No Idea What She Is Trying To Tell Me (Late Nights)

[denisetanaka]

Hi,

 

Here we go again. I have Laila for now almost 4 months, she is 3 years old, fearful timid girl who lives in Downtown apartment.

This last 2 weeks she started to change her behavior at night.

 

Every night 3:30 am (ow yeah she seems to have a inner clock, cause is always the same time) she tries to reach our bed, and prefer to stay in the middle of me and my husband.

I read here that maybe she feels cold, so we tried to put some clothes in cold nights and nothing had changed.

We try to say: "No, get out of bed!" . She does and then starts crying in her bed. She sleeps in our walking closet.

 

So she spends the whole night walking everywhere, goes to living room, office, kitchen and then try to reach our bed again, if we say no, she tries 5 min later and so on. She is relentless!

 

If we let her sleeping with us, it's miserable, my husband and I sleep badly cause she stretches herself so much and use the entire bed, we sleep in the corner of the bed. It's really annoying.

And sometimes she is in the bed with us and just starts crying very softly.

 

I don't think she wants to pee/potty, cause we go for walks at 11pm, we have pads in one area that she already learned to pee if necessary.

She was diagnosed with hookworms lately (last Friday), we did a poop test for a dog boarding place and now we are treating her with Panacur. But apparently she didn't show any symptoms,she is eating well, good weight, playing, despite the hookworms no other health issue.

She spends all day sleeping (just get awake for eating and walking 3x) and then 3:30am she seems to be awake as never before.

 

I don't know what she is trying to say, nor why this is happening just right now after 4 months, I have no idea what is that. I don't know if she is feeling pain or whatever it is.

What I just know is that I am feeling miserable for this 2 weeks, once she wakes me I can't sleep again, this behavior is really killing me.

 

 

Any idea?

Edited September 19, 2016 by denisetanaka

[GeorgeofNE]

She wants to sleep with you!

 

I would caution you on using pee pads for a healthy young dog. She needs to be taken out at least four times a day, and beyond that, she should be able to hold it. It will be very difficult to talk her out of peeing in the house if you teach her it is ok.

 

As to the whining--i couldnt sleep without my dog on my bed. I actually bought a queen to accomadate my first greyhound and me. But if you don't want her up there, but a nice comfy bed in your room, perhaps at the foot of your bed, and teach her "go to bed" and every single time she tries to get on the bed, repeat. With time she will catch on.

[FiveRoooooers]

If she's crying even *after* she gets into bed with you I'd have to consider that it *may* be a pain issue. She's gotten what she wants (your bed) but she still doesn't settle. I would consider asking my vet for a course of pain meds for a few days-week to see if there is an improvement in the behavior, and work from there.

Edited September 19, 2016 by FiveRoooooers

[KickReturn]

Sorry I don't know the full story, but what I do every night because I am always afraid my dog will disturb me, is to walk the crap out him before bed. We usually do 45 minutes to an hour of vigorous marching around the neighborhood. My theory is he will be relaxed and tired and therefore will not fret. Good for the dog, good for you, etc. If you have already tried this then you have my complete sympathy and apologies that I have no other suggestions.

[greysmom]

This is all pretty normal behavior for a newly adopted greyhound. They want to be near you - until they don't! She's becoming more comfortable in her new home and she's beginning to make her wishes know in more overt ways.

 

Put a baby gate across your bedrom doorway. She doesn't need to roam around at night, and reducing her roaming area may help keep her focused on sleep. If you don't want her on your bed, then you need to train her to sleep on *her* bed. Let her up for some cuddles and attention at first, then, when you are ready to go to bed, give her a command (whatever words you choose), lead her to bed, and give her a treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Yes, it's going to be a few more sleepless nights, but you need to train her.

 

You might consider moving her bed closer to you. I know she's not always comfortable walking in your downtown neighborhood, but a good tiring walk before bed will help tire her out and keep her asleep. At least twice as long as a normal potty walk. If one of you jogs, she may like that better, though you'll need to work up to distances longer than 1/4 mile.

 

If she's dealing with worms, she *may* need to potty in the night. De-worming can sometimes cause diarrhea and intestinal upset, but if she's eating well and her stools are normal when she does go, then she *may* not need to go.

[NeylasMom]

How much are you exercising her (what type - walking, running off leash, playing with other dogs, etc - and how long of each on average daily)?

 

Have you ever used a crate with her? To?you have anything else you could use to contain her, like an x-pen?

 

Does she whine and appear restless like this at other times?

 

Just trying to gather some more information - not enough to truly know what's going on.

Edited September 20, 2016 by NeylasMom

[denisetanaka]

How much are you exercising her (what type - walking, running off leash, playing with other dogs, etc - and how long of each on average daily)?

