Sleep deprived (me not the dog)

[kath209]

Hi all, not used this site but been a member for a while. My hound wont settle for long at night. He has been allowed on landing, in my bedroom, even on my bed but at every level he wont settle for long. I drew the line when he wanted the bed to himself! He now sleeps on landing again but cries then barks at least 3-4 times a night. I usually take him downstairs for a wee but now he doesnt want this and I cant understand what he wants. Its as if he just doesnt want me in bed, preferring me on the settee while he sleeps on his quilt in living room. He goes out am, afternoon and night time, when he will although he is now refusing to do this. Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted as so sleep deprived now, making mistakes at work.

[brooke1]

Hello and welcome - I'm sure more experienced members will come up with some answers for you but could he be cold? if so he needs some PJ's.

[ragsysmum]

Does he get enough exercise to be tired at night? Could he be cold or hungry? All mine and fosters snuggle down on furry duvets in the bedroom at night and never disturb us unless they are unwell.

[Flaperoo]

Has he been frightened by something?

[jodav]

Hi Kath - you must be feeling very fed up and tired, not nice at all. Have you always had this situation or has it gradually developed? You mention that your hound now refuses some walks, can you trace this back to an incident? Have you changed food? It sounds as if the routine has gone and like has been said, your dog is just not tired enough to rest or sleep for any length of time. It may be that you need some expert help from a trainer or behaviourist to get the walks re-started? A vet check may not go amiss as well. Also, puzzle feeders (available in Pets at Home) help to stimulate a dog's brain during the day making them tired If it were me I would be trying to re-establish some ground rules, reward good behaviour with high value treats quiet on the landing etc. Dogs pretty much always do better with routines and rules.
Hope this helps a little.

Jo x

[kath209]

Hi, thanks for all your responses and gonna try your ideas immediately. Would you believe it he slept from 12.30 till 6 today! Understandably he has found it difficult to make the transition as he had not lived in a house before except approx 5 days foster with an excellent woman. We (me and 2 dtrs also known as Wilbys hand maidens) seem to get to a good stage where he is behaving, then it all goes to pot. As already said, I think its our fault. You are right about ground rules, we all need to sit down to establish rules to suit us all. He has been difficult to walk since we adopted him, at first he would only go out with high levels of encouragement but would not go home the way we had come??? Also he's not too keen on hills?? But he has always stopped/frozen and has needed treats, encouragement, cuddles to continue, which is hard when its in the middle of the road. We live in a semi rural village but actually live on a busy main road, so fear of traffic is also a big consideration. I think he does need longer walks to tire him out but again difficult when he will only go so far. When we got him he had been emaciated and so we were concerned about his health/how far he could go/etc. He is now a picture of health, apart from the scars and a beauty to see so dont think he can use this excuse anymore. I have also been thinking about a crate on the landing, without closing the door - making it like his den - comfortable. He may respond to this. I understand about leaving the doors open but our house is old/high ceilings and would be hell to heat if we left all the doors open - hall is like a wind tunnel in Jan. May also invest in some PJ's for him. That said he is wonderful and we could never give him up. When Im a little better with the IT stuff I'll send a picture of the "Big W" to show him off. Sorry to rattle on but now feel a little better since read all your advice, so many thanks again

[julies]

Hi Kath

He sounds like a typical ex-racer just settling down ... nice cosy PJs are a must and you could search out some high backed dog beds (my house is the very draughty and the high sided dog beds have made a big difference to how warm mine are) .. you could try lifting him in the car and travelling to a quieter place to walk him .. if you find a nice quiet bridlepath or footapth he should be encouraged to mooch and sniff out all the smells .. I use a harness and a horses lunge line to give mine some freedom but wear gloves and don't let him go too far till you guage if he'll suddenly shoot off .. you can take some liver etc with you and practice his recall tho my baggage is very obedient on the long line and very deaf off it LOL

Once you get him into a nice routine all should settle down tho (apologies if you know this) please warn your girls that his bed is his own and he shouldn't be disturbed when on it and greys can sleep with their eyes open so they muct be careful and leave him well alone whne he's on there

Good luck with him and always ask the forum .. we've all got quite norty hounds so have usually worked thro most 'problems'

Julie

[harrie]

I can definitely sympathise! I had a thread going on here called Losing the plot...early morning wake up calls. Mine have been settled longer but just decided that sleeping through the night was not the done thing any more. I had some great advice from the folks on here and also the vet was brilliant. Wendy has now settled a lot, and although I can still hear her pacing at night recently, she doesn't whine now until gone 6 which is OK. Leaving the radio on has been brilliant for her.

My stairs are open and polished (same at my old house so they've never been up them and I'd prefer not to encourage it here, as the landing isn't very big and I really don't want them in my bedroom).

She's only started pacing the last couple of nights, so am thinking she might be chilly this time. Another thing I've found really helps is making sure they both go out last thing for a quick walk for all the necessary stuff :-) I appreciate this might be tricky though if yours doesn't want to go out much yet.

My old boy hound used to hate walking somewhere he'd already been too. He recognised it really easily and just slowed down to a highly embarrassing snail pace! If we kept him going somewhere 'new' he was fine. If it was somewhere brand new he loved it!

We never really know what's happened to them before. I've been so lucky with my latest two, although I think someone forgot to tell them they are ageing greyhounds. Ronnie is a big puppy and Wendy is more terrier-like in some ways, and more kangaroo-like in others!

I'm glad you have all fallen in love though, it will really help you through the tricky moments when you love him to bits and can forgive him his funny ways. I agree too about laying down your ground rules, this will help him understand what's what.

Look forwrad to some piccies

[Flaperoo]

I think a crate is a good idea - I have not had a greyhound who didn't like them. Redge arrived 9 days ago and immediately walked into a crate ;D. All the expence of comfy beds, and various paraphrenalia and the thing he wants most is a crate ;D ;D.

It won't cure all the problems but it should cure the sleep problem. If he is cold buy some PJ's. I have only ever used them at night on sick or elderly dogs but they certainly quite happily wear them and even with a sick dog it has helped them sleep

On the walking issues is he picking up anxiety from you? You exuding anxiety about will he/won't he go out and him misinterpreting your anxiety and translating this into anxiety about going out. On a practical note walk him at an even pace on a short lead and just keep going wih out any reaction to him. On an emotional level all the issues you are carring in your head ARE being translated down the lead.

Where do you live? Are their people nearby with steady confident dogs you can arrange to walk with on a regular basis? This will really help, because dogs can communicate between each other far better than we can with them.

What is his name?

Good luck and please keep us informed

Maryx

[Glenn]

Hi. Had a very similar problem when I first adopted egor. He would cry all night and get really stressed. After a good few months of sleepless nights. We eventually discovered that the issue was the noise the fridge made when the fan turned on. We got a clicker and used this to get him used to unusual noises we clicked and have him a treat and a big fuss. Maybe something is worrying your hound. Maybe an unusual noise or something.

Egor now sleeps right through the night... And day on one of his beds downstairs.

Hope this helps