Nightime crying

[Borgan]

Hi Everyone,

Luna the Princess is back to square one - for months she's been sleeping through the night, and now she wakes up at 3am & 6am and HOWLS and scratches at her crate. We've thought maybe she's thirsty & has to go pee (she was & did), but when we put her back in the crate, she carries on FOREVER.

I'm inclined to let her go and ignore her, but our neighbours up & down need to sleep. So the only way to keep her quiet is to go to her or let her sleep on the bed, which only reinforce her bad behavior. We've also tried this thing called "dominance down" where you lay the dog down on its side and hold its front and hind legs down (sounds brutal, I know, but it doesn't hurt her - it just shows her whose in control)...this used to make her listen, but now she doesn't care.

Any advice?

Thanks so much,
Brooke.

[Borgan]

Great idea! Thankyou! Maybe I will get some sleep tonight;)

[miss heather]

Hey Brooke...

How did this work out for you?
Stella has taken up whining and crying ALL night after being a perfect angel for the first month. :(
I mean... I completely understand her desire to be snuggled up with us constantly... but Thomas and I need some sleep!

Tonight, I'm breakin out the nail clippers.... evilicon

[Carolyn]

Brooke....not a problem in our house. IF Abby and Ferris don't get to sleep on the bed...THEY get the nail clippers to use on us. :D

Couldn't resist, Brooke. Am not trying to make light of your problem.....well maybe a wee bit.

Carolyn

Roosje's advice is always good.

[miss heather]

Boooo.... we are having no luck with the clipping nails thing... she just gets pouty and tries even harder to get on the bed (her ultimate goal).
After several nights of very little sleep I am becoming very tempted to just let her sleep with us.
Would this completely undo her crate training?
She is fine on the potty front, so I'm not worried about that... but when we leave her home alone in the crate will she whine and cry and carry on if she's not sleeping in there anymore?
So far her crying has been limited to when she's in the crate and we are home (we know because we tape recorded her a few times after we left.... silence).
We try to make her crate as inviting and as happy a place as possible - I even still give her some of her meals in there - but alas, she just wants to cuddle on the bed.
Does everyone else's frenchies sleep in the bed with them?

I'm so tired! What to do?!

[miss heather]

I usually put a piece of clothing in her crate when we go out... but I haven't tried it at night. The crate is in our bedroom, so maybe moving it is something we'll have to try. She always goes potty right before bed and first thing when she gets up, so I'm not too concerned about her having to get up in the middle of the night... that almost never happens. I'd prefer her to sleep in her crate than in the bed... it's so funny that Lily thinks of her crate as bed time only while Stella thinks of it as everything but! Thanks for the imput.