# Sleeping and seperation anxiety



## Walker (Jan 24, 2012)

Hello all, 

Does anyone have any advice/wisdom regarding dogs sleeping in the bedroom and seperation anxiety?

My instinct is NOT to allow our dog to sleep in our bedroom as it suffers from seperation anxiety and I cannot envisage ever getting it out again without causing further distress.

Currently my wife is sleeping downstairs with the dog to ameliorate it's anxiety; which seems to have returned with a vengeance after first season/holiday period/phantom pregnancy. This appears to be working in soothing the dog; and has worked in the past with a phased withdrawal. However; should the phased withdrawal start from the bedroom? Or should we just let the dog sleep in the bedroom permanently?

Walker.


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## Walker (Jan 24, 2012)

BTW I am the husband of Sezra on this Forum if this situation sounds familiar...


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Hi you sound like you must be Mr Sezra? 

I also never even let previous dogs upstairs let alone in the bedroom but I am afraid to say I have caved and weller sleeps in our room, he is no bother though and happily jumps into his bed at night and we don't hear a peep from him until morning.


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Posted at the same time!!


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Hi Walker!

Nice to hear from the male side of the family  Although i'm afraid I have no experience of seperation anxiety OR phantom pregnancies.
Well not severe SA anyway if Poppy has it a bit, i'm not sure, she seems to be better now than when we used to leave her a month or so ago, but she could have it a bit.

What I do have experience of is the dogs sleeping in my bedroom lol, i'm afraid i'm a massive softy & don't mind it at all  It didn't start with Izzie until probably after the 6 month stage (she used to sleep in the kitchen), but one night she just went up with my mum & slept on the floor happily all night (dad didn't have the heart to make her go down) & it's continued from then on in either my room or my parents or sisters rooms lol.

We did try Poppy in the crate in the kitchen when she came home but she was terrible! Which is why I think she has a bit more SA that Izzie ever has... She howled the house down for well over a week! It was awful & we didn't like her so upset either (although we have a feeling she knew that Izzie was upstairs and didn't like it), so after a couple of weeks we let her upstairs with us & now they both happily sleep on blankets at the bottom of the bed  & no accidents, no crying, no nothing until morning.

Unfortunately all situations are different & it's entirely yours & Sarahs choices as to what to do, BUT if Sarah is having to sleep downstairs & you uys don't have a problem with it, I would probably just let Daisy sleep in the bedroom on the floor, although i'm not a dog expert so I don't know how that would affect her SA long term :/ 


Good luck! I really hope you get through all this soon, it must be difficult for you all


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## Walker (Jan 24, 2012)

Thanks for that Laura(L)Izzie;

What does your other half think of this solution?


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

we now let lady sleep with us....not just in our room but now in our bed...lol...and my other half loves it


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## Ali79 (Mar 30, 2011)

Hello - I think I should warn you that Daisy is my second favourite Poo on this forum so I am completely biased towards anything to do with her  We have Beau who is the same age as Daisy and she sleeps with either my daughter or myself. The first night we got her she wasn't in a crate and we found her sat by the back door in the kitchen looking very miserable so the following night we decided to put her in my en suite as warm and with a tiled floor in case she did have an accident. She howled for about 10 minutes and then my daughter marched in, picked Beau up and took her off to her bedroom and that is where she has stayed ever since! It has been easier having her in our rooms as she too suffers with separation anxiety though not quite on the same scale as your Daisy. Perhaps it would be better in the long run if Daisy were to be able to sleep in her bed in your bedroom and you would at least get a good nights sleep as well as having Sarah back too  Good luck with whatever you decide


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## Walker (Jan 24, 2012)

"we now let lady sleep with us....not just in our room but now in our bed...lol...and my other half loves it"

Umm, I do not think I would be so happy


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## M&M's mummy (Jul 12, 2011)

I think because Daisy has a phantom going on at the same time then this is probably at bit more of a special case as there are probably other contributing factors.

My Monty suffers with SA and when he was castrated my hubby allowed him on the bed and there he remained until we got Milly. When we decided Milly was to sleep in her bed and not crate we also thought Monty should as well.

We expected the worse and was pleasantly surprised that he took to it instantly. A bit of whimpering for a bit but by day 3 all was well. This is a dog whom slept on our bed for 2 years.

