sleep deprivation!!!

[lesley]

any ideas appreciated please before i go mad!!

alfie has been crated since day one and never had any problems with him. he has his food and water and bed in there. goes in during the day to eat and drink but he has a bed in living room so during the day he either sleeps in that or on couch (my fault....i know) I've never had any problems getting him into his crate at night, he walks in fine and used to sleep right through til he heard anyone up and around.

however the last couple wks he's taken to waking up at any point during the night, usually around 4 and barking. i cant ignore him and leave him barking cos my neighbour wouldnt be too happy but he's impossible to get to settle back down. he's not needing out or fed, he just wants company. if u let him out he just curls up on the couch next to me and falls asleep!!!! i've been on holiday the last few days and he wasnt great for my parents (dad was on shifts so mum ended up just sleeping downstairs with him to keep him quiet) Im not up for doing that!!!
Last night he was barking as soon as i put him in. i went back down to him but didnt speak to him or play with him or let him out. he settled eventuallyand i got back to bed... he slept til about 6 but then started barking again and after about an hr of trying not to i had to give i and let him out cos i was shattered!

im fairly sure its my fault cos he's with someone pretty much 24hrs a day. i take him to work with me or if i dont hes with my parents. during the day he sleeps literally all day, no matter how much u try to make him play (usually cuddled up with someone cos he will spend his whole day trying to get as close to you as possible). he gets exercised anywhere between an hr (if im working) to 2-3 hrs at weekends so hes getting plenty walks. but i think he's just go too used to being with us and now not wanting to be on his own.

hes driving me mad!! please if anyone has any suggestions?

[Lisa/Colin]

Only thing I can think of is to start from scratch again. Put the crate up in your room at night? and gradually move it into the hall then back downstairs again. Also during the day if you are in you could feed him in it and leave him for a short time, leave the room, go upstairs so he cant see you.

Its really hard not to go to let him out when he is barking, maybe you could have a word with your neighbour and try to explain that your trying to sort it out and dont want to disturb her.

Sorry I dont have much experience with the crate, Millie pretty much loves hers. Since she got banned from the couch she sleeps in there most of the time with the door open if we are around.

Lisa

[Suzanne H]

Yup he's sussed that barking gets him what he wants ie someone to cosy in to.

It is just a question of teaching him that barking is waste of time and you may need some patience from your neighbours while you work this out.

Our pup is 8 months old and we had a terrible time with him - turns out he had a urine infection and was genuinely needing out 6 six times a night, but once that was sorted he had got himself into a bad habit. Our older dog was exactly the same.

Get some ear plugs for you and the neighbour and ignore him. They soon get the message. If you're firm with it, it will only take a couple of nights assuming he's old enough to last all night.

After that you may get a few 4am barks.....but if they know that you will not come, they go back to sleep. But the longer you leave it, the longer it will take to sort.

And never enter the room if they're barking. They do sleep a lot, so I wouldn't worry about that. Try some training as well to tire him out and if you keep the bed times and waking times fairly consistent they get into a routine.

You just have to bite the bullet - we now get a full night's sleep. He still barks too early at the weekend - but he's quite rightly pointing out that he's not needing a long lie.

[John Thomson]

[lesley]

hmmm he does seem to know how to get what he wants.

He woke me 3 times last night but although I went downstairs to stop him barking I never went to the crate or spoke to him and he cried a bit but settled back down. I'll try leaving him as much as I can and hopefully he'll get the message b4 I go mad!