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Old March 10th, 2006, 10:47 AM
Vanillamom Vanillamom is offline
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My pup does not sleep sound through the night...

Hi, I posted three times before, and every time I did, I got very helpful advice and suggestions - I appreciated those who responded to my postings. So here I am again looking for some advice on another problem with my puppy!

My puppy is now 3.5 months old. She does not sleep through the night. Even when she is really, really tried before going to bed (for example, after she spend the whole day playing with some other dogs), she wakes up in the middle of the night and whines/barks to wake me up. I used to put her into the crate during the night, and she barked and barked almost through the night. Then I bought a play pen and put her in it during the night, and it worked well a while. Now she wakes up in the middle of the night, starts playing (I can hear her chewing), and then starts whining/barking.

I do not mind being disturbed by her, but I can't let her bark during the night, because I live in an apartment and just received a "notice to terminate a tenancy early", which means I could be evicted if my dog keeps disturbing my neighbors. I do not want to move because my pup has adjusted to the present circumstances. So what I recently do is get up as soon as she starts whines/barks, get her out of the pen, and sleep on the floor with her. She plays for a while, sleeps beside me, plays again, and sleeps again, until I get up. Do I have to worry about her sleeping problem??? Or is this common in puppies?

I have two options now, and I do not know which I should take - I would like to hear your opinion, please. If my idea is wrong, could you correct it?

Option 1: Putting the bark-control collar during the night and keeping her in the pen - this is the advice from one of my friends. She as well as I think that it is very important that night is sleeping time, not play time. Anyway, I tried putting the collar on her during the night. She whined intermittently, several times, but never barked. So it worked. However, she stays in the pen during the day, and wears the collar as well. I really feel bad about putting it on her during the night too.

Option 2: Sleeping with her on my bed - I've hesitated to do this, because she hasn't been housebroken yet. Peeing on my bed is not my main concern, but if I let her keep peeing outside the designated spot, that will cause further delay in housebreaking. However, like I mentioned above, she spends lots of time in the pen, although I spend the whole evening with her every day and the whole weekends. So I think it would be a good idea to spend time with her in bed, as recommended by the expert in this forum (thank you, tenderfoot!) Oh, by the way, my pup can hold pee during the night if she needs to - if I let her go during the night, she pees on the floor though....

What should I prioritize for her training? Could anyone help me decided how to deal with this problem?

Thanks!!
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Old March 10th, 2006, 11:05 AM
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Just so you know, you are in for a battle ahead of you. My dog is two years old and still gets up in the middle of the night. Sometimes to go potty, but more often to play. We have our dog sleep on the bed with us, but that's our choice. Dogs bark, it's that simple. Also, your dog is 3 1/2 months old. She's still a baby. When have you seen a 3 1/2 month old baby sleep though the night? It takes a long time. I hate to be blunt like this, but these are things you should have considered before you got the dog. They are not quiet, they are messy, they need constant attention, and they are rather disturbing to neighbors. Plain and simple, you can't reprimand your dog for doing what it does naturally. You either need to come to some kind of agreement with your neighbors, find a new home for the dog, or find a new pet-friendly home for all of you.
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Last edited by jesse's mommy; March 10th, 2006 at 11:22 AM.
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Old March 10th, 2006, 11:24 AM
Vanillamom Vanillamom is offline
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Dear Jessey's mommy,

THank you for your response. I agree with all you said. Please don't get me wrong. I am not complaining about my dog waking me up. She is a puppy, and a dog. I understand that, and do not expect her to let me sleep well through the night, for the rest of my or her life. I just want to do the best thing for her and her training - like I stated, I have two options, and would like to take the one I should do. I am just wondering which I should prioritized, potty training or learning that night is not a play time...something like that...

Thanks for your message.
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Old March 10th, 2006, 11:25 AM
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I have to say I disagree with jesse's mom on this one

I have 2 dogs - an almost 2 year old female lab and a 17 month old male lab mix. Both dogs sleep in my bedroom. They have their own dog beds at the side of my bed. My female will sometimes sleep on the bed with us - the male doesn't bother coming up until my BF gets up in the morning

They both know that night time is sleeping time and not play time. Sure, they'd love to get up and play during the night but that's not the way it works and I have never let them!

