Advice needed re Cockapoo sleeping
Discussion
Hi,
We have a female Cockapoo who's 2 1/4 years old.
Due to circumstances she was sleeping in our bedroom until about 9 months ago. On occasions we have put her into a local dog boarding place and due to her separation anxiety, she was disturbing the owners during the night so much that they almost said they couldn't take her any more.
Over a few months we have managed to get her to sleep in the front room with the door closed.
For about a month now she is barking, making noises and scratching at the door, usually from 5am. These can be as early as 2.30am. When we check on her she is excited ready for play! We have tried being nice, putting her outside for a toilet (nothing usually happens), being firm, being very firm etc. If we ignore her it will carry on for hours, and if we check on her, call down the stairs, bang on the bedroom floor, she might stop for a few minutes, but it will start again within a few minutes. This is virtually every day and probably getting worse.
We take her out 8pm to 9pm ish for a walk and a number 2. When she goes to bed at approx 10.30pm to 11pm she goes quite happily to bed.
There is a farm down the road that makes early starts, but we are sure it's not this, and we are sure no other noises are disturbing her.
Because we have worked from home for many years, she does suffer from separation anxiety when we go out and leave her. A camera shows us what is going on and we are fortunate that we are in a detached house with the noise that she makes.
Does anybody have any suggestions as we are both getting increasingly more tired!
Thanks,
Andy
We have a female Cockapoo who's 2 1/4 years old.
Due to circumstances she was sleeping in our bedroom until about 9 months ago. On occasions we have put her into a local dog boarding place and due to her separation anxiety, she was disturbing the owners during the night so much that they almost said they couldn't take her any more.
Over a few months we have managed to get her to sleep in the front room with the door closed.
For about a month now she is barking, making noises and scratching at the door, usually from 5am. These can be as early as 2.30am. When we check on her she is excited ready for play! We have tried being nice, putting her outside for a toilet (nothing usually happens), being firm, being very firm etc. If we ignore her it will carry on for hours, and if we check on her, call down the stairs, bang on the bedroom floor, she might stop for a few minutes, but it will start again within a few minutes. This is virtually every day and probably getting worse.
We take her out 8pm to 9pm ish for a walk and a number 2. When she goes to bed at approx 10.30pm to 11pm she goes quite happily to bed.
There is a farm down the road that makes early starts, but we are sure it's not this, and we are sure no other noises are disturbing her.
Because we have worked from home for many years, she does suffer from separation anxiety when we go out and leave her. A camera shows us what is going on and we are fortunate that we are in a detached house with the noise that she makes.
Does anybody have any suggestions as we are both getting increasingly more tired!
Thanks,
Andy
Just wondering - did she sleep without disturbing you when she was in your bedroom? Why did you decide to move her downstairs? Was it part of trying to address the separation anxiety?
I know dogs sleeping in the bedroom is not for everyone - I've had dogs sleeping in my bedroom (and on my bed) previously, but the ones I have now sleep downstairs.
If you don't want her in the bedroom, could you have some sort of compromise, with her sleeping on the landing for example (maybe with a baby gate across your bedroom door?
ETA - I have had some success in the past with DAP (collars and diffusers). Might be worth a try?
I know dogs sleeping in the bedroom is not for everyone - I've had dogs sleeping in my bedroom (and on my bed) previously, but the ones I have now sleep downstairs.
If you don't want her in the bedroom, could you have some sort of compromise, with her sleeping on the landing for example (maybe with a baby gate across your bedroom door?
ETA - I have had some success in the past with DAP (collars and diffusers). Might be worth a try?
Edited by moorx on Saturday 18th February 16:33
We have never allowed ours to sleep.upstairs with us but as I'm retired and my wife works from home we have been very conscious of the clingyness so deliberately go out and leave him on his own.
We do this whether we need to go out or not as its for his benefit really.
Initially we would go for an hour and just gradually build it up from there. Of course he gives us the poor sad love sick puppy eyes when we leave but over the last year he has gradually become to understand that we always return to him and is quite relaxed about the separation now.
Got to a point where we could leave him for several.hours now without an issue.
I think they just get used tobthe pack being around them 24/7 and stress if that changes so just take little steps at a time over a longer period.
If you do try deliberately going out and leaving them just make sure its not the same time on the same days as its prob best not to create another set routine. Just mix it up a bit.
That's all I can offer but it def helped with out little bugger
We do this whether we need to go out or not as its for his benefit really.
Initially we would go for an hour and just gradually build it up from there. Of course he gives us the poor sad love sick puppy eyes when we leave but over the last year he has gradually become to understand that we always return to him and is quite relaxed about the separation now.
Got to a point where we could leave him for several.hours now without an issue.
I think they just get used tobthe pack being around them 24/7 and stress if that changes so just take little steps at a time over a longer period.
If you do try deliberately going out and leaving them just make sure its not the same time on the same days as its prob best not to create another set routine. Just mix it up a bit.
That's all I can offer but it def helped with out little bugger
Cockers can be one of the most stubborn dogs you can have, we've got a perfect example here.
However, is yours cage trained, if so what about compromising by putting a cage in the bedroom and having her in there with you but caged to sleep, ours spend time on the bed with us and are happy enough to be caged for sleep.
Unless a dog is a working animal employed by you as it were, to you its a pet and friend, to the dog you are the be all and end all of its life, she depends on you for everything and she wants to be with you.
If you want to continue with her sleeping downstairs, try and push back gradually your answering her crying, if she fires up at 6am don't let her out till 6.15 and gradually extend that till it gets to a more reasonable time, they quickly learn that whining and yapping get them attention, so when you do go to her try and do it when she isn't making a noise.
Also is she allowed to run free when out on walkies, Spaniels need lots of sniffing and searching in all sorts of undergrowth and cover.
However, is yours cage trained, if so what about compromising by putting a cage in the bedroom and having her in there with you but caged to sleep, ours spend time on the bed with us and are happy enough to be caged for sleep.
Unless a dog is a working animal employed by you as it were, to you its a pet and friend, to the dog you are the be all and end all of its life, she depends on you for everything and she wants to be with you.
If you want to continue with her sleeping downstairs, try and push back gradually your answering her crying, if she fires up at 6am don't let her out till 6.15 and gradually extend that till it gets to a more reasonable time, they quickly learn that whining and yapping get them attention, so when you do go to her try and do it when she isn't making a noise.
Also is she allowed to run free when out on walkies, Spaniels need lots of sniffing and searching in all sorts of undergrowth and cover.
For the first year and a half of it’s life, it has been sleeping with you i.e. with it’s pack. I wonder if she feels as though she’s being punished by no longer being allowed to sleep with the pack?
I’m not sure I understand why she is not allowed to sleep with you now. I think you may have a struggle for her to accept being separated at night when for her formative years she was allowed to sleep with you and which she probably still sees as being “normal”.
Is it such a bad thing for her to sleep in your bedroom? Our dogs have free roam of the house but have always chosen to sleep in our bedroom (rarely on the bed but more often in their own beds where they can see us and know that we are there).
I’m not sure I understand why she is not allowed to sleep with you now. I think you may have a struggle for her to accept being separated at night when for her formative years she was allowed to sleep with you and which she probably still sees as being “normal”.
Is it such a bad thing for her to sleep in your bedroom? Our dogs have free roam of the house but have always chosen to sleep in our bedroom (rarely on the bed but more often in their own beds where they can see us and know that we are there).
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