Sleep

[bannerd]

Okay, Koda is seven months old and he usually sleeps pretty well. I have his crate next to my bed and I have to crate him at night because he will chew my sheets and just about everything because of his heavy teething in the back. The last few nights have been really intense where he will cry and water will pour out of his mouth like crazy. I didn't get any sleep at all that night and even with me constantly telling him "Quiet" and using the spray bottle he wanted to be near me. I have a fan now that I turn on and he passed out that night and didn't get up till 8am. I finally had a full nights sleep and then some! Well last night was interesting and I'm not sure what the deal is. We played ball all day yesterday and I was reading a book till 11pm. I had to carry him to his crate because he was passed out and didn't want to "come" or move. I put him in his crate and he got up and just fell asleep and snored a bit. I went to bed at 11pm and he woke up at 2am crying. He wouldn't go out to pee and I figured he didn't have to so I put him back in the crate. Around 5am he stopped and went back to sleep (two hours of crying).. I had to get up at 5:30am..

Should he not be in the same room as me? I've tried different rooms in my house and he just cries all night. It's hard for me to figure out if it's getting better or worse. Sometimes he doesn't do it at all... other times I don't know why.

[Lauren]

I wish I had some great answers for you but all I can offer is my sympathy. Being awakened by a fussy baby is no fun. When Xena was in the height of her awful teething I would wet and freeze washcloths for her to chew on. That seemed to help. Frozen carrots also work for some (worked wonders on my human babies!) but she didn't like them.

Good luck! I hope you are both sleeping again soon!

[Schlussdibusti]

Poor Koda, he must be in really huge pain. Hopefully it is the teething and not something else. I never experienced a dog passed out and needed to be carried in his crate at that young age.

We go to a holistic vet who is also an animal communicator. I know some will but we had amazing results. My big Lab, Ben, was once so tensed up that he had a hard time lifting his head. Turns out he hated the not-so-good neighborhood we lived in and ,as the leader of the dog pack, feeling responsible for guarding and watching the house. He was all stressed out about it. But he rose to the occasion, and he and his buddy Jerry caught a guy at 3 AM in our back yard. I don't know exactlly what happened out there, only the dogs stopped barking....and the guy was screaming running away.

[Raven]

I'm not going to be much help, especially with crate location, but....

Others, I'm sure, will have some great advice with teething teenagers, but I noticed you said he slept better like a baby after rigorous exercise one day, just didn't sleep all night through. That level of activity you probably can't keep up all day, every day, but what about a rigorous work out before YOU are ready for bed?

Funny, but not funny, FYI: I had spray bottle training kind of backfire on me once. Ended up I had to spray a treatment from the vet on the dog--and somehow I thought that that dog was going to be a willing participant...! The chances of using sprays, I suppose, as treatments are slim, but it was the first time I tried spray bottle training for something so OF COURSE the vet was going to prescribe a spray medication!

If he tears at the sheets because of teething, Lauren offered some good thoughts. It sounds, though, like he only does it when you're in bed???? So, isn't that a training thing? I think I'm confused.

[Dutchringgirl]

sorry to hear. I had Sadie crated downstairs in my living room and she always had an antler with her, I have moose antlers for them because they dont splinter. I have carried her into her crate a few times, when she passes out she is OUT!! The first few months at night after she "went to bed" she would bark for about 20 minutes, I would ignore her and she would stop, and that was it until morning. Her teething never got as bad as Koda, so she always slept through the night and would chew in the morning.

Sorry I cant offer any other things that might help.

[leih merigian]

I think where they sleep at nite is a personal preference thing, but I totally prefer having mine in the bedroom with me. In the crate until she was old/mature enough to sleep on her own bed, right next to mine where her crate had been.

I've been very lucky, as my DS only makes noise in a crate if something is seriously amiss...after the first week or so of just ignoring her when she was fussing (and I was sure she didn't need to go out).

good luck!

[bannerd]

The first night I had him I put him in the crate down stairs. He flipped out that night and cried and cried so I decided to let him sleep with me the next night. The crying stopped! I woke up that morning and he chewed my carpet, watch, sheets and then some of my sweat pants. I suspect that to happen and I have old sheets so I'm not to worried about it at all. I started to crate him after his electrical shock because he was very lucky on that one. For his safety I have crated him and it's been a month. It's interesting.. some nights he won't cry at all and then other nights he cries all night when I'm in the same room as him. Around bigger dogs he will sleep all night and doesn't care. He usually chews his bone or deer antler and works on it but I don't think his teeth are bothering him that bad. I think it's more anxiety of being right next to me. I can't even use the restroom without him sleeping next to the door. If I close the bedroom door he will cry all night because he knows I'm in there. I've done that twice and he will not leave.. eventually he falls asleep next to the door until I get up. He needs to know that I'm here for him but I need my space and I havn't yet figured out how to exactly do that as leader. I guess slowly but sure!

