Should we stop making Farley sleep in his crate at night?

[Katherine]

We're having some issues with Farley in his crate at night. The first three nights we slept on the couch , he cant see us but can hear us , and he didnt make a peep all night. For about 5-6 nights we slept upstairs and he was fine , no barking nothing. The past three nights have been absolute hell . Friday night he started barking a bit at about 4:00pm. I got up went to the washroom , flushed the toilet , he was fine. I think he just likes to hear us so he knows hes not alone.

Saturday night started barking at 1:30pm for about 10 minutes. Then on and off every 30 minutes until about 4:00am. At that point i went downstairs and slept on the couch and he stopped. I asked him if he had to pee and he didnt make any indication of having to go but i took him outside anyways (I didnt interact with him though, just in and out of the crate quickly ) and he peed a little but i could tell he didnt really have to go.

Last night he started barking even earlier 12:40am. He basically barked for an hour and then my husband went down to sleep on the couch and he stopped. He started again but was promptly told by Hubby to shut-up and he did . I know not the best thing but on the third night of sleep deprivation you start getting a little testy.

Its not a good situation. Its really stressing me out because i wake up worried and anxious and end up laying in bed for the next couple of hours listening to him bark and trying to determine the severity of it. i.e., is he barking more or less, does he sound stressed , is he digging etc..

Its not an option to let him keep barking either because we live in a semi attached to an 80 year old woman and we have a basement tenant. I feel really bad for our tenant actually :sad: . Not only has he had to listen to Farley bark for the past 3 nights but he also has to listen to him bark in the morning when we leave for work.

So this is my dilema, should we stop crating Farley at night? I cant sleep on the couch forever so while i think it might be a good temporary solution im not sure it would be good in the long run. Im worried that by not crating him at night we're going to be rewarding him for negative behaviour.

Any suggestions?

[Lucky Rescue]

How many hours out of 24 is this dog spending in a crate?

[Katherine]

He's spending a lot :sad: and i feel really , really guilty about it. About 7 hours at night and 8 hours while we go to work. Its the biggest crate out there so he does have lots of room , we also give lots of walks etc.. to poop him out. I should mention that we do find him snoozing in his crate a couple of times a day when he doesnt need to and he brings all of his treats etc.. in there to eat.

Im at the point where i dont know whats right anymore for him anymore. Its totally stressing me out.

Hes still doing really well in his crate during the day but im worried that any changes to his routine is going to send us back to where we were before.

[Lucky Rescue]

IF he's barking all night then the routine isn't working. In addition to being crated so much, he is also spending at least 15 hours out of 24 alone. This kind of solitary confinement is very stressing to dogs, who are pack animals - just as it is to people, which is why it's considered severe punishment in prisons.

This is just my opinion, but I really think this epidemic of separation anxiety is caused by dogs left alone and crated far too much. Dogs who are crated all day should NOT be crated in another room to sleep alone at night.

Could you possibly let him sleep in your bedroom with his bed on the floor next to yours? You could hook his leash to the bedpost, and if he gets upset you could just reach down to quiet him. The nearness of his "pack" should be comforting to him, as you have already seen by your sleeping on the sofa.

[Katherine]

Before the whole humane society incident he used to sleep in our bedroom beside our bed. I have no problem with letting him sleep where ever he wants , all i want is whats best for him . We thought crating him at night was a good thing for a number of reasons. Mainly because it made him be seperated from us . Previously he used to stick like glue to us all the time so we thought seperating him from us while we slept would show him its okay to be himself.

[jjgeonerd]

What was the "Humane Society incident"? I can't imagine not letting Gabby sleep in the room with us. When we first got her we would crate her in our room...she never liked it and would be a terror all night. After a couple nights we just let her stay on a pillow (which she had claimed) by the side of the bed. She's always good at night now...no accidents at all...even when she had Giardia. The only problem is that she wakes me up by licking my ears at 7:00 - 7:30 in the morning . Not my wife...just me!

[Dukieboy]

I'm not an expert just a doggie lover but my opinion is if Farley doesn't do damage while you are in the home with him, because he is alone and crated all day he should sleep out of his crate. I think it will be more relaxing for all concerned. And, if you and the dog are getting enough sleep everynight you will be better able to deal what the next day brings.

[Katherine]

Im going to start letting him sleep out of his crate.... Thanks for the advice