New rescue dog not sleeping unless I'm with him - can't cope with this. Help!

[Redyfoot]

Adult rescue dog doing great in the day with housetraining etc but whines and howls at night when I go to bed, so slept on the sofa in the same room as him. Worked great for him but I got practically no sleep.

Most of the advice says don't let them cry it out, but I can't cope with this. Live alone so can't take turns with him. What do I do?

Let him sleep in your bedroom...?

Why can't he sleep in your bedroom with you?

I've just got a rescue greyhound and he sleeps in the bedroom. He did try to get in the bed with me the first night but I quickly shut that down! He's happy to sleep in his bed now but I do have to use a white noise app on my phone to block the noise of him licking his willy.

How long have you had him?

Is he your first dog?

Is he crate trained?

What breed(s) is he? (Relevant due to size & breed temperament)

Anxietyspiral 😂

I live alone too, so I can have all internal doors open at night for my cat to wander around as she wants.

Is there a reason he can’t sleep in your room, @Redyfoot?

Our rescues (the current incumbent is number 5) have always had a bed in our room. Shuts them up a treat.

If a dog howls and whines then they're trying to tell you something - and in this case it sounds like he doesn't feel confident enough yet to sleep on his own. Can he sleep in your room for now until he builds his confidence? Or you decide 'what the hell, you might as well stay here' - depending which comes first...!

We left DDog downstairs on his own sofa and after the first night of intermittent crying, he was perfectly fine after that.

I definitely don’t allow dogs upstairs in my house.

Needs be closer to you. We used a baby gate on our bedroom and a bed in the landing as he would jump on the bed. Now he sleeps downstairs and is fine.

you are expecting too much.

what is his background?

This made me LOL 💄

Let him sleep in your room with you.
You're his whole life now, and they are social animals

As pp asked how long have you had him? If you don’t want him in your bedroom white noise and a few nights downstairs with home may be enough ( like a new puppy). He needs to feel confident enough to relax. Our dogs sleep downstairs, they look positively disgusted if we stay down with them for any reason..

he had someone leave him hes afraid you may too

Honestly just let him upstairs. I was so against dogs in the bedroom to geing with but now it is so comforting for both of us.

I'm offended if she stays downstairs now!

Get a dog bed into your bedroom. Or can he sleep on your bed ?

When we got our (now 10 year old) dog, we said she would sleep downstairs.

Haha. She cried so much we started alternating being downstairs with her and then she just came upstairs with us.

One super-king bed later and we are all happy 😂😂

His life has changed completely at least twice. He's anxious, confused and scared. The only thing in his world that makes him feel remotely safe is you and (in his mind) you keep abandoning him to be alone in a strange house.
And yes I appreciate that I'm being emotive but please don't leave him to cry, he's distraught and he needs to be with you for now at least.
Each of our rescues had\has separation anxiety, unsurprisingly.

If you don’t want him sleeping upstairs long term, I suggest sleeping close to where his bed is (on sofa or airbed) and gradually moving further away as he settles in (it’s how I deal with puppies and it does work)

Make his bed really cosy (you could try a covered crate with plenty of blankets but leave door open) and try and build positive associations with his sleeping area - feed him there, give him treats etc.

I slept on the sofa with mine for 3 weeks (theycouldn't come upstairs because of cats sadly!) However after that point she's since always slept on her own and never makes a sound for 10 hours a night, so it was the right thing to do for us I think.