My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

Just sleep fgs!!

7 replies

ficklemissfickle · 19/12/2018 05:38

Hi. Desperate for some advice. We have a nearly 6 month old springer. He's fab, we love him to bits but he seems to have gone downhill at nighttime. He's been crated from early days & often puts himself in there, once toilet trained you wouldn't hear him till around 6am, however he has started to bark & whine at periods through the night. I've got up to him now (first heard him at 1.30am but he did quieten down) - I struggle to go back to sleep even when he does go quiet & I'm starting to resent him for it. (I'm sleep obsessed after working nights for many years) we've been advised by vet about the dangers of over walking him but he generally gets 2-3 20-25 minute walks every day & has lot of toys in the house that he is active with. He wasn't desperate to go out for a wee now when I've got up & is quite happy on the rug quietly playing - it's like he just wants company. I have to get up at 6 for work anyway but would be amazing if he'd just be quiet from 10.30pm ish till 6!

OP posts:
Report
adaline · 19/12/2018 06:54

Could you leave a couple of safe chews or toys in his crate for him to occupy himself with, perhaps?

Report
LEMtheoriginal · 19/12/2018 06:56

Let him sleep in your bed - its the only way ! Grin

Report
anniehm · 19/12/2018 07:04

Ignore him, getting up is giving him a reward, seeing you. They go through developmental phases and he is entering adolescence, stick to your guns unless you want a whining dog for years to come. We walk at 10pm ish for 20 mins then into his room, no crate but it's a small ish room. I realise him at around 8am.

Report
LauralovesLuke · 19/12/2018 07:06

My friend slept in a t-shirt for a couple of nights, then put that t-shirt in the dogs bed so he felt less alone and could smell his owner - sounds crazy but it worked!!

Report
ficklemissfickle · 19/12/2018 07:23

Thanks all. I do put him to bed with couple of treats & chews.
I really really do not want to sleep with him - upstairs is the cats safe haven (& mine for that matter!)
Do try & ignore, but takes me ages to go back to sleep as I'm almost listening out. Will try the 10pm walk & T-shirt idea though.

OP posts:
Report
BiteyShark · 19/12/2018 07:28

I found mine went through lots of ups and downs around that age so what he used to be fine with he would suddenly decide he wasn't. Whenever a behaviour popped back up I would just go back to basics as if he was still a very small puppy.

Report
missbattenburg · 19/12/2018 11:33

OP, I agree you need to nip this in the bud by ensuring the whining and barking never result in something fun (even company). By all means get up to him, pop a lead on him, take him into the garden for 60 seconds to check he doesn't need a wee, then bring him in back in the crate. No eye contact, no talking, be like a robot. Otherwise, ignore.

Battendog is a springer and this is just the kind of trick he would pull if he thought he could get away with it Grin.

For sure you are going to have a few nights of disturbed sleep while you get on top of this but it will be worth it. New behaviours should be relinquished pretty quickly if they stop resulting in anything the dog wants.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.