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Clingy pup?

7 replies

heatseeker14 · 29/12/2019 08:59

Our 5 month old pup sleeps in a covered crate in our bedroom at night. Over the past few weeks he has started to wake up a lot. He was doing well going to bed around 10:30/11:00 then up to go to the toilet around 4/5:00 am. He would go back in his crate until 6am then up for the day. This all changed a few weeks ago and has started to get worse over Christmas.
Last night I took him out at 11:00 to the toilet and when I went to put him in his crate he started to cry. Took him out again but he didn’t need the toilet. Cried for a bit when I put him back in the crate. Then woke about 1:00 am and started crying again. Eventually he went back off again, but I was very close to cracking and put him on our bed.
I suspect he wants to sleep with us because during the holidays we have allowed him to sleep on our bed from 6 am to 8 am ish so we can squeeze in more sleep. This was probably not a great idea because it has sent him mixed messages.
I told my husband that I would try to slowly move pup out of our room into the spare room after Christmas, but I can’t see that happening now. I don’t particularly mind pup sleeping on our bed, but DH is not keen at all because our love life is nonexistent at the moment due to the dog in our room 😳
Any advice? I suspect I will have to start getting up at 6am again instead of putting him on our bed. I wouldn’t mind if I was actually getting a decent stretch of sleep.

Could he be waking more because he is teething? His canine teeth are coming through at the moment.

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StillMedusa · 29/12/2019 10:04

Does he HAVE to be crated? Mine's 7 months now and we let her sleep where she likes and she is much happier for it ..we ditched the crate because despite following all the guidelines for her to be happy in it, she reached about 5 months and just wasn't..so we gave up. Mostly she settles herself downstairs but she often trots up about 5 am and has a quick snuggle on the bed and then dozes back off on the floor.. much easier that trying to resettle her .
If he's teething he's going to be unsettled and probably a bit miserable anyway (luckily it doesn't last long) ..I'd do whatever gets you sleep rather than set up a battle of wills with the crate.

As he gets more independent you'll probably find he doesn't need to be with you all the time..mine has literally just started not being so clingy. But 5 months is still a little baby!

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Floralnomad · 29/12/2019 10:13

If you have a bed in the spare room I would let him sleep there , it’s likely to be the bed that is attractive to him not necessarily being with you IYSWIM .

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FacesLookUgly · 29/12/2019 13:14

We got rid of the crate at about six months old too. He just seemed less keen on it and so we started to leave the door open and see if he was ok. He was and he gradually spent less and less time in there.

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heatseeker14 · 29/12/2019 16:51

I think I will leave the crate door open tonight to see how he gets on. The only issue is with the height of our bed. I’m a bit worried he will try to jump down in the night and hurt himself because it is very high. Trying to think how to fashion a step down for him out of a chair and cushions! Have also been googling stairs for dogs 😄
Unfortunately, we don’t have a bed in our spare room, only a small sofa. He could sleep with one of the kids, but I’m worried he will annoy the cat in the night. They have been getting on quite well, so don’t want to push my luck giving the dog the run of the house just yet.

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RoombaSavedMySanity · 29/12/2019 16:53

I used the stool that came with my dressing table as a temporary step...

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heatseeker14 · 29/12/2019 17:18

Fantastic idea, thanks Roomba. I will add a few cushions on the floor around the stool to help him jump down.
I will be so pleased if we can get 5 hours of sleep without being woken up. Fingers crossed this works 🙏🏻

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heatseeker14 · 30/12/2019 10:39

Left the crate door open last night. Pup slept on a blanket on the floor for most of the night. Got up on our bed for a couple of hours late morning. Slept from 10:30-11:00 to nearly 8am! I was very shocked when I looked at the time on my phone this morning. He wasn’t bursting for the toilet either when we got up. Really hope this wasn’t a one-off. DH wasn’t keen when I suggested it, but I don’t think he will mind if the dog continues to sleep through the night.