If we can't handle the dog's sleeping habits...

MalVough · October 2014

... it's going to be Armageddon when the LO gets here.

We screwed up with our dog by letting her sleep on our bed. We're now working on getting her to sleep on the dog bed because the human bed is gonna get a lot more crowded.

The last two months, she's done nothing but pace and lick incessantly. She also asks to go potty in the middle of the night, although we know she can go 8 hours without a potty break (when we're at work).

Every night turns into yelling, "Allie, bedtime! Allie, off! Allie, no!" It drives me fucking bonkers. Can we not yell at the dog for 2 seconds and have a peaceful night?!

I let her on the bed for 30 seconds tonight, because I just didn't give a fuck at the moment. And the SO went nuclear and volunteered himself to the couch. Alrighty then.

This is mostly a venting post. But I'm still worried about how we'll manage with a screaming LO and extreme exhaustion.

FrecklesInside · October 2014

Hahahahahahaha. Yea.

As a mom with a terrible sleeper who at 18 months only just now FINALLY goes down in her crib without screaming and STILL ends up in our bed half the time around 4 or 5 AM and STILL won't go down peacefully for nap....

lolz.

thejucheidea · October 2014

All three of our dogs sleep in bed with us, so we had to upgrade from a queen to a king. The positive thing is that once they're asleep, unless there's a storm, they are dead to the world. I'm hoping that everything will go well once we have the co-sleeper next to the bed...

jennadanielle87 · October 2014

We're in the same boat. We're trying to get them to sleep in their crates at night since we don't let them out unsupervised for longer than a few hours. Even though they always nap in their crates (door open) it's the end of the effing world if they have to sleep there at night. Maybe we'll try the dog beds in our room.

blinksmb · October 2014

jennadanielle87 said:
We're in the same boat. We're trying to get them to sleep in their crates at night since we don't let them out unsupervised for longer than a few hours. Even though they always nap in their crates (door open) it's the end of the effing world if they have to sleep there at night. Maybe we'll try the dog beds in our room.

I used to have a problem with my dogs waking up WAY too early and screaming in their kennels. This sounds kinda nuts but the one thing that fixed it was putting an alarm clock in their room. They figured out fairly quickly that they don't get to come out until the alarm goes off. Also they got treats when they went in the kennels and if they stayed silent until being let out. They're little silent kennel angels now so I removed the alarm : )

blinksmb · October 2014

Also, I say "screaming" in their kennels because they're both huskies. If you've ever lived with a husky you know what I mean. It can't really qualify as barking in my book since it sounds closer to yodeling than anything else.

jennadanielle87 · October 2014

I have a boxer who is extremely good at screaming

My husky german x rescue is an angel. The alarm clock is a great idea. I'm going to try it out tonight. Thanks so much !

mergish · October 2014

Hahaha- this makes me laugh. I just ordered a king sized bed. Hopefully it's big enough for all.

Tazminian · October 2014

It sounds like crate training might be your only option, if they are not going to be in bed with you when the baby comes. It might seem like they hate it at first, but you'll find that they really like it after a while. My dog loves his crate. He goes to it anytime he wants to be left alone (He is a terrier, so he can be a bit temperamental). It took about month to get him trained, but I think we are all much happier now. Most dogs won't go to the bathroom in the crate, no matter how much they whine to get out. The exception being pound puppies, because they are force to shit in their sleeping quarters while they are there.

blinksmb · October 2014

jennadanielle87 said:
I have a boxer who is extremely good at screaming My husky german x rescue is an angel. The alarm clock is a great idea. I'm going to try it out tonight. Thanks so much !

Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work immediately (obviously). Even if it does work, they're probably still going to scream it out for a bit before they catch on. Fingers crossed that this is the solution for you too!!

Aeml1985 · October 2014

krystaloowho said:

I find my dogs are most restless when they sleep in our room so I wanted them to find another spot to snooze. My SO is a professional dog trainer and normally our dogs sleep where they want- but since baby is coming we have moved their beds to the living room to be further from us so we are not tripping over them in the night and their restlessness doesn't disturb us or the baby. She has taught them "park it" on their bed and will just stay there through the night. They like their kennels as well and will sleep in them from time to time no problem since we worked really hard for them to have a positive association.

I have a question for your SO if she is willing to give some advice: I have 2 shih tzus who have been crate "trained" for a year. They dont seem to mind going in when we leave (they get treats and the radio turned on) and they don't bark when we leave. They went to my parents for a a week (same routine) and messed in their kennel (they're both in one kennel that is large). Since we have them back at home they are peeing in their kennel despite being taken out immediately before they go in. Sometimes they pee in a short period (less than 3 hours). I know they can hold their pee for 8+ hours because when I'm home with them I only take them out 3-4 times a day. I've washed all their kennel bedding with bleach on sanitize cycle after each accident (not daily but close). How do I get them back to holding their pee 8+ hours in the kennel while DH is at work?

MalVough · October 2014

Tazminian said:
It sounds like crate training might be your only option, if they are not going to be in bed with you when the baby comes. It might seem like they hate it at first, but you'll find that they really like it after a while. My dog loves his crate. He goes to it anytime he wants to be left alone (He is a terrier, so he can be a bit temperamental). It took about month to get him trained, but I think we are all much happier now. Most dogs won't go to the bathroom in the crate, no matter how much they whine to get out. The exception being pound puppies, because they are force to shit in their sleeping quarters while they are there.

