My dog won’t sleep unless he sleeps in my bed.

This statement is usually made from a new puppy/dog owner. It’s so hard for humans to work 65 hours a week, spend time with our family, household chores, shopping, and many more things. Plus if you have a husband and or kids too, getting a puppy is almost un-thinkable. I think even for a single person, getting a new puppy/dog can be very draining. Sadly when you get a new puppy/dog they come with several bad behaviors like, jumping, play biting, pulling you during walks and the hardest one on us humans is, the puppy not sleeping all night or howling and barking in their crate. Why won’t he shut up? Because he wants to be with you and unless he/she has been taught how to be good and rest in their crate, you will loose countless hours of sleep. Here is an example of how puppy/dog ends up in your bed. After a long day at work, stopping at the grocery store, picking up prescriptions and dinner so you don’t have to cook and now your finally home and have a few hours to spend with your puppy/dog and you couldn’t be happier. After lots of playtime with your doggie it’s now time to go to bed. So you put the doggie in their crate and head off to bed. Suddenly the whining, crying, barking, scratching or a smelly accident is lingering towards your room, you finally jump up out of bed with both arms flying, more bad words are coming out of your mouth than sailor and your thinking as you approach the crate, Why did I get a puppy? So you get them all cleaned up, take them for a walk, spend a little time with him and try the whole go to bed think again. But you don’t even make it back to your room before it all begins again and the clock reads 2:00am. So what do you do? Turn around and go get that puppy and let him/her sleep with you so you can get at least a few hours of sleep before work. It’s easy for us humans to cave and give in, because we have to rest or we become unbearable to be around.

Just like some humans do when they have a new baby. What’s the first thing some do after about 3 nights without sleep; scoop that precious baby up and put them in our bed for just a few hours of sleep. Now keep in mind if done occasionally it doesn’t become a habit but the best thing to do is crate train your dog. Remember anything done consistently over a 30 to 45 day period will become a habit whether it is for humans or puppies/dogs. So if you sleep with your dog consistently you are teaching your puppy/dog how to sleep in the bed not how to sleep in their crate which is really where your puppy/dog wants to be, they just don’t know it until they are taught through repetition and consistency. When you mix things up you are only confusing the puppy/dog. Keep in mind that before us humans domesticated the dog, they lived in the wild and were den (crate) animals. Another reason to NOT let your doggie sleep with you is in most causes the dog will become more challenging towards you or anyone that sleep in your bed. Over time the puppy/dog will feel equal to you and sometimes you might ask them to move or give them a little push and they growl or snap. What the puppy/dog is saying is, who are you to tell me to move, I am equal to you and now I want to challenge you on the alpha position. And if or when they don’t when it might take days or months for it to reappear but when this behavior is displayed and not corrected for it or if the human just gets up and sleeps on the couch it can consume and agonize a dog owner. Sound silly? And if things continue to not be addressed many other behavior problems could arise like, separation anxiety, aggression, fear of others, know obedience response, possibly even marking through out the house. So how do you teach a puppy/dog how to love their crate?

You’ll have to come back later to find out.

 Tammy Molnar

CERTIFIED DOG TRAINER