Dealing with Your Dog’s Sleeping Habits

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Dealing with your Dog's Sleeping Habits

sleeping dog If you’ve never owned a dog, you don’t tend to think about the ramifications to your own sleeping habits much. Puppies are very impressionable and will start to learn certain things based on how you live your daily life, very specifically when and where to sleep. If you weren’t prepared to adjust your own sleeping schedule, or make sure your pup knows where the boundaries are, you’ll need to be prepared to make some adjustments. Here are some things to consider when dealing with your dog’s sleeping habits.

An exhausted dog is a happy dog, and when we say “exhausted,” we mean a dog that’s gotten plenty of exercise during the day. It’s a very common problem to have a dog that’s wide awake when you’re trying to crawl into bed, resulting in a match of wits against a hyperactive canine. Spoiler: you won’t win. That’s why one of the best things you can do for yourself and your dog is to ensure they are getting a good workout during the active hours of the days, or that they have a method of getting out their extra energy on their own. Those without a lot of time, a laser pointer does wonders to get your dog a lot of back-and-forth running in a quick amount of time.

When bringing a dog up from a puppy, you’ll also want to decide where he’ll be sleeping. A lot of dog owners say that their pooh will not be allowed to sleep on the bed with them, but that gets overturned rather quickly if no set alternative plan is taught in its place. Most dogs want to be right up there on the bed with you, so unless you’ve been actively teaching them to sleep on their own bed, you’re out of luck for a while.

Should you prefer your own space when sleeping, set up a specific location in your house or the bedroom itself that will be designated as the dog’s bed, then encourage them through repeated instances of showing them to their bed and training them to lay down. Don’t let up on this, otherwise they’ll just assume they can get away with whatever they want. A good alternative is a kennel or crate set up to have a little bed inside, or a separate room with a dog bed laid out. Consistency is key here. Changing up the order of things will confuse your dog and may result in late night howlings as they don’t understand the adjustment at all.

One option is to put your dog out in the backyard at night, though this should only be done if a certain group of conditions can be met. First, you’ll want to make sure you have a backyard that’s fenced in, specifically a fence that your dog can’t leap over or dig under. Next, you’ll want to make sure your dog isn’t usually the howling or barking type, otherwise they could be up all night annoying the neighbors. Also, you’ll want to prepare for the climate of your area, so while it’s necessary to have a specific enclosed shelter for the dog, be it a doghouse or kennel, you’ll need to change things depending on how rainy, windy, or cold it gets during the night. You don’t want to leave your dog out every night when the temperature is cold enough to freeze them, even in their doghouse.

No matter what you do, just make sure you’re doing it out of love. If you’re adopting a puppy and don’t want to make any sacrifices whatsoever, you may want to look elsewhere for companionship. Your dog will want to sleep in the bed next to you, so be ready to determine just how far you’d like to enforce the rules.