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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Simon has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Psychology and specialized in Canine Behaviour. He was recently the first New Zealander approved for membership to the IAABC, and he is also a member of APDT Australia. Simon founded Dog Guru in 2002. Dog Guru has helped hundreds of dogs and their owners with training and specialist problems, and is also a dog trainer for the ministry of Education. Simon lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Michelle and two golden retrievers. Sherlock is often used as a demonstration dog in schools and retirement villages. He was also used as a demo dog in the Auckland pet expo in 2004. Training is always using positive reinforcement.
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[Edit]
6/20/2006
My brother just gave me his 6-month-old toy poodle, as he got a job
requiring him to travel. He was very attached to him, but is quickly
getting attached to me as well. I keep him in the crate while I am
at work from 8-5, however I come home at noon to take him out.
He is not used to the crate, as my brother always had someone
at home with him.
He seems to be doing pretty good with everything,
but one thing.....sleeping. He keeps me up all night. My brother always
had him sleep in bed with him, so I continued to do it. I figured if I
started keeping him in the crate all night that would be cruel, as he
is in it almost 9 hours a day, not to mention he will cry all night long.
I usually go to bed around 10 or 11 and he gets up there with me.
Once he falls asleep, he sleeps through the night (until about 6am,
when he wakes me up). However, he won't fall asleep until at least
1:00 or so. He paces on the bed, wants to get off, wants to get back
on, wants to play, humps everything in site (then when I take things
away he cries and cries). I've tried walking him, feeding/water him,
everything. Do you have any advice for me PLEASE?????? (katieunf, Florida )
Hi there
Well sounds like the perfect dog other than this sleeping idea. It is hard to
make an accurate judgement without seeing the dog but I believe it has its
sleeping patterns all mixed up.
What I mean by this is that when it is home alone it sleeps and when you are
home, which is not long, it wants to play. So I have a few ideas for you to try.
Basically the dog needs about 1
4 hours sleep a day and it is probably getting this.
So how do we change this?
First off take it for a long walk when you get home from work. I define a long walk
as over 30 minutes. Don't run as is too young yet. But it will enjoy the walk.
Don't walk it at midnight or 10pm, the dog should be asleep. Also take it for a
walk in the morning, about 15 minutes at least, more if possible. This way the
dog is more active and fit and will hopefully be awake a bit more during the day.
The other thing to remember is that there is probably not much to do during the
day while at home in the crate. I think that you should contemplate extending
the crate out a bit, still a crate but it is a long time for a nearly fully grown dog
to be in all day. So maybe have a bit made out of metal that is a run if
you need the crate.
At the moment there will not be enough room to have fun etc. If you extend the crate
try to make it as fun as possible. If you have a laundry room or something like that keep
the dog in there as opposed to the crate. A crate is great for a few hours but not all day.
Bear this in mind when it is up all night, this is a time to stretch its legs and have fun.
Finally have some fun when you are at home. I know you will be tired after work but play
with the dog, play with the toys it likes to destroy. Keep it up until you go to bed as much
as you can of course.
Finally just cover up and ignore the dogs behaviour. Take away the toys etc and make it a
place to sleep otherwise put it on the floor with the toys.
Try these and see how you go.
Simon Goodall is now a member of IAABC (International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants). This means the information you receive is the most up to date.
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