9 yo cocker suddenly objecting to sleeping in the cage - any ideas?

[WoolyMammoth55]

Hi all,

Our sweet-tempered slightly over-sensitive working cocker has been with us since we picked her up from the farm at 10 weeks. Always a joy, very clever and trainable. "Slightly over-sensitive" because there was one legendary night when she was 2ish when DH and I had a blazing row and she protest-pooped and vomited all over the living room :)

I'm the softie and DH is the alpha-boss, but she obeys us both and is excellent at recall, fine to walk off the lead past cats/squirrels, just a gem.

We cage-trained her young and she's always been fine to sleep in it at friend's houses, in cars etc.

I'm now pregnant and although she'd been alternating between sleepong in the cage and in bed with us, felt like we needed to establish cage-as-bed more firmly again so that she doesn't jump on a tiny baby.

It's been 6 months of her hopping into the cage at bedtime (in our bedroom) with no issues at all, which is what we'd expect.

Then suddenly 4 nights ago she wouldn't settle; whining, clawing at the bars and making a bit of a noise. I assumed she was having a dodgy tummy so took her out into the garden twice but nothing. After that I tried again in the cage - same happened, so I just caved and let her sleep on my legs and thought not much more of it.

Every night since has been the same. She is fine in the day, everything normal, then I'm taking her out for last-minute loo break and giving her a treat in the cage (like we did when she was a pup). She won't settle, lots of whining and scratching, and worst of all whenever I go to the loo (which is OFTEN at 8 months preggo!) she thinks it's an opportunity to start the protest/negotiations again from square 1. Last night was really disruptive and DH's next idea is to put the cage in the spare room, but we've never really done this and I'm concerned that it's not very kind.

I've washed all the blankets she has in the cage with her since I was wondering if something about them was bugging her. They're clean and smell fine to me, nothing in there that I can see is at all out of the usual.

Possible ideas:

• Is she acting out because she knows I'm pregnant? We have a toddler who is not her favourite person - she tolerates him only - could this be it?
• Is she unwell? Should I take her to the vet?
• She has problems with losing her eyesight that have been going on for years now. She's absolutely fine on walks in daylight and knows her way around the house by touch after dark so I rarely notice - but could this be part of it?

Because she was fine on the first night as soon as I let her in the bed, DH thinks there's no real issue and she's just being a spoilt madam. But it's quite unlike her so I'd really appreciate any advice from you experts!

Thanks x

Almost impossible to tell without seeing the situation in rl.

Maybe because she had been allowed on the bed that is what she prefers
Possibly you being pregnant
Possible being disturbed by you
May have heard noises when in the crate and associates that with the crate
Too hot or too cold
Maybe the light and eyesight causing issues
None of us can say unfortunately

Where does she choose to sleep in the day?

Thanks @PollyRoulson for the reply. In the day she will lie down wherever we are - either on the rug or up on the sofa next to me (I'm doing a lot of sitting these days!) She loves company and will shadow us around the house. That's why I'm a bit reluctant to put her in the spare room for nights - she would never choose to sleep apart from us and has only very rarely done so.

She has a big dog bed (a cast-off from my FILs picky lab) it's in the living room and she does occasionally lie there but not often. Unfortunately it's so huge that it doesn't fit inside her cage so not much help.

If I'm lying down in bed during the day she lies with me and I don't put her in the cage - she's always been allowed on the bed for naps.

I'm just really struggling to understand what has flipped this switch from "cage is fine" for years, to suddenly being stressed in the cage? As I'm a soft touch my instinct is to just let her sleep in the bed, but we are 2 weeks (or so) away from the baby and in the great scheme of things it feels unfair to her to 'give in' now when I know we'll need to be strict soon. :(

I am totally guessing and could be way off. But if she likes to sleep with you during the day I guess she prefers that at night too. She will be aware that you are behaving slightly differently than you usually do and this may be causing her a bit of stress.

I guess encourage her to be a bit more independent during the day would not hurt. So giving her kongs away from you or in her crate for example.

You are right it would be easier for her and you to get her happy now but if you are stressed by the time limit you have that may not help her.

Can you try putting in some clothing of yours into her crate, may help as may adaptil (I think that is alright for babies but worth checking!).

Exciting times ahead - good luck

Why does she need to be in a cage, can't you just get her a bed?

Why a dog cage ? She is not a puppy? Why can’t you let her sleep on her dog bed downstairs? Is she destructive at night? Sorry but I have dogs and have never caged them after puppyhood!

Hi @Ohalrightthen and @tillyandmilly - thanks for the input! If she's not in the cage she will 'pretend' to lie on her bed and then jump up on our bed when she thinks we're asleep. Hence cage in our room.

She has slept in the cage in our room periodically over the years, including when our toddler was co-sleeping with us, and since the initial puppyhood training stage has never protested before.

She would never willingly stay downstairs if we were going up to bed (we were in a flat during her puppyhood so she was always close to us) hence being in our room but in a cage has always seemed like the best thing.

I'm just flummoxed why a generally calm and peaceful 9yo dog suddenly protests at something that has always been normal for them before.

@PollyRoulson Thanks for the ideas - I will put some clothes in her cage tonight and try the kong in her cage idea too. I'll also try to dig out the adaptil - I think we've got a bottle somewhere! Many thanks.

Your answer is right there in your OP - you let her sleep in the bed once, so now she wants that all the time

As they always say, if you don't want the dog in your bed, never let the dog in your bed...

She’s 9?! Get her a bed on the floor and every time she gets on your bed put her back on it. You can’t start crating a 9 year old dog again - what am I missing? Are you shutting the door?

Yep. You've given her a taste of a different way of sleeping and she likes it.

You've never really been consistent with requiring her to sleep in the cage so every time she protest and you cave in and let her to sleep on your bed you are firmly reinforcing the bed sleeping behaviour.

Unfortunately, now, if you want her to sleep in the cage you're going to have to somehow make it more attractive to her or listen to her protests until she gives up.

Any dog who is given the opportunity to sleep with its owner on their bed will most definitely want to do so in preference to being alone in a cage.

Is there a reason she has to sleep in a cage. Could you not get her a dog bed.

Try a different bed, my springer is a Velcro girl and would always prefer to be on the bed. I bought her a donut bed with deep sides and she started to cosy up in it whilst I would be working downstairs. Brought it up to my side of bed about 3 weeks ago and after initial huffing and sighing at bedtime she now settled in and doesn’t come on the bed until invited at morning tea time. This bed was from Argos, was marketed as a cat bed initially and a spaniel owner got one, shared on the Facebook group and they sold out so fast( would have been for a sumo cat though!)

www.argos.co.uk/product/5799017?clickSR=slp:term:dog%20beds:78:109:2

Thanks @fitflopqueen, I've just ordered one! Really appreciate the idea.
Will let you know if it helps :)

Not much progress recently and last night I relented and let her come in our bed again... She is fine as soon as in the bed, I do wonder if possibly getting older she's less comfy in the cage now so the cosy dog bed option might address that. Fingers crossed!

My dog stopped wanting to go in his cage when he got very poorly with hip arthritis. We didn't work it out for a short while but he needed to move more at night and associated the cage with pain. I'd get the dog checked out for pain somewhere.