She used to be crate trained. But once she was housebroken, we stopped. Crates for an 80lb. Rottweiler are ginormous, and our house/rooms just aren't that big. She knows where she has to sleep. She's just stubborn.

tinypug · October 2014

My dogs sleep in bed with us and I've also been worrying about what we're going to do when the baby arrives. The bed is too high for them to jump up (we have an ottoman "step" for them) but I just don't have the heart to take it away. I know it's our own fault for allowing them to sleep in bed so I feel guilty about ending it for no reason that they'd understand. I also really do enjoy feeling them snuggled up next to me at night... hopefully it won't end up being a problem.

MalVough · October 2014

katydid2014 said:
Our yorkie is 14 and mostly deaf. She has always slept with me in the bed. She cannot jump up and down off of our current bed because of the height so when she wants down in the middle of the night she goes to the edge and whines until I put her down (my husband never wakes up to her whining). Then after she does her business or gets water, she comes back to my side of the bed and whines until I pick her up. It is usually just a single whimper and/or a single scratch on the bed frame because she knows that's all it takes to get my attention.

She went a few months without waking up at all during the night and recently she has gotten into the habit of getting up twice at night. It is annoying but 9 times out of 10 I get up to pee too. It will be hard when my stomach gets big to lean over the bed to pick her up off the floor. I've been trying to think of putting something next to the bed that she could jump on to get up herself, like an ottoman.

They make doggie stairs! My FIL has one for his pug/westie mix. Her little legs can't manage the leap.

MalVough · October 2014

tinypug said:
My dogs sleep in bed with us and I've also been worrying about what we're going to do when the baby arrives. The bed is too high for them to jump up (we have an ottoman "step" for them) but I just don't have the heart to take it away. I know it's our own fault for allowing them to sleep in bed so I feel guilty about ending it for no reason that they'd understand. I also really do enjoy feeling them snuggled up next to me at night... hopefully it won't end up being a problem.

I definitely feel the guilt. Growing up, I always had an animal in my bed, whether it be a cat or dog. The SO is a different story. He gets annoyed easily at night if he can't move his covers or if there's a dog blocking him from stretching a leg just right. I personally don't care if Allie sleeps with us. The SO is the big grump about it :o3

labgrand2012 · October 2014

We have two 80+ dogs who we also let sleep on the bed. Even though we will not be co-sleeping we did train them to no longer be on the bed at night. I think it helped that we did our training during the summer where it was hot and they did not like being on the bed as much. They each have a bed in our room and that is where they are mostly. One dog likes to lay at the end of the bed, but has been stepped on a few times by DH when he gets up. She quickly learned to jump up once he gets out of bed, or risk being stepped on. We do allow them on the bed while we are reading or watching tv and getting ready for bed so we have a quick cuddle, but once we are read to go to sleep and turn the lights out they are told to get on their bed.

But yes, the licking, scratching and smacking their lips is beyond annoying. It does get better as they become more comfortable sleeping on their own beds. We did even put a blanket by my side of the bed for my snuggle bug so he was still close to me but not on the bed during the transition. It did take over 2 months before they became comfortable not being on the bed and still sneak up on during the night every now and then. But a quick tap and they are off.

Maybe try one of your blankets on their bed so that it smells like you and they have something to snuggle with?

MalVough · October 2014

@5099peperk‌ We tried giving her two pieces of clothing, but she was like, "There's stuff on/near my bed! Wah!" (See picture). We then tried a sheet we used when we gave her messy cow bones (washed, of course). That worked for a night, but the peacefulness was short lived.

We taught her "bed time," so she knows to go to her bed and lay down. If we tell her "off," she knows to get off the bed. But she's friggin persistent!

MalVough · October 2014

@5099peperk‌ Forgot the picture...

Bostonchelle · October 2014

My dog always slept in the bed with us (8 years!) when my first came home from the hospital he was so annoyed that everyone was up in the middle of the night and that I was nursing in the bed that he left, went to sleep on his dog bed and hasn't been back since! Maybe you will be so lucky!

almeyer2013 · October 2014

We tried letting our dog sleep with us a few times, but we end up never making it through the night and he ends up back in the crate anyhow. We have a pretty steady routine at night and morning, so the crate works for us.
I love the idea of the alarm clock. Might need to try that because he always wakes us up with his crying.

Amy and Jay · October 2014

My dog always slept in my bed but when I had my first baby she immediately just stopped on her own and started sleeping in her dog bed. It's like she knew she needed to give us space. Maybe your dog will adjust the behavior once LO is here.

jpavenski · October 2014

We crate trained my dog until around 9 months then we let him in bed with us. Luckily he sleeps good & we both love sleeping with him. But after my son was born & he was waking up for a feeding at 5 then going back to sleep I started feeding the dog at that time instead of 7 or 8 since my son would sleep past that. Well then my son started sleeping later & later & my dog still wanted to eat at that time (a pug, they are chunky guys lol). I was able to brake him of the habit in like 2 or 3 days by just putting him in the living room & not feeding him. He caught on quick & wanted back in the bed! Now that he is older I have to drag him outta bed, good luck with your fur baby!