[Cavendish]

Hi all, as some of you know I have recently got Freddie, he is great, we have had him for a few days now, at night when we go to bed we lock him in the kitchen with his dog bed and water etc to affirm to him that this is where you sleep, however he really does not like it, he barks and scratches at the door. so in an effort to get some sleep and not pee off the next door neighbour he has been sleeping in our room but not on the bed. that spot is reserved for the cat!.

We were expecting this type of behaviour, but I wanted to ask for advice on how we can placate and get hiim used to sleeping in the kitchen. He calms down completely when we let him in with us.

I have read that by letting him out of the kitchen during the night we are inadvertantly enforcing the barking and scratching behaviour as he can view it as a reward for barking and scratching?...

I realise that he is still getting used to us and the house, so we are not expecting him to settle right into a routine straight away, also he is used to having other dogs about and probably more human contact during the day, so that could be another contributing factor.

Any advice regarding techniques to stop this would be greatly appreciated, it is as much of a learning curve for me as it is for him.

Adam

[lachlanandmarcus]

You have said the answer right there in your post - you know you are rewarding him for the barking and scratching.....:-)

just like with a toddler who wont go to sleep you HAVE to keep with it and ignore the noise - it is much quicker in the long run.

you could chat to neighbours and warn them, if they know it is for a limited period of training they will probably tolerate it; if they just hear barking for hours and you havent told them it is a temporary thing they will think its permanent and get annoyed.

[Cavendish]

Hi lachlanandmarcus, we both thought that ignoring him would be the best option, just thought that there might be another technique we could use or one that works well with the ignoring technique?....

when we are at work he is left on his own for quite a long time, he has the use of the garden, utility and kitchen as we have a dog flap, I presume that this would help in getting him used to being in there on his own and maybe to stop barking and scratching?... the length of time spent on his own I mean.

[Bionic]

Cavendish,
I can't really offer advice but only to say that we let our dog in the bedroom at night (in his own bed) and he is fantastic.  Sometimes wakes us with his snoring  but other than that he only wakes if he is desperate to go out, which is rare.

If Freddie is being left on his own for long periods during the day it would seem that he just wants to spend some time with you at night.

There are several dog experts on this forum so I am sure one of them will be able to give you some more constructive advice.

Sally

[Cavendish]

Hi Sally, we thought the same, as he is still new to us and us to him I think he just wants to spend time with us. he does spend all evening with us until we go to bed. and to be fare he was very quiet on the nights he has slept in with us.

But I still would prefer him to sleep in the kitchen rather then in with us.

[HelenVF]

Sorry, I can't help as we have 2 border terriers and a lurcher on/in our bed lol.

Helen

[Sylvia]

What's wrong with a dog in the bedroom? He'll sleep better, you'll sleep better. Dogs don't only tell you when there's something wrong, they'll also let you know that everything is well. A great comfort is a dog

[robert waddell]

the dog cant understand why it is part of the family during the day and locked away at night on its own

[Mammyshaz]

What about an indoor dog cage. That way he can start off being placed in it during the day while you are in the same room, with treats. Extending the time he is locked in the crate while u are there then leaving him for very short periods while going into another room.
This way the crate is a nice place where he is not always left alone. Extending the time left and finally left in here at night, given a treat as you leave him.
Definitely ignore any contact at all when he makes a noise or barks.  And no contact for a good few minutes when you return.
It's not goi g to be an overnight cure but start as you mean to go on.perseverance will win the day. 

Once he starts sleeping in the bedroom, it is going to be hard to teach him to sleep elsewhere. 

[doganjo]

What's wrong with a dog in the bedroom? He'll sleep better, you'll sleep better. Dogs don't only tell you when there's something wrong, they'll also let you know that everything is well. A great comfort is a dog

My sentiments exactly.

[Cavendish]

Thanks for all of the advice.

the main reason we do not want him in the bedroom at the moment is due to the cat, she is nowhere near to being comfortable with him yet, so in order for all of us to get some sleep it is best at this stage to keep him down stairs.

We did keep him in the kitchen last night, there was some barking and scratching at the door but much less then previous nights, it may be that he is starting to get used to being in there?, he is now using his dog bed which is good and a sign to us that he is starting to feel less stressed about moving in with us, we hope.

If it really is a problem for him to sleep in the kitchen then we might get him to sleep outside our bedroom, as we can put up a child gate.

We spend as much time with him as possible when we are at home, even when he poo's all over the carpet as he did last night when he got a scare from the cat trying to swipe at his nose but instead the cat lacerated my arm, there was blood!.

we gave him lots of reassuring cuddles, he settled down for night at my feet and watched Tv with me.

[Moleskins]

It's a shame there's not more practical advice given here for this problem, anyone can suggest letting the dog sleep in the bedroom and rule the house, very nice but at the end of the day it's a dog and not all households revolve round the dog, nor should they any more than the entire house revolving round a child.

With our pup she went into a cage, on the first night the first time she barked I came down rattled the cage good and hard and 'growled' at her. The OH wondered what  on earth was going on, but that was the last we heard of the pup until we got up.

This is an older dog (?) so one thought would be to try to get it to spend time in it's bed in the kitchen during the day, just normal 'stay' stuff, if it comes out put it back in bed until you're ready to call it out, this behaviour reinforced with treats.

Tempting as it might be I wouldn't try to settle it in entirely by giving love and cuddles. Normal training, sit, lie down, stay etc etc with attention given when it's right. Hopefully this will dawn on the dog that this is the way things are done around here and it will fit into things on that basis.

The earlier advice about a cage is good, and will reduce the mess, dogs don't mess in their own space normally.
Probably a bit more difficult with an older dog, don't just put it in and shut the door, take your time introducing it to the cage and being shut into it. The dog will see it as a safe place  rather than a 'punishment cell' if you go slowly and use treats.

Have you read a good dog training book, you can pick up some good tips in there and pick out the things that fit in with you, your dog and your home. It's hard to give the full picture here and so hard for advice to be given that fits in with your life.

Good luck.

[Old Shep]

Last night sounds encouraging.  If you don't want him in the bedroom (and there's no reason why you should!) then stick at it.  Could he have a nice chewy each night to occupy him?  Can you practice leaving him alone on his bed for say half an hour? Then go back (if he's quiet) and reward him.  Do you leave him during the day at all? Start with short periods and gradually longer ones.  If he would settle in a cage then he has his own safe place away from the cat's claws.  I've known dogs blinded by cats so be careful   

Moleskins has posted whilst I was typing - so I apologise for any duplication here :-)

[Cavendish]

I dont have a dog training manual but I do have the internet and have been doing lots of research, all valid points you both make, thank you.

He is 11 months old, and not sure how much training he has really received prior to us picking him up from the foster carers. but he does respond to some commands but not all the time, mainly when we are goiong to feed him and if we have a treat as we have only had him for 4 nights its still very early days for training etc but it is something that we are getting started with straight away.

I have just been reading about leaving a chewable to occupy him while we leave him, also to leave him 5 minutes before we leave the house etc. this is something that we will be trying ASAP.

we have some time off at the end of this week so we will be trying to leave him for long periods of time throughout the day. 

[Bionic]

Cavendish,
The kong toys that you stuff with treats are very good as they will keep him occupied for some time.

Mind you, if your dog is anything like mine, he won't touch what you give him while you are out but waits until we get back to enjoy it in company.