 

Have you ever used a crate with her? To?you have anything else you could use to contain her, like an x-pen?

 

Does she whine and appear restless like this at other times?

 

Just trying to gather some more information - not enough to truly know what's going on.

 

We don't exercise she a lot, cause she is fearful, so she just tolerate really small walks, we are trying to get longer walks little by little. We live in Downtown, so every walk to her is a little bit of fear adventure. At home we try to play a lot with her, but she doesn't seem to have lot of energy, like 1 minute playing is too much for her.

I never used a crate with her, but I know she is used with this, because was an ex-racer crater trained. I never use anything to contain her, I'm not so happy with this crater concept.

She whines and is restless just this time 3:30am. Usually she sleeps the whole day.

[denisetanaka]

She wants to sleep with you!

 

I would caution you on using pee pads for a healthy young dog. She needs to be taken out at least four times a day, and beyond that, she should be able to hold it. It will be very difficult to talk her out of peeing in the house if you teach her it is ok.

 

As to the whining--i couldnt sleep without my dog on my bed. I actually bought a queen to accomadate my first greyhound and me. But if you don't want her up there, but a nice comfy bed in your room, perhaps at the foot of your bed, and teach her "go to bed" and every single time she tries to get on the bed, repeat. With time she will catch on.

 

We were thinking about buying a big bed. Laila learned how to use pee pads, usually we go for walks at 6am/12pm/5pm/11pm, but sometimes all this walks doesn't seem to be enough to her, so she uses pee pads a few times, she is comfortable using them. She sleeps in our walking closet which in front of our bed, so she sleeps facing us, we tried to move her bed near ours outside the closet, but she seems to enjoy the closet, cause is like similar a cave I imagine she feels more secure there.

 

If she's crying even *after* she gets into bed with you I'd have to consider that it *may* be a pain issue. She's gotten what she wants (your bed) but she still doesn't settle. I would consider asking my vet for a course of pain meds for a few days-week to see if there is an improvement in the behavior, and work from there.

Sometimes she cries even in the bed with us, that's what I find awkward, that's why I was wondering if she is having any sort of pain.

[NeylasMom]

Have you tested her for a UTI? A dog her age shouldn't have issues holding it 5-6 hrs. I would rule out something medical first.

[krissy]

Have you tested her for a UTI? A dog her age shouldn't have issues holding it 5-6 hrs. I would rule out something medical first.

I second this. It may be unrelated to the night time behaviour but it may be a separate problem. My 6 month old puppy can hold 5 hrs during the day and over 8 overnight. A mature, house trained dog should be able to manage 5.

[seeh2o]

3 words...king size bed.

[SanTanSnuggles]

I have had six greys over thirty years. Most of the time, I found that if they are unsettled, it is because they are trying to tell you something that may be important. They usually seem to settle in very quickly.

 

I have one that currently is almost nine and he has some growths that come back on his leg. When ever this happens, he follows me around and tries to hand me his paw. I know it is time to go to the vet. Otherwise he is very stoic.

Worming medication will make them want to go out to do their duty more for sure.

Another of my girls, had GME and she did not want to leave my side once she became ill. Her medications made it necessary to take her out several times a night. she did have pain and cried.

My Heartsweet who was independent, did not want to be alone when she came down with bone cancer.

My first girl was independent for most of her 13 years. As was my Stormy.

Sometimes it is such a simple matter that they are trying to tell you about. Once fixed, all things go back to normal.

 

Does anyone close by have a pet like a hamster or such that runs in a cage and can she hear that at night, or some other critter. If no animals or people are around to disturb her than I would take her to the vet for a full work up of blood, urine and stool check and a real good exam. Also, perhaps she may be lonely and needs another friend (dog or another greyhound) to comfort her. I found that having two is so much better than one. They play and hug and love on each other and by the time it is bed time, they are sleepy tired. Two are not much more trouble than one. Sometimes leaving music or tv on for them matters. My Surprise loves to bark at other animals on the tube. That may help some of the sleeping all day. I could understand if she

is not getting stimulation in the daytime, that she may want it at night. I also have about six dog bed throughout the home, so they can change the area where they are laying down at as they want and they are all not the same. Some are real soft, some med foam and others just have some stuffing in them. They like to change where they are sleeping often during the night. they switch around with each other.

 

I try to feed my greys with natural foods and actually cook them meals. Some of the dog foods out there are made with old restaurant grease or other bad additives in them that could cause food allergies or worse. If your little lady has allergies to things like that, perhaps she could be trying to let you know that. .

 

You sound like an awesome mom. Hope that folks on this site can help you figure her out. Each one is so unique. The folks on greytalk have been wonderful and have been a great help to me as I have experienced different issues with my last three. It is so good to have this community.