[leih merigian]

Keep him crated in the bedroom with you. If/when he starts up and won't stop, just quietly place a sheet over his crate. That should quiet him down. If he stays quiet, you can remove it, and if he starts up again, put it back on and leave it. In a few nites of doing this, he'll get with the program, if you're consistent about it. (Notice I didn't say to say anything to him...just quietly place the sheet over his crate so he can't see out at all.)

He's going to want to be with you, period. That's the breed.

[Dutchringgirl]

I have two brindles tied to my legs. Like Leih said, they just want to be with you, near you, touch you. I dont get much space but I love it. I agree with the sheet, I did do that with Sadie and it helped. Just ignore him though, dont say anything, "quiet" or "shh" or what ever. Just ignore.

[bannerd]

leih,

Thanks so much, I tried that last night and it worked so well. He cried for only a few seconds and fell asleep. I lifted the blanked up on the front and he was passed out. He got up at 2am and was crying and trying to break out of the crate... blanket back down and he passed out.

He's very sneaky.. If I take my eyes off him he's chewing something

I'm going to buy some huge bones for him today, should keep him busy for awhile.

[leih merigian]

leih,

Thanks so much, I tried that last night and it worked so well.

So glad it's working for you! (Note tho...a blanket may be too warm for covering a crate...especially in the summer. Sheets work really well )

The chewing? That's why you use the crate, of course! (My girl is a chewer, too, and the crate saved her life, believe me. By 18 months, she is mature enough not to need to be in one, so you have something to look forward to in time...)

[Schlussdibusti]

I am glad Leih's advise worked so well.
I was afraid something else was wrong because you wrote "he will cry and water will pour out of his mouth like crazy".

[vneerland]

I was afraid something else was wrong because you wrote "he will cry and water will pour out of his mouth like crazy".

That sounds like simple stress (panting)

I personally crate a lot of my dogs at night. Some are more resistent than others, but eventually, they all learn that you might as well accept it, since I never get a dog out when it is crying. (unless it is related to the need to relieve) If I know for sure that it is just whining to get out, I actually do eventually scold them. They get that message and it fixes the desire to be with me at that point in time. I will say that you are walking a bit of a tight rope though, since there is always the need to evaluate the reason for the fuss first and make the correct guess. 7 months is fairly old to be having teething woes, I fear that you are being trained and I am glad that the sheet is working.

[Dutchringgirl]

I just tried to get a video of Sadie falling asleep. But of course, no battery in the camera. Even though I have carpet people here, she is snoring. Thalie, of course is wide eyed and watching them. Sadie is laying full out on her side, her nose is over on her shoulder, snoring, then her head slowly falls back until... THUD her head hits the floor, still not waking up.

[Raven]

I wouldn't have thought of using a sheet for the dog. Makes sense. I'd used them with rescued birds to de-stress or minimize it and/or to prevent night-frights....

[bannerd]

I will say that you are walking a bit of a tight rope though, since there is always the need to evaluate the reason for the fuss first and make the correct guess. 7 months is fairly old to be having teething woes, I fear that you are being trained and I am glad that the sheet is working.

Are you saying I'm not capable to train the dog? Can you explain this?

[kchristy]

Merlin didn't like to be crated at all when we first got him either. He was over crated by his past owner, so he had issues. He is 4 months old now and is finally realizing the crate can be a good place Some of the things that I did was make sure to take him out right before he gets in the crate, so that if he is whining you know its not from needing to go out. The other thing I did was completely ignored him. If I was woke up in the morning to him barking, I would walk into the livingroom, right past him and never even look at him. I would feel so bad listening to him cry for what seemed like forever, but eventually he learned (weeks later, they don't give up easy) that it made no difference and he accepted it. I also fed him in his crate so that it was made as a positive place. I didn't shut the door while he was in there though, just sat the food in. Now at night he just walks right in there and lays down when he gets sleepy, I also try to keep his nylabone in there when I do shut the door. That way if he does get bored, maybe he will chew on it instead of cry. Hope all the advice from everyone works. It can make for horrible days when you have been up all night listening to your pup cry

[Schlussdibusti]

I will say that you are walking a bit of a tight rope though, since there is always the need to evaluate the reason for the fuss first and make the correct guess. 7 months is fairly old to be having teething woes, I fear that you are being trained and I am glad that the sheet is working.

Are you saying I'm not capable to train the dog? Can you explain this?

I did not write that. How did that quote look like a quote from me?

[bannerd]

No worries, I must have messed it up on edit

[Schlussdibusti]

good, almost thought Marco knows how to type.......