Why will she not just lie down and go to sleep!

[WeeM]

Does anyone else have a dog that will just not lie down and go to sleep?! She will scrape the floor, chew a blanket, scrape the door, chew her bed, lick stuff-she just goes from one thing to the next. It’s really hard when I’m trying to work from home and she won’t just lie down. What am I doing wrong? How do I train her to go to sleep when she’s clearly tired?!

How old ?

Maybe these behaviours are how she unwinds?
My dog chews her nails..
I've got an adaptil plug in following vet advice (she's a very anxious dog and dementia is making it worse). Plug in has actually been quite effective.

Oh sorry, should’ve said that- she’s 18 months

Are you sure she’s tired? She sounds fidgety and bored.

its usually tiredness, Sometimes it’s playfulness which is fine but I can usually tell the difference-it’s the yawning/sort of bitieness/tail goes down that I know she’s tired. And now she’s fallen asleep now that I’ve posted 😆

Ha ha, that’s typical! 😂

Maybe that is how she unwinds! My friend’s dog just lies down any old place for a snooze…meanwhile my delinquent is going about the place like the toddler that won’t give in!

You do have to train them to calm down and sleep IMO.

When ours was younger, his routine was to go for a walk, come home, a little play in the garden, then he had a chew or stuffed kong to calm him down, and then we'd pop him on the sofa with his blankets and he settled down and slept almost instantly.

Most dogs like to chew or lick as a way of calming them down - does she have access to things like chews, kongs or lick-mats?

Ha! At least it is just when she is going to sleep. Mine wakes up and does this sort of thing IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (and she sleeps in my room) - she is 9 years old. It goes on for just long enough to completely wake me up, then she gives a big sigh and goes to sleep, leaving me with insomnia.

take away the toys and ignore she’ll soon settle and sleep
although my ddog knows when I finish a call and leaps up as if to say yes you can play now

Some sort of licking or chewing treat before she goes to bed, a lickimat for example. Licking is a calming and self soothing action for dogs

Dogs are all different. I believe some have more of a genetic tendency to go to sleep when nothing else is happening... I reckon my current dog has that. The previous one, same breed, didn't - he very rarely even had both eyes closed.