Dogs bark, it's true - however I believe there is a time and a place for it - and the middle of the night isn't one of them!! I think with some training you can get your dog past it I do believe you can reprimand your dog when it does something you don't like - even if it comes naturally to the dog. In my house, I'm the leader and I get to say what goes on - not the dogs!

Personally, I would try letting her sleep on the bed with you. When I crated my female she was miserable! Crying, barking and not settling down and as soon as I let her onto the bed she slept through the night! That worked well for me because I would feel her moving around or if she jumped off and I could get up and let her out to the bathroom.

Will your pup wake you up when she needs to go to the bathroom? If so, maybe that would work for you too
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Old March 10th, 2006, 11:32 AM
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[QUOTE=les]I have to say I disagree with jesse's mom on this one [QUOTE=les]

The only reason I say this is because there has already been a post about this dog disturbing the neighbors.

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=23955

[QUOTE=les]
They both know that night time is sleeping time and not play time. Sure, they'd love to get up and play during the night but that's not the way it works and I have never let them! [QUOTE=les]

Also, just because Jesse gets up in the middle of the night, doesn't mean we let her play. We don't. We tell her go to sleep! She's gets mad and trys again, but we tell her again to go to sleep and she gives in to us -- because we are in charge not her.

I should have been more specific and I apologize for that. The dog is lonely there is no question about that. Maybe try bringing the dog in bed with you. That may work, but reprimanding a dog by getting them an anti-bark collar is not the right choice. You need to train your dog and the anti bark collar is the easy way out. It doesn't necessarily teach your dog anything.
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Last edited by jesse's mommy; March 10th, 2006 at 11:41 AM.
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  #6  
Old March 10th, 2006, 11:36 AM
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Agree with jesse's mom

My male is a barker - just not at night luckily and I've thought about a bark collar but I'm too afraid of it hurting him to use it!
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  #7  
Old March 10th, 2006, 11:58 AM
Vanillamom Vanillamom is offline
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Dear Jesse's mommy and les:

My puppy is not a barker, and I thought NO about using a bark-control collar (Citronella). But I had to promise the property manager to use one. My puppy doesn't bark even when she is left alone, as long as she has total freedom to roam in the apartment. Once she gets housebroken, I will give her freedom and won't use the collar. If my pups sleeps with me on my bed, of course, I won't use it. I do not want to use it.... It is awful... I know.....

Thank you again for your reples.
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  #8  
Old March 17th, 2006, 11:38 AM
chi babies chi babies is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by les
Agree with jesse's mom

My male is a barker - just not at night luckily and I've thought about a bark collar but I'm too afraid of it hurting him to use it!
Ive got a barker as well...............tried the citronella collar and the shock collar.Thought they would work.............Nope he just takes it.So there sitting in a cupboard.I even read the instructions that came with either of them again to see if i wasnt doing something right.
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Old March 10th, 2006, 12:24 PM
Vanillamom Vanillamom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jesse's mommy
The only reason I say this is because there has already been a post about this dog disturbing the neighbors.

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=23955.
Dear Jesse's mommy:

I am sorry if I offended you with my posting.... After the posting you cited, I bought a pen, and it has been working so well. I could decide to buy it with the advice i got from the response to my posting. I am very grateful to those who gave me some advice on the problem.

The guy living next to me placed one of three complaints - because my dog was barking and barking in the crate. Since I started using the pen, I do not think he never hears my dog barking now - well, that's because I get up before my dog starts barking. As long as I get up to approach her, she is quiet. Actually, he told the super that he didn't hear my dog barking at night. (the other two were from the young guy living upstairs of me who is called a chronic complainer by the other tenants)

This time, I am not asking for advice on how I can stop my dog from barking..... I could not make myself understood, so it is my fault... I am not a native English speaker, so pardon my poor English expressions...

I just do not want to offend anyone here, because the people gathering to the forum are generous enough to take some time to help someone out. And I have been saved by the people who responded to my postings.

I just wanted to explain this... I am sorry here again about my posting if you are offended....

