My 16month old just will not settle (or sleep!) without me there.

[Apiarist]

She's a small crossbreed, rescued from a homeless litter as a puppy. We've had her about a year.

She sleeps in her bed in a playpen in the living room. My Spaniel who is 4 sleeps in his bed in the same room.

Somehow we've fallen into a pattern where someone (me usually) has to sleep on the sofa to keep her company. If she wakes up and spots no human in the room, she wails the house down.

She responds quite happily to the 'bedtime' command, has an oil-filled radiator next to her bed, plenty of blankets which she enjoys arranging to perfection and it's possible to creep off after she's dozed off and sometimes before, but sooner or later the wailing starts. She sleeps on my lap or feet in the day as I work (from home) but when awake is not clingy.

Her toilet training has also been the least successful of any dog I have ever had (paper trained, but frequent 'misses' still and she is sniffy about going outdoors).

I'm just looking at snoring soft toys for her. Any other ideas? I am determined to crack it this month.

No ideas at all?

Have you tried crate training her to give her 'her space'

Our puppy (we got at 8 weeks old so different background) and we crate trained immediately, for the first week we sat near the crate until he went to sleep, then gradually moved further away until he went to sleep until we could be in the room whilst he settled but leave whilst awake etc until we could just put him straight in his crate and he would settle to sleep.

The playpen is her space really, it's like a crate but slightly bigger and much sturdier. It's been set up with an inward opening door so that she can squeeze through the gap but our spaniel can't.

She retreats there for naps or to chew a toy. She curls up to sleep when sleep when you put her in there or goes of her own accord when told 'bedtime' and settles down. It's just that if she wakes and notices nobody there, she yells.

Realistically there's no other room in the house big enough (or warm enough ATM) to put the dogs in to sleep with playpen etc. We knocked two rooms together to create the living room. Maybe we'll have to try a gradual retreat and early bedtimes while she's still dropping off?

I would try and settle her in that then and gradually leave as explained before. Treat her like a young baby, when she cries wait for a small gap where she is quiet (even if its just for a second) and start by settling her again, it should get shorter overtime. I dont have any experience with a rescue, only from a puppy so not sure how different it is

Good idea. Baby tactics

She was still tiny when we got her, but being in a rescue centre was extra upheavel, of course.

Baby tatics worked for us but it did take time. We also gave him a treat everytime we put him away so it was a positive experience

I've never had that problem ddog sleeps in my bed.
Can't you put her in your room or is that something you just don't want to do?
I know alot of people on previous threads have said to try putting puppy in create next to your bed then gradually moving create till it's where you want it to stay.
Good luck