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LONG! Non-Aggressive Dominance issues

926 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  mylittledeers 
We had this trouble with Brady...it took a few months to get him onto our sleeping schedule. My husband and I took turns going downstairs to the couch with him so the other could get a decent night of sleep. Once downstairs, Brady would sleep fine. I think he was learning that if he stayed awake or woke us up, it meant he could go downstairs...that being said, we all pushed through a couple of bad weeks of sleep and made him stay upstairs all night. Now that he is better, we occassionally have slumber parties on the couch with him and he seems to do fine with that.
So, that being said...keep everything very routine. Try not to switch your techniques, etc. Push through a couple bad weeks and just make her sleep (or play) in the room all night (minus potty breaks) rather than alternating between the couch, crate and room. During those couple of bad weeks, don't hesitate to assist with the first few nights by laying on the floor with her for a little while until she's sleepy. Hold a chew bone for her to play with while she gets sleepy, hold it so she can't start running around with it. Brady would chew till he fell asleep.  Then wean off that as she gets more comfortable. We also allowed absolutely NO playing in our bedroom for a long time. I wanted them to associate that room with sleep, not with play.
Also, wear her out before bedtime. For a while, do LONG walks or frisbee sessions in the evening and try not to let her doze too much before bed.
Once her sleep schedule straightens out, then this all relaxes, but just until she adjusts herself, give it a shot. Good luck!
 
Honestly, if she is bored by the tougher bones, it may be better bc she will bore herself to sleep basically if she has nothing else to chew on. Brady will chew for 5 or 10 minutes then settle in and doze off. Maybe dip it in a bit of peanut butter first and let her work in it...that way the PB will attract her to it and as she finishes that, maybe she will settle.  I found holding it did us better for a while because otherwise, he would start running around the room with it and fiddling with it. It was a good way just to get him to settle in. It will take a while...but just stick with it, it's the only way you will get there. Brady went from sleeping from about 9:30 pm until 1, getting up again at 2:30, 3:30 and being DONE sleeping at 4:30. Now, he sleeps from about 11 until 5:15 which our schedule. He occassionally wakes us up in the middle of the night for a potty run, but that's it. Also, as she becomes more house broken, you will be more comfortable with just letting her roam around the room in the middle of the night to find a new spot. Before, everytime either dog moved, I was WIDE awake and watching everything...now that they are housebroken, I know they will get my attention if they need to go out and don't worry anymore if theymove about the room for a few minutes stretching or relocating themselves.
 
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