Last edited by Vanillamom; March 10th, 2006 at 12:59 PM.
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  #10  
Old March 10th, 2006, 01:15 PM
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Vanillamom,

I apologize for coming across so strong. I by no means am offended by anything you wrote as I hope you are not offended either. I just wanted to point out in the other post that Tenderfoot addressed this particular issue there. Tenderfoot is a highly respected trainer here and you can pretty much count on that advice to be top notch. Hopefully that helps.
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Old March 10th, 2006, 11:50 AM
Vanillamom Vanillamom is offline
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Dear jessi76 & les,

Thank you for your messages - If I hear an opinion like yours, I can convince myself that sleeping with my puppy should be a good thing. I think I wanted to hear that. I know my puppy will eventually grow out of it (hopefully) like yours and other puppies. I will consider bringing my pup to my bed from tonight - and I will make sure she pees before going to bed!

Thanks for sharing your experience.
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  #12  
Old March 10th, 2006, 11:14 AM
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jessi76 jessi76 is offline
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I'd definately go w/ option #2. My dog sleeps like a rock when he sleeps WITH me in the bed, with a warm body to snuggle with. In fact, when I started letting him (not every night) I found he slept longer than me! He used to want to go out at the crack of dawn, but then when he slept with us, I'd have to drag him out when my alarm went off.

now he's older (1 yr) and he sleeps most of the night in his crate, but he comes up to sleep w/ me VERY early in the morning (like 4am) - he doesn't wake me, but when I wake up I have a snuggly pup wedged in next to me. and now.... I get up, use the bathroom, make coffee, etc... and he's still laying in bed giving me the "do I HAVE to get up?" look.

good luck! I hope you find a solution and don't lose your apartment.
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  #13  
Old March 17th, 2006, 11:46 AM
chi babies chi babies is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanillamom
Hi, I posted three times before, and every time I did, I got very helpful advice and suggestions - I appreciated those who responded to my postings. So here I am again looking for some advice on another problem with my puppy!

My puppy is now 3.5 months old. She does not sleep through the night. Even when she is really, really tried before going to bed (for example, after she spend the whole day playing with some other dogs), she wakes up in the middle of the night and whines/barks to wake me up. I used to put her into the crate during the night, and she barked and barked almost through the night. Then I bought a play pen and put her in it during the night, and it worked well a while. Now she wakes up in the middle of the night, starts playing (I can hear her chewing), and then starts whining/barking.

I do not mind being disturbed by her, but I can't let her bark during the night, because I live in an apartment and just received a "notice to terminate a tenancy early", which means I could be evicted if my dog keeps disturbing my neighbors. I do not want to move because my pup has adjusted to the present circumstances. So what I recently do is get up as soon as she starts whines/barks, get her out of the pen, and sleep on the floor with her. She plays for a while, sleeps beside me, plays again, and sleeps again, until I get up. Do I have to worry about her sleeping problem??? Or is this common in puppies?

I have two options now, and I do not know which I should take - I would like to hear your opinion, please. If my idea is wrong, could you correct it?

Option 1: Putting the bark-control collar during the night and keeping her in the pen - this is the advice from one of my friends. She as well as I think that it is very important that night is sleeping time, not play time. Anyway, I tried putting the collar on her during the night. She whined intermittently, several times, but never barked. So it worked. However, she stays in the pen during the day, and wears the collar as well. I really feel bad about putting it on her during the night too.

Option 2: Sleeping with her on my bed - I've hesitated to do this, because she hasn't been housebroken yet. Peeing on my bed is not my main concern, but if I let her keep peeing outside the designated spot, that will cause further delay in housebreaking. However, like I mentioned above, she spends lots of time in the pen, although I spend the whole evening with her every day and the whole weekends. So I think it would be a good idea to spend time with her in bed, as recommended by the expert in this forum (thank you, tenderfoot!) Oh, by the way, my pup can hold pee during the night if she needs to - if I let her go during the night, she pees on the floor though....

What should I prioritize for her training? Could anyone help me decided how to deal with this problem?

Thanks!!
Where is her pen located in the house?
We just got a new chi a couple mos ago.Our other dogs sleep on our king bed.So we decided with this new baby to put his crate on a wooden chest in our room.As i figured he would cry and whine being alone somewhere else in the house at night.It worked, he can see the others in the room and he is content sleeping in his crate.He never whines or anything.The first night he did, of course a new home and all.But after that..........been just awesome.
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