Really unsettled at night

[Shallysally]

My DP and I share time between each others houses. He has a dog who comes with him for overnight stays and is used to spending 2-3 nights here.
The dog sleeps in the kitchen, we leave a lamp and the radio on which is what he is used to at DP’s house.
He has settled really well until last night when he was noisy, jumping up at the kitchen door and being a general pain.

I came down to him several times, put the cat in with him for company, let him out for a wee.

In the end I stayed on the sofa as DP needed to be up at 3am for work.

We were firm with him, put him on his bed and he did settle knowing I was in the next room. I kept the kitchen door open but he did stay in the kitchen.

Obviously I can’t carry on doing this as I’m
back at work next week.

Any advice please?

I would be trying to figure out what has unsettled him - is he unwell? In pain? Has a noise spooked him?

He seems fine, had a long walk yesterday. He’s eating ok, no signs of any pain.

If he's always settle perfectly well then I would say something must have disturbed him - maybe a noise outside? Foxes, cats, a security light or noisy neighbours etc.

Yes probably, although we did go to bed pretty early, before 9pm so it was still light.
He had his usual routine so nothing new.

Maybe have a radio on in the kitchen - classic fm

We do this already, lamp and radio on for him.

That would explain it then.

Any tips on how to manage this please? We go to bed at different times and whilst I don’t want the dog to be anxious/unsettled, we also need to sleep!

It might just be a case of time - I'd also consider the fact that it's still light at 9pm so she may be a bit confused about why she's being put to bed?

Where does the dog sleep at the other house ? It does sound like he was frightened by something outside I'd probably move the bed to maybe the hall beside the bedroom or somewhere if he doesn't settle.

@ricecrispiecakes I did think about it being light. He was the same when I went up to bed at 4am though and it was still dark then.

@Mrsjayy he sleeps in the kitchen same as here. He has been fine until last night. I’ll see how he goes tonight, really don’t want to move the bed unless we have to.

He chews so much even though he has chew toys and a bullhorn. The kitchen is safe for him as there’s nothing he can hurt himself on.

Ah ok fair enough you don't want the dog chewing up the house.

@Shallysally he was probably disturbed at 4am as his whole routine had been off, if that makes sense.

I would maybe look at blackout blinds so he can't see what's going on outside - it doesn't take much for them to be disturbed unfortunately, and I find that once their routine is "out" in one way, it can throw them off for ages.

@Mrsjayy I’d prefer if he didn’t! Also him and the cat will be a pain if they wake in the night.
I’m more conscious of him chewing through wires etc, hate it if he was hurt.

@ricecrispiecakes that’s a good idea actually, I could definitely look at black
out blinds.

This is worse than toddler sleep regression 😂

So we’ve gone with positive reinforcement! He was going off to sleep so popped him on his bed with some special treats, radio and light on. Made a big fuss of him being such a good boy for settling down, left him eating his treats and closed the door.

I’ve got some little treats in the other room so if I do have to go into him I’ll take a treat in and praise him again for settling down.

All good so far though bless him.

Peaceful night hopefully 😴

Paws crossed it works! Ours went through a stage of not settling at night, it's so frustrating 😂