Adult dog won't sleep through the night. Help preserve mom's sanity please?
I've read through the old questions that ask about this but most are about puppies and don't offer any help for this situation.
We have a 3 1/2 year old chihuahua who won't sleep through the night. He is crate trained and sleeps in the crate in my parents' bedroom at night. There is a blanket over three sides and the top of the crate because if he sees anything he starts yapping. He has a bed and blanket inside the crate. He has never been the best sleeper but it is really driving my mom insane lately. He will only sleep or be quiet for a short amount of time before going into a whining fit. Letting him sleep in the bed doesn't work because he gets down and causes trouble. He doesn't have to pee or get a drink, because if you let him out, again he just wanders around and gets into stuff. Ignoring him doesn't work at all. My mom has tried that for the better part of three years. Scolding him or shaking a can with coins in it will shut him up temporarily but he resumes whining after a little bit. I've tried walking him for 2-3 miles in the evening to wear him out, and it doesn't work. The vet said to try melatonin and/or benadryl. He's on both and it's not helping at all. (He's only 5 lbs so he probably metabolizes it too quickly...)
Does anyone have any advice?
1unnessecaryliedown422010-06-12T07:39:47Z
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O my.......wowzers........Try covering the cage completely, Walk him during a hot day, to wear him out even more. Leave him outside ALL day. Try giving him a toy???? Maybe he'll be occupied.....But if he's like my dogs, naw, toys won't really work. Our vet prescribed us with this pill that makes the two girl dogs relax when we go to cut their nails. Maybe that'll get'em all loopy and tried. Maybe bathe him as well. maybe the dog won't like this, so after a couple weeks or so, he'll just be like, "FINE!!! I'LL GO 2 SLEEP ON MY OWN NOW!!!!' I really hope this helps because this was a VERY difficult question to answer. . . Good Luck with that one......lolxxx
Something I noticed is that while my son was still needing to be fed right before bed and during the night his diapers were always wetter. Now that he eats dinner, has a drink, and usually doesn't drink a whole lot until morning, his diapers stay drier. Once babies start sleeping through the night they usually aren't taking in as much liquid before bed, so they pee less. Still, we often change our 12 month old before we go to bed. We try to change him at his bedtime, but depending on how the day goes, that would be just 45 minutes since his last diaper change. He is really good about being changed while he is asleep. He will fuss a bit and be annoyed, but he never wakes up fully, so he falls back asleep really well. On those days that we don't change him he usually is fine since he just sometimes drinks during the night. Also, he weights barely 22 pounds (ish) and is wearing size 4 diapers, so they are a bit big for him (and hold a bit more).
Along with the exercise, try some mental stimulation to tire him out mentally - just as important as tiring them physically. Nina Ottosen makes some great dog board games you can play together but even something as simple as a treat ball or kong where he has to engage his brain to get the treat would tire him a bit more - you could pop a kong or the like in the crate with him at night so he has an outlet for his energy when he wakes, try stuffing the kong with kong paste or peanut butter and freezing it for a few hours to make it last longer
Well, letting him out did work, because he got out.
The only way to get through this is with some ear plugs and ignoring him. Just before he accepts the new rules, he will try REALLY hard, and if you mum gives in then, she's strongly reinforced the behavior.
Exercise in the evening, be sure he peed and pooped, and ignore it. Best of luck.
I would say get that anti bark thing. It is like a glade plug in type thing, but for dogs. It emits a sent that is similar to one given off by a mother dog to calm her pups. It helps A LOT. I forget what it is called, by try looking it up. It comes in a perfume type bottle and wipes as well as the plug in. :)
EDIT: It is called "Comfort Zone with DAP" Googled it. :)