Every night after about 6 hours our one dog that is just over a year old black lab mix starts whinning and pawing at the door and won't stop until one of us get up. After I get up he get really excited for a couple of minutes then curls up and goes back to sleep. But by that time I'm usually awake. If we try to ignore him he just gets louder. Does anyone have any suggestions?
2007-12-31 05:49:53 · 9 answers · asked by unicorn9621 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
You should try sleeping next to him. He needs attention hes young, and hes lonely when hes trying to go to sleep.
2007-12-31 05:57:21 · answer #1 · answered by Kati. 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Let the dog sleep near where you are. If you use a cage that s/he likes, then put the cage near where you are. One of my dogs got so forlorn in a cage that he goes beserk and I don't have enough room for it in my bedroom. Also, I use a bedroom heater and don't want him to get burned on it. But if you are able to let him in, it probably increases the chance that you should brush his teeth regularly. I sanitize my dog's toothbrushes with a toothbrush sanitizer because they get filthy but DON'T forget which brushes are the dog's. Label them with permanent ink or choose a color that your family knows belongs to the dog.
Dogs are pack animals and don't like doing things solo. They look for their packmates. You could instruct the dog to lie down and go to sleep, and if the dog persists, then I suppose you could take him outside on a lead (without personal attention given to him) and instruct him to go potty. I guess there is a slight chance he is asking for that but when he sees you, he gets so excited that he loses interest.
You might give him before you go to bed a toy, a dog pillow on which to sleep, and lots of attention. Then maybe he'll be in a better position to last the entire night.
One thing is that different things work better for different dogs. You might need to learn the particulars of your dog.
2007-12-31 17:53:48 · answer #2 · answered by Robert B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try keeping the dog in a crate, or let it sleep with u. maybe u should let it go outside before bed, i do that with my dog, if the dog has been doing this every night since u got it, it could be that it misses it's mother. if u are not willing to let it sleep with u, or it misses it's mom, u could try putting a stuffed animal, similar to it's size where it sleeps, and sometimes a clock that ticks to reperesent a heartbeat. ive heard that works
2007-12-31 07:01:55 · answer #3 · answered by Hannah R 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every time you have opened the door for his, reinforces this behavior ! so it will take time and commitment and patience to undo this. Just be consistent, make sure he has gotten out to go potty first then DO not open the door. no matter what racuous he causes. But a crate is also a good option. Or you can train him to sleep in his pet bed in your room. perhaps he just longs to be close to his human pack.
2007-12-31 06:08:05 · answer #4 · answered by Rexydoberman 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is simple, the dog has learned that if he keeps at it you will get up so of course he continues.....and every time you do get up it reinforces to the dog that all he has to to do is keep whinning and you will come.
It's a self fufilling prophecy that the dog understands and unfortunately at the moment you don't.
All is not lost however because dogs do learn quickly, you HAVE to not go to the door and that way you teach the dog that even if he whines you WILL NOT come.
Then in exactly the same way as he is learning now he will learn that it isn't worth doing it and he will stop.
How to ignore it of course is the hard part and the answer to that has already been given...put the dog in a dog cage at night.
It will still whine sure but put it as far from your bedroom as possible so as to keep the noise down for you. It won't be able to paw at the door and eventually it will get the message.
You just need to stick with it and remember that you are in charge, not the dog.
2007-12-31 06:04:42 · answer #5 · answered by Angela D 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He keeps doing it because you keep getting up. He wins every time. No matter how hard it is, IGNORE HIM! You will probably lose sleep for a few nights, but hey, you already are, so what difference does it make?
Or put him in a crate, so he can't get to the door. He will probably make a ruckus, but again, ignore him!
Good luck!
2007-12-31 06:01:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He's training you. Don't let him. Put him in a crate and ignore him. He will learn to keep quiet at night. Just be more persistent than the dog.
2007-12-31 05:57:29 · answer #7 · answered by Glee 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Feed them in the morning instead of the evening.
2007-12-31 05:57:17 · answer #8 · answered by Darth Vader 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Put him in a crate at night so he can't get to the door to scratch it :-)
2007-12-31 05:53:27 · answer #9 · answered by Wanna succeed? Don't BYB 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