Help! We need some sleep!
We have had Ein for a couple weeks now, and he was doing just fine throughout the night. A few days ago, he started whining and barking loudly when I put the gate up between the kitchen and living room like I do every night. He usually just lies down and watches us sleep in the bedroom, and in the morning I take him out to do his business. There were never any messes from the night before.
Now when the gate goes us, it's a big deal. Ein starts growling and circling and jumping up on the gate. He eventually calms down after an hour or so, but wakes us up every few hours to remind us he's still there. In the morning there are puddles everywhere and after I take him out he'll come back in and either poo or pee AGAIN on the carpet, right in front of us.
We aren't getting any sleep anymore. I love Ein to death and couldn't part with him. I just can't understand this new behavior, he was being such a good boy before. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Now when the gate goes us, it's a big deal. Ein starts growling and circling and jumping up on the gate. He eventually calms down after an hour or so, but wakes us up every few hours to remind us he's still there. In the morning there are puddles everywhere and after I take him out he'll come back in and either poo or pee AGAIN on the carpet, right in front of us.
We aren't getting any sleep anymore. I love Ein to death and couldn't part with him. I just can't understand this new behavior, he was being such a good boy before. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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I agree with Katy's suggestions. At his age, he should be able to sleep through the night without any accidents, but with the problems you're having I would treat him like a young puppy. A kennel long enough for him to stretch out in may make him feel more secure, and he will be less inclined to potty in a small confined kennel. If you do move him into your bedroom, that should also help. You might have to get up in the middle of the night to take him out for a few nights or week to get him back on the right track of only pottying outside.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Crate training is the way to go, until your pup is 9 months - 1 yo, he is not physically capable of holding long then 8 hours, the kidneys are not developed yet. so by crate training him, you're teaching him to hold.
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Permalink Reply by Ju Lo on
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I had a similar problem with my Theo. He sleeps in a crate, so I didn't have the accident issues, but Theo used to sleep through the night with no problem, and recently he started waking up in the middle of the night, wanting out of his crate. For the peeing, it sounds like it's behavioral (stress-related?), but just in case it's not, are you picking up his water at night? I pick up Theo's water about 2 hours before bedtime (you might want to limit it to just an hour before if Ein is really young, Theo is 6 months), and make sure he pees before I put him in his crate for the night. That way he's got nothing to have an accident with! :) I would also suggest a crate. It might seem like you're giving Ein more freedom, but dogs actually prefer the comfort of a den-like environment when they sleep. Just make sure to get the right size, not too big (so there's no room to pee) and not too small (so he has room to stretch out).
For the barking I did two things. First I tried a citronella collar for two or three days. When he barked at night he got a spray in the face. After that he stopped barking and started crying, which still woke me up. For the next few nights I let him out to pee, then put him right back in his crate. After that he stopped the behavior all together because it didn't ever yeild what he considered a reward (no attention).
Keep us posted!
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Permalink Reply by Kitty's Corner on
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kitty has been sleeping in a crate kennel since we got her at 10weeks old.And, at a year old now,she continues to sleep in it and she likes it.Idrape some kind of cover over it,also.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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My dogs always sleep in their kennels and they never used the potty in their otherwise they'd get it on themselves and who wants that? lol! As for the barking and whining a lot of people say to ignore it but for me that never worked and we crate trained 3 puppies. They need to feel secure and that they're not being abandoned so at first I kept them in the room where we were and if they started whining I'd drape my hand over the bed into the box they were in until they calmed down. They didn't get the crate till they were a little bigger but they've never not slept in some kind of containment area. Anway, I did have trouble with one dog that we fostered. She was a military working dog and the trainer just told me to ignore her whining at night and she'd realize it was pointless and stop. Well, after 2 weeks of little to no sleep because of extreme yelping, whining and barking all night-all the while COMPLETELY ignoring her-we couldn't take it anymore and sent her back. The trainer agreed to crate train her for us and it turns out she did the same thing there. One day the trainer just whacked the front of the kennel with her hand and said NO and the dog miraculously stopped. That's all it took.So when we got her back we had a couple of nights where we'd whack the kennel and she knew that meant barking was bad and she stopped. She just didn't understand and ignoring her was useless because she was scared and confused so that's why she barked. She just needed to be told what to do. I think you just need to find a way of making it very clear that behavior is unwanted-and I definately recommend a crate for sleep time. Good luck!
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