Rescue dog won’t sleep in crate overnight

[righteoustales]

I’m at my wits end. I adopted a rescue dog, golden retriever with guarding issues, 3 months ago and since I had him he was sleeping in the crate every night. Now he has shifted to whining in the crate and barking non-stop all night. I started taking him out the crate and letting him sleep in my bed.

Since I shifted to that, he gets up frequently at night and asks to be let out to relieve himself. He’s waking me up every 2 hours. He sleeps during the day and has energy early in the morning between 2-5 am.

During the day, we take him on 2-3 mile long walks and take him to the yard frequently to play. His feeding schedule is breakfast at 6:30 and dinner at 5 pm. We have lick mats and toys to mentally drain him but it just never seems to be enough.

I don’t want to give up on him but I’m lost on how to correct these behaviors ( not sleeping in his crate overnight, getting up frequently at night).

 

[clee]

@righteoustales The frequent peeing you might want to take up with your vet. Could be a medical issue. The whining in the crate could be connected to the frequent peeing. If it's not medical then it's psychological/a training issue.

 

[righteoustales]

@clee I should clarify, I assume he wants to relieve himself. He gets out chases a rabbit or squirrel and then comes back to be let in. He was having some gastrointestinal issues and we switched him to a prescription dog food. That was a godsend to get him to be less gassy.

 

[kalebsanders007]

@righteoustales You need to take him out on leash, make sure he is relieving himself and then take him back to the crate/bed. He’s abusing his privileges otherwise and goofing off, which is self reinforcing.

As others said, rule out medical issues/behavioral medication and make sure he’s on a good schedule for winding down at night (exercise and mental stimulation, not just food enrichment)

 

[splinterxa]

@righteoustales My standard poodle recently had a mental breakdown when I stopped letting him sleep in my bed. I tried crating him, and he would cry and bang around. If I left him loose, he wanted to go outside, run around like he was crazy, and come in peace around the house panting. I called my vet, and she said it was behavioral. She prescribed trazadone to help him sleep. We have him one pill per night for a week or two, and it solved the issue by helping him relax at night. He no longer takes the pill and happily sleeps through the night in his own bed.

I would rule out and medical conditions with your vet but wanted to share that sedative can be an option to help.

 

[canoprince]

@splinterxa What? Why not just set boundaries and train the dