Another dog question/problem...

HipChick

HipChick

Cathlete
Last time I posted about our cute & furry little fella, Skippy, it was because he was jumping up on us & we couldn't seem to break him of that habit. Well, thanks to the advice I got here (turn sharply & quickly, say "OFF" instead of "down", & also ignore him until he calms down), he's doing much better. He still forgets at times but he's doing much better than before. Now we have a new problem. Well, it's not really new because he's been doing it ever since we stopped crating him almost a year ago but it's definitely a problem we need to address & correct... as quickly as possible. He wakes us up in the middle of the night & sometimes he doesn't even go out. Of course, it's fine if he needs to do some business but this morning, for instance, he woke us up at 4:30 & wouldn't even go outside. He hasn't had an accident in the house since we first started leaving him out of his crate... & he can easily make it for the entire day while we're at work if my DH can't get home (although he usually visits the house several times a day unless his schedule won't permit for some unusual reason). Last night, we went to bed around 10:00 so it had only been about 6 1/2 hours but like I said, he didn't even go out when my DH got up (which upset him, for obvious reasons). So... any advice? Sometimes he DOES need to go out so I was thinking about changing his eating schedule but the times that he wakes us up for no apparent reason has me totally baffled. He also doesn't usually do it over the weekends so does that mean he just needs extra attention & companionship? Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated! We would love to get some sleep during the week... :)
 
Kel,

We have had this problem with various doggies since we became furry parents. :) It is irritating. Do you guys have the ability to install a dog door? We put one in after our Husky drove us both Captain Insano with the in and out all day and all night. Everybody told us that we were mad. They said he would be up all night barking at everything but that wasn't the case. Our new baby, Athena, took to the door well. She had a couple of late night barks but all in all has done well and is just now sleeping through the night. BTW, there is plenty of activity for them to bark @ at night (deer, skunks, stray dogs, weird people... :) ).

Just a thought...I don't know if it is possible for you guys.

Good luck!
 
Kel - try crating him only at night again. It could be that he's not feeling secure and feels that he has to guard the entire house. Some nights he's fine with that duty, and some nights, he wants help. If you crate him, he'll think he only needs to guard the crate and will be more secure. If you crate him a few times and this does not work, obviously it was not the right solution, but it's a start.
 
Thanks guys...

Melissa - Like you & your DH, we're nearly at our wits end. I mean, this is one of the reasons we don't have children - LOL - & we need some sleep for goodness sakes. Honestly, a doggie door hasn't occurred to me. I guess I need to talk to my DH about it since he tends to get more irritated about it than I do. I really don't mind that much because the alternative (messing in the house) would be much worse, IMO. But he's a small dog (around 25 pounds) so I don't think we'd have to put in a very large door (I know my DH would be concerned about security) & his barking has calmed down substantially too so I don't think that would be much of a problem... unless there was actually something out there (& in that case, I'd be glad for the barking). Oh... wait a minute... we don't have anything but glass door leading outside! Oooh, I don't think this will work now. This is probably a dumb question but do you know if there's any way to put one in a glass door?

Christine - The main reason we ended up de-crating him is because he was obviously very distressed in the cage. We were originally told that he was crate trained but he soiled it every time we put him in it, he cried (not barking or whining, it actually sounded like he was crying) whenever we put him in it (the neighbors even said they could hear him), he moved the crate occasionally, & he even bent the thick metal walls. So we ended up deducting that he hated the crate so we made him a little "home" in our bedroom at first & eventually allowed him full run of the house. Now he's happy as a lark so I just can't imagine trying to put him back in there now. I know that really does seem like the easist & best solution but I just don't think it will work in this case. Any other ideas... at all?
 
Hi Kel,

You mention that Skippy doesn't do this on the weekends. Could it be that he's getting a lot more exercise on the weekends than during the week, so he's sleeping better through the night?

We take Rascal to a doggie daycare once a week and he sleeps like a log for a day or two afterward. Just a thought...
 
Melissa,

Yes! One of our doors is a sliding glass door (downstairs & probably the preferred doggie door) & the other one is a french door. How cool! This might just work after all... Thanks again!
 
Gayle,

Aha! You just might be onto something here. My DH & I do construction on Saturdays (rental properties) so Skippy is running around constantly. He's either on alert, guarding us & barking if anyone comes around, or else he's scared of all the noise (sawing, hammering, etc.). So he's absolutely worn out by the time we get back home. This makes so much sense & seems so obvious now, I can't believe I didn't think of it. So he sleeps better on the weekends because he gets more exercise. Huh! Either we figure out a way for him to get more exercise during the week (???) or we go with the doggie door. Now I just need to talk to DH... Thanks for your help!
 
Kel - sorry - I would never put a dog who hates crates back into a crate. I assumed he was happy in there. My apologies.


For exercise - you can always try doggie day care a day or two a week - it totally wears out Jimmy, and that's tough to do.
 
Christine,

Oh my goodness, no need to apologize. In fact, since we were told he was crate trained, it took us awhile to figure it out. We thought the environment or something wasn't right but it turned out to be his crate all along. It certainly seemed like the best suggestion, I'm sure.

I'll definitely talk to my DH about doggie day care. There's a nice one not far from where I work so I could probably drop him off on my way in & pick him up on my way home. When he goes out in the yard by himself, he just lies there & looks around but if we go out with him, he runs like the wind. Have I mentioned before that he's part mini-greyhound? Those breeds tend to be sort of hyper anyway so I'm sure he can use a lot of exercise...

Thanks again... to everyone!:)
 
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