Why don't you try her in your room but in her bed/cage and then gradually move her bed further away in stages?

I think Sarah is also being advised by our trainer of our club so she may already have a plan of action!!

I think Daisy needs reassurance at the moment and she seems to have become unsettled plus she has hit her teenage years.

I think once phantom has been dealt with-it will give you a better idea as I said there are a few things all going on at the same time.


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

We don't let weller in our bed he has his own, as I think if he ware in the bed there would be NO socialising let alone cosequences


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## Walker (Jan 24, 2012)

Thanks all for the experience and advice; I am sure Sarah will keep you updated on any progress.


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Personally i wouldnt have my dog sleep in my bedroom unless thats where i wanted her to sleep permanently.

As m&m mummy has said im sure a professional will have a better idea of what you should or shouldnt do in this circumstance.

My friends dog had really bad SA and in the end they brought a new puppy to help him which worked wonders!!! However this dog died of a heart problem last year and ever since his death her dog has gone back to having SA and has caused a lot of damage to her house,she is now in the process of crate training him again which is very hard !!

Prehaps you should let Sezra buy a new puppy (hint hint)


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## Dawny (Mar 28, 2010)

Hi we have Wispa in our room. She has her own bed which she happily sleeps in until early morning then gets on the bed for a snuggled! Lol


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## Pollypiglet (Oct 22, 2011)

Hattie has always slept in my room and now sleeps on my bed(as hopefully she won't have an accident! you know what they say about pride going before a fall) She will have a bed in my room as well and she may decide I am not a good sleeping partner. My terriers slept with me as I had to work when I first had them and I figured the whole point of a dog was company so they spent as much time with me when I was at home. It is a matter of personal choice but if you wife is sleeping downstairs with the dog I know what I would do!


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Walker said:


> Thanks for that Laura(L)Izzie;
> 
> What does your other half think of this solution?


No problem  They're both brilliant in the bedrooms, Izzie won't sleep on my bed, she only gets on early in the morning & lays next to my legs, but Poppy will sleep on a blanket or the bed if she wants to (although can't get on herself yet lol).

My OH is only my boyfriend atm, & he doesn't mind them sleeping in my room or on my bed  Although my mum & dad both prefer ours to sleep on the blanket on the floor in their room, my sister doesn't mind either way.



Pollypiglet said:


> It is a matter of personal choice but if you wife is sleeping downstairs with the dog I know what I would do!


& I agree with the above, at the end of the day I would rather not be sleeping alone if there was a solution, BUT it is obviously your decision, and if it's not something you want long term then you don't want to start it, so just decide what your priorities are sleeping wise for the future and make sure you base your decision on that.


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## JulesB (Mar 6, 2011)

Dawny said:


> Hi we have Wispa in our room. She has her own bed which she happily sleeps in until early morning then gets on the bed for a snuggled! Lol


This is exactly what Betty does too. I love having her in my room to be honest and she's really good and actually takes herself off to bed in the evening if i don't go to bed early enough for her.

Good luck with whatever you decide.


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## Rufini (Sep 9, 2011)

Hi Walker 
We have issues of separation with Vincent, especially at night time. At the moment we have Vincent in the bedroom, but in his crate so he is not on the bed. We don't think him sleeping on the bed would help his separation at all.
He's been in the bedroom about a week now and is really getting used to being on his 'own' in his own space. We would start moving his crate out the room now, but he's just been 'done' so we do need to keep an eye on him!

Our ultimate goal is to have him downstairs again in his crate. I don't really want to have him wandering the house, at least not for a while (maybe when he's arounf 18 months - 2 years). We just are going to try it slowly!

My boyfriend doesn't want Vincent on the bed, mainly because he doesn't want to squash him, or him wee on the bed (the dog not my boyfriend  )


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## maplegum (Mar 10, 2011)

I have Ruben in the bed with me every night and I love it! He sleeps through the night and hardly stirs when I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. LOL


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## glitzydebs (Jun 10, 2011)

We started Pushca in the crate, then the living room in her bed, then the bedroom in her bed now our bed but she is very good and only jumps up after we are both fast asleep.....
But does anyone else's Poo greet them in the morning with such adulterated delight? I swear she is soooo delighted we are there .... Could have something to do with her yummy NI breakfast that she knows she'll get...


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