Need your help and wisdom here!....Hudson's at it again.
Whenever he goes into his crate now he goes willingly but about a minute later begins barking hysterically and won't stop. We wait it out (he'll go at it for five to ten solid minutes - it's heartbreaking) then he'll settle. At night, however, he's been waking up every hour or so and doing this. Usually he'll settle back down, but he never seems to get back into a full sleep. My husband broke down and took him out last night, but he didn't want to/need to do anything - just sniffed the wind. Then he had a frenzied drink (the last thing we want in the middle of the night). We tried letting him settle on the floor (not my favourite idea as he's a chewer and gets himself into trouble) but he wouldn't. We brought him into the bed, but he started chomping fingers and ended up back in the crate where he howled hourly from that point on. At six this morning I took him for a very long walk (he was not great on leash - more disagreeable than usual), and that seemed to tire him out. He napped on the floor for an hour and stayed out of trouble, but later today we need to go out and he'll need to be crated for an hour or two, and I know he'll be freaking out as we leave (which is actually easier as I know he's still doing it, but I won't have to hear it). What could possibly have caused this behaviour and how do we correct it? He was sleeping through the night a few weeks ago (okay, from ten pm to four thirty, but we were okay with that...) but now...yikes. And we're all getting tired and cranky here now. Not just him. HELP! |
|
|
| Is the crate in your bedroom? If not, I would definitely try putting it in your bedroom at night.
If you leave during the day, put something to keep him busy in the cage, like a Kong. |
| The crate is by the bed, aimed toward us, and close by. He will be welcome on the bed when he is (a) housebroken fully; and (b) able to be trusted NOT to destroy the house/land himself in the hospital when he chews/eats things. We've already had one scare (and the accompanying three hundred dollar vet bill).
He's had two long walks today (both in the pouring rain - no way I could skip those and live with him) and I had to put him in the kennel for ten minutes so I could shower. That's it. He wailed the entire time, and I could hear him even WITH the water running a floor below. By the end of my shower I was tearing up. He sounds so devastated. I tried to wait for a quiet moment to let him out (so that he wouldn't think that barking was the way to get out of the crate) but any time he sensed me to be on the same floor of the house he started up again. I ended up letting him out (despite the barking) because it was starting to feel like I was punishing him by dragging it out. All our past sheepies barked at the mailman or at dogs walking past on the street, but I've NEVER had one that barks like this all the time. I am at a total loss. What do I do? We're definitely back to an evil cycle, and I'm having such a hard time staying positive. |
| Try covering up the crate with a towel. I found Nigel was terrible in the airline crate, but was fine in the wire crate. I also put a womb sounds bear in there with him. Nigel still sleeps in his crate for now. At 1 yr+ of age he still eats innappropriate items. Someday he will be free...I hope. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|