At wits end with dog crying

[EJ2009]

In brief - dh & i have an 8 y/o retired greyhoubd. Had her 2 years. She has always been anxious & we have had a lot of issues with her, firstly not walking & periods of crying through the night. She has seen a behaviouralist through the rescue centre & we have been implementing hus strategies but we are living through the longest period of us getting no sleep. She cries currently every 20-30 minutes from 3am. Some nights its earlier, a good night she starts crying at 5am. We have her on calmeze tablets, she sleeps in the utility room as we were advised the kitchen gave too much space. She sleeps with my worn clothes & we have tried leaving the radio on. Nothing works. She gets plwnty of walks & we try and play ganes of find the biscuit butafter a couple of goes she puts herself to bed. She constantly wants to be in bed. She will randomly go a couple of weeks sleeping ok & then it gets bad again. She sleeps through the night at my parents house (also in kitchen). She cant sleep with us as she does anxiety licking all night & keeps us up anyway.

We are trying for a baby & i cannot be pregnant & living with this & i couldnt have a baby living in this house. I have sat & cried tiredness. Has anyone got any suggestions?

I had this and now my dog sleeps with me, we all sleep so much better now!

Can't you put her bed in your room? Poor doggy. (And you op)

Is it adaptil that's the dog calmer?
Is she crate trained? That would stop the licking if you had her by you and she may feel more secure.
I slept next to pup when we first got her and gradually withdrew.
Join dog training advice and support on FB. You can ask actual trainers.

Sorry for the spelling mistakes. I was trying to get everything down quickly as i face another night of going to bed early enough to get sleep in before i am woken up. I'm so desperate as we can't live like this falling asleep in the daytime with exhaustion after disturbed sleep.

Have you had a vet check if this is new behaviour?

2 8yo greyhounds here, put her dog bed in your room or a crate with a blanket over and bed inside in your room to make a "safe spot". Mine were like this at night till I let them into my room, it all changed then. They rarely whine in the night now unless they need toilet and the stress licking stopped because they sleep properly and aren't scared or stressed. I have a 16 week old baby so I know where you are coming from saying you couldn't cope with that and a baby, crying greyhound on top of crying baby would leave me an hours sleep at night at the most! only get about 3 hours as it is

I would put her in bed with me

What does your vet say OP? I'm assuming you have been to the vet?

She needs to sleep with you. Try it for a while and see if the anxiety licking stops.

Thanks all. Its not a new behaviour. It's just peaked again. She's done this to a greater or lesser extent since we had her. The adaptil didn't work for her. We have tried her sleeping with us but got the fidgeting and licking & so was as bad with us getting no sleep. May try again though if its worked for all of you.

I would also put her in my bedroom, sounds very difficult

Vet referred us to behaviouralist as no physical illness. Behaviouralist gave us mental stimulation activities.

Definitely have her in with you, If not on the bed, next to it. You'll not get a lot of sleep with a baby anyway so do whatever makes her happy now. . I'm sure being with you will stop it.

Would it be worth taking her to the vet again? If her behaviour has got worse recently, something must have caused that. It could be something physical which has increased her anxiety levels. Bit of a dog who cried wolf situation. She has no other way of telling you if something new is bothering her.

We've got a cocker spaniel that is very anxious. He has a bed in our room next to me, and he settles there but then often goes down to his bed in the kitchen and sleeps there then comes back up just before we wake. I've never had a dog in our room before but it stopped his worrying immediately.

I agree with what others have said about letting her in your bedroom with her own bed.

Also have you tried giving her xylkene - it's supposed to be good for anxiety. You can buy it from vets over the counter.

Also would getting a second dog help? Then she's got a friend which might make her feel less lonely and anxious.

I realise this sounds very basic, but as she's a greyhound she will be skinny with no fat on her and thin fur. She could very well simply be cold at night. All our greys wear a fleece coat at night at this time of the year. Even though our house is new and warm, the central heating goes off around 10.30 or 11, and by 3 a.m. it's really quite chilly. A greyhound without a coat on will be restless and possibly crying.

Is she cold? Seems obvious but you can get fleece 'pyjama' type onesies for dogs. My dog definitely needs this at night.

I was also going to ask if she was cold? We had this problem with our dog who suddenly started crying in the night. I put a kingside duvet in her crate and tucked her in and haven't heard a peep out of her since! Otherwise a jumper might work - equafleece do lovely ones.

Can you put a crate in your room? Hope you resolve this soon 😘 xx

I too think she's probably cold; it's very common for them to be restless if they are. Try a fleece jumper. If she sleeps through the night at your parents' house you need to work out what's different there that means she's quiet there but not at home. Do they have an Aga or similar that's warm overnight?

I was going to ask if she's cold too. Our boxer sleeps badly if he is cold, and there's much more chance of him needing out for a pit stop during the night if it is cooler too.

EJ I would suggest letting her in your room or in your bed as a LAST resort. All you are doing is telling her that when she cries you will physically comfort her every time. This will lead her to cry whenever she wants physical affection. I will give you an example. My dog is also an anxious dog. Whenever I used to put her outside she would cry/bark etc until I either let her back in, or went outside to comfort/resettle her. This was just encouraging the crying. Now, I put her outside when I want, if she cries I will tolerate it for a while as normally she is just seeing if I will come out, normally she will then settle herself. This is improving everyday. If she does not settle herself and continues for more then a reasonable time I will go outside and physically put her on her bed and tell her to stay. I do not pat or comfort her. I am simply showing her her crying is not going to get my attention. I never let her inside if she is crying, only when she is settled. When your dog cries at night do you go and comfort her or ignore her?

Remember your dog will feed off your anxiety if you let them. If she thinks there is a reason to be anxious (ie. you continuously going to re-settle her when she cries) she will just keep doing it.

We have done the opposite to pp and basically love bombed any anxious rescues. Once they feel safe and reassured and get their confidence up I've not had crying for cuddles.
I love the idea that a lot of your dog's are sleeping in duvets and fleeces. That sounds so cozy! Mine are hot year round. Good luck op!

You can get adaptive collars. They work much better than the plug ins.