Well, we're moving into new territory with Madison the senile wiener. After having yet another night of little sleep, we have decided that she must go..........from sleeping with us. I set up a cozy sleeping area in the laundry room for little Roo with a low ex-pen and bedding and a quilt over the top to make it cavelike. We fished around and found some earplugs for each of us (sorry Bonnie, none for you) and so began our first night. Bonnie did fairly well (we closed her crate, which resides in our room, so she wouldn't run around and scratch on Maddie's door). Little Miss, however, was NOT amused. She cried and cried and finally settled in only to really start doggerwauling around 3:00 AM. I did not hear this, because I had my ear plugs in. :grin: Mark told me about it, because he had taken his out. She was settled back down when the alarm went off this morning. Bonnie could hardly wait to greet her and JUMPED on the quilt "tent" and collapsed it. No one was hurt in this maneuver. I had left a towel out in front of the bed for middle of the night wees but, of course, she chose to pee in her bed. I'll have to try pee pads or something and am open to suggestions.
My real question here is, how long does this discontent usually last? Won't she, after a while, get used to things and want to sleep in her cave? Any thoughts? I thought about putting Bonnie in with her (she wouldn't mind since she is crate trained), but because of Bonnie's history of getting p.o.'d at her past companions for being overly noisy, I didn't want to chance it, even though they snuggle together fine during the day. Should I chance housing them together or be safe?
Your input would be most welcome.
PS....Whew! I talked to my neighbor on the side of the laundry room. Thank goodness, she didn't hear any of the ruckus and thanked me for being concerned. GLAD OF THAT!
I don't have many answers here. I can't remember, but did you try anything too help her sleep at night? Since she is older and senile, I don't know how easily she will make the adjustment. She is confused already and I wonder if it will make it worse. Of course, you could just be seeing some doxie stubborness. With Molly the bulldog, we are lucky enough to have the laziness factor come into play. When she gets too restless, one of us can get up, pop her on the rear (it seems to be her reset button) and get her back on the bed. Usually, she will go back to snoring. Sometimes we do have it where she is back up and restless again a little while later, but once again, we just hit the reset button.
Since Maddie sees the vet for the dental tomorrow, see if he has any ideas for something you can give her at night. I just keep thinking of her being confused. It's not daytime, but suddenly she is in the room that she goes in when you leave for work. I wish I had an answer
I would try her with Bonnie in with her. She might figure its like you two went out and just left them at home kind of thing. It might have just made things worse for her knowing Bonnie was in the room with you guys.
Fin's like that, if he is in his crate while we are eating or something he will whine, but if he knows the cat is with us or if he sees her he gots NUTS.
How about Rescue Remedy for animals ? have you talked to the vet about the sleeping problem? With Gizmo I put doggie diapers on her worked used baby wipes on her to wipe her down so she would not have pee on her. Did you try the Salmon Oil or oils for their coats suppose to help with senile puppers the Omega oils is what I was trying to think of. May just take some time maybe do her like a puppy wind up alarm clock with a snugley stuffed bear one of the fake sheep skin ones ? I sorry your pupper went that direction it is sad to watch them get in that shape been there with Gizmo. Rays & Hugs,
I would try sleeping them together as she may just think its normal.
Roberta
Well, now we're going to Plan B. Since Maddie seemed so distressed and screeched non-stop from about 2 AM to the time the alarm went off, we had to rethink this thing.
Since the Roo had a Teeth Cleaning appt today, I really quizzed the vet on what would be most helpful to her. Dr. Winkler is really into holistic remedies and the one thing she recommended was Melatonin, the same kind that people take. She also recommended some other things to try. And we came up with a compromise. We bought a Maddie sized crate and put it right next to Bonnie's in the bedroom on my side of the bed. We will keep both open and if she wants to prowl around and squeak and squeal, she can do that. We are still donning our earplugs for the squeaks. I am hoping that since she will 1) be with us, she won't screech. 2)be with Bonnie close-by to "discipline" she won't screech. Hopin' this works because we hoomans NEED OUR SLEEP. We are both walking zombies today.
Please support us with your continued well wishes. It means a lot. OR.......give us any ideas you might have for this little thing we're having.
PS.....Roo did good with her dental and Bonnie was very gentle with her when she got home. Bonnie really seemed to miss her.
That sounds like an idea that might work. I love how Bonnie will discipline Maddie! I hope you were able to get some sleep last night!
Well, I got 4 blessed hours of sleep last night. Between 12-4, the Roo conked out. At 4, it was potty and squeek time again. Tonight, we try some stuff Dr. Winkler gave us and hopefully the next nights will be better. I've developed a cold and feel like I've been run over by a truck but I'm here at the ol' 8-5 desk as usual. Please send good calming thoughts to my Maddie as she transitions into Certified Senile Wiener.
Maddie really likes sleeping with Bonnie and I'm hoping that Bonnie will take up more of the "motherly" role with her. IF we put Maddie in Bonnie's crate FIRST and then let Bon come in, things are peachy. Bonnie, however, is not very welcoming when she is in the crate first and the Roo wants to join her. We'll see if we can help that sleeping arrangement along a bit tonight.
I sure hope you guys get it worked out. I never minded getting up at 2am as long as they took care of business, and went right back to bed. As I am getting older, I also need to take care of business at that time. You may want to make sure that you don't give cues that it's time to start the day. ie - turning lights on, having a snack, drink or anything else you might be doing that you are not aware of.
As for the crate thing, according to Ceaser, who ever is in the space first owns the space. That's why he trains that all humans go through a door first. When ever we have doggies guests, I let them in the yard first, then I bring out Parker. If I do it the other way Parker is crusty.