn't know what to do. I was crying as I was typing it and thought I'd have to return him.

 

One poster was so nice to me. She immediately suggested I move his crate into the bedroom and he would settle down. I did that right away and that night he only woke me up once whining. His crate was right beside my bed, so I would drop my hand down and pet him through the crate and he would quiet at once. After a week of that, he was perfectly fine. I took his crate away after about 4 months, but that advice was a life saver. I would get a second crate (you can sometimes get them used from greyhound groups) and put him in there at night with a blankie, pillow and stuffie.

 

Do NOT use crocheted blankets. They can get twisted around their feet.

 

And this reminds me... Someone posted in my local greyhound rescue group on Facebook about having a crying dog at night and I responded with "move the crate into the bedroom". Then the VP of the group got online and told me she had fostered MANY greyhounds and that was a bad idea blah blah blah. Apparently the crate is supposed to be in the main area of the house. I don't know. Licorice turned out fine and every dog is different. I don't appreciate people who try to tell me that every animal is the same and there is only one answer.

 

Sorry for the rant.

[vjgrey]

We sleep with 85lb, 60lb and 50lb hounds, all in a queen sized bed, but I'd never risk it with a hound with space/sleep aggression.

 

The key to getting him to sleep elsewhere is consistency, although a lot of hounds don't like to sleep in a separate room. Can you put his bed in your room and somehow block access to your bed? A baby gate spread from the wall to the foot of your bed? An x pen? Maybe someone in your group has one you can borrow. If not, they're fairly cheap on eBay ($50ish?) and come in handy for a lot of things.

[Guest LauraB]

I would gladly move the crate from the dining room where it is now and he can see most of the house, to the bedroom, but we got a great buy on a huge crate on Craig s List and we can't be hauling it up and down the steps. The staircase turns. I crate him when we are out because he is interested in chewing soft things when we are not looking, like the couch pillows, so I can't trust him to be loose. If this problem continues, I will get another crate for the bedroom.

[greysmom]

They can be stubborn if they want to sleep in bed and you don't want them to! Teach him a command (during the day, with reeeaaallllllyyyyyyy yummy treats, and practice practice practice) of "OFF" or "DOWN" or whatever word you want that means get off *this* and go lay down on your bed. Never grab his collar to move him - hook up a leash if you need the extra persuasion, but reeeaaallllyyyyy yummy treats should work to lure him off and reward him.

 

It might take you 20-30 minutes the first night to get him to go lay down elsewhere, but remain calm and consistent. Physically block him from being able to get back on the bed. If you need to, you can also put an x-pen around his dog bed to keep him in place. It's smaller than a crate and more flexible in a small space.

 

FWIW, he *may* grow out of this phase. I've had three very space/sleep aggressive hounds (who have gone so far as to draw blood on both DH and I) and two of them became wonderful snuggle bunnies with some time and patience. One never did get any better, but she was just fine on a dog bed in our room.

[Greydawg]

Perhaps he is a little cold in his crate? Greyhound pajamas may help, if so.

 

I only say this because we have our own 80-something pound bed-sprawler. He sleeps in his comfy donut bed near our bed most nights. But when it gets a little chilly in our room, he'll wake up and ask to come up in the bed in the wee hours of the morning. I usually accommodate him, though sometimes I don't and he goes back to his bed. When I allow him up, he starts out between us, curled up in a ball. In time, he gets warmer and starts stretching out. When DH and I wake up, we are aware that once again, we are all forming a capital "H" with you-know-who happily horizontal in our bed. (Sigh.)

 

If he showed aggression in our bed, he would be disallowed to sleep with us. For your guy, I suggest allowing him to sleep in your room (not your bed) - cover him with a blanket or put PJs on him.

 

Good luck. Hope you get some sound sleep tonight.

 

[Guest HHHounds]

Dog Beds, pillows and blankies. No dogs in the bed. Just say no.

[GeorgeofNE]

You just need to teach him "off." Don't grab his collar, make sure he is fully awake, clip his leash on, say "off" and get the beast down!

 

Guide him over to his own bed, and tell him, "down." Repeat. Probably many times! It'll take a while, but he'll learn!

[Guest LauraB]

Thanks for all the help.

Last night I didn't let him sleep until 10:00. I put him in his crate and sat near him reading. After 15 minutes I went upstairs. He barked for a minute and went to sleep. I'm trying this again tonight. We had a long walk when I came home and now he is busy watching for squirrels at the window and barking at them. I want him tired! Until 2 weeks ago he rarely barked in his crate. Then he discovered our bed. I bought some extra special treats today and if he starts, I will bring him upstairs and coax him to his spot with treats.

[Guest PhillyPups]

I would get a bigger bed, then he can fit.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Why not move the crate permanently to the bedroom? You can just crate him in there when you're gone, and not have to move the crate up and down the stairs. It sounds like he's not crated when you're home, just when you're away. If that is, in fact, the case then it should be a workable solution. My grey is crated while we're gone, and our bedroom is in the basement. Before we leave, we just take her down (well, she races us because she gets a cookie) and shut her in.

 

In the beginning he may be a little confused about your comings and going and howl a bit, but in time he should get used to it and settle down. Jayne knows when we get home, and stays quiet in her crate unless she hears other people with us (she loves company) or if we seem to take too long in letting her out (unpacking the car etc.)

[BatterseaBrindl]

Get another crate to put upstairs?!?!?

[Guest starbuck]

I definitely wouldn't let any animal with space aggression sleep in proximity to me. That being said, we also don't let Starbuck sleep in our bedroom anymore; apparently we're light enough sleepers that any tossing, turning, head shaking, or whining woke us up instantly. We found that she's a lot happier when she's not in her crate but is gated into the library with a cozy bed and a bunch of blankets. We also close our door to tune out any whining/sleep howling.

[Guest Timo]

Dog Beds, pillows and blankies. No dogs in the bed. Just say no.

 

This. Timo has a bed, pillows, and blankets next to our bed. When he's tried to put his paws up on the bed, we just say no or eh eh. He got it very quickly. Timo has free roam of the entire house at night, but he usually chooses to sleep in his dog bed next to us.

[cleptogrey]

i agree w/ jane. either move the crate into the bedroom, leave a radio or the tv on, hang a bucket of water(1/2 filled)and some cookies and a kong. we can not let felix into our bedroom, even when we are visiting a friend w/ a king size bed- he has to sleep ontop of us- or inbetween and push one of us out. that's it, no deviations what so ever. as a pup we tried tethering him to a door in the bedroom w/ a dog bed- lots of eaten leashes and dog on top.

 

i have a costco bed, a double thick polar fleece blanket in the crate and cover it at night- he's warm and happy. i sleep, dh sleeps, felix sleeps(doesn't want to get out in the morning it's so warm in there) and that's that. felix is between 77-79 lbs and always goes for the 30" crate we have for our 62# female. size doesn't seem to matter, it's the cushioney feel that counts.

[sobesmom]

Couple of things here. If he has space aggression - it's not time to be in your bed. That's a privelage reserved for after space aggression is conquered. Allowing him in the bed before then is just a really bad idea. You're going to get bitten in your sleep. I made the same mistake with a sleep-aggressive dog that was somewhat better but not cured - and I blame ME - not him.

 

Also - Why are the the only options crate downstairs or your bed? Why not dogbed in your bedroom? Yep - he will try to get into your bed because he's had that privelage before. So - you remove him with DOWN and treat. Show him his dogbed in the room with you (his pack) - treat him when he goes to it. A nice chewbone to chill out with in that spot only is a nice thing. Gives him something to do at bedtime, dogs like to chew lying down, it is a reward, and the chewing winds him down for bedtime. If he jumps up - calmly get him down. You will probably have to get him off the bed a LOT. It's a lot harder to take a privelage away than to give it.

 

If you're afraid of getting him off the bed, or if he doesn't know the DOWN command, leave a leash on his collar at night. That way you can have it handy to guide him off the bed out of reach, while teaching DOWN , and treating for DOWN.

 

Side note from a hard lesson learned - never let a dog UP (on any furniture) without immediately teaching the command DOWN (Or OFF as we use in our house).

[Guest LauraB]

Problem solved. First we tried a dog bed next to our bed. Dillard was smart and as soon as we thought all was ok, he leaped over me, landed in the middle, and would not budge. So we bought a soft portable crate for the bedroom. It took a gong filled with chicken to get him into it. Then he cried and howled for an hour, and we ignored him. The next night he went right into the crate, whined for 5 minutes and slept the whole night. Now he goes right in and all is well. Thanks for all the help. This site is so helpful. Greys are different than other dogs and it's easy to make mistakes. Dillard is a marvelous dog.

[Feisty49]

So glad for you. If one suggestion doesn't work, there's always something else to try.

[Brandiandwe]

Hurrah! We have one hound who adores sleeping with us - 30 kgs worth of dog which multiplies to 150 if she doesn't want to get off. She has learned to sleep lengthways between DH and I so we all fit in, but I regularly wake up with paws in my face. But then she doesn't have sleep or space aggression and is the only dog I would trust to sleep that close to me.

[MerlinsMum]

That's wonderful! Nice work! Your persistence paid off

 

Eventually - once he understands that he is not allowed to sleep on the bed - you could transition to a dog bed against the wall, and if necessary you could put a plastic partition or gate between his bed and your bed, so that he has more room than he currently has in a crate.

 

I would get a bigger bed, then he can fit.

 

Um, no. Not a good idea for a dog that has sleep aggression imo. It doesn't matter how big the bed is - people and dogs stretch out in the night and the last thing you want is a horrible injury when you're semi-conscious. If I had a dog with sleep aggression there is NO way I would ever have her/him sleep on my bed, for both our sakes.

[Guest june]

Glad you got it figured out. I once put an x-pen around my bed when I wanted to keep a new dog off of it. We finally worked things out and now she is allowed to sleep on the bed; and she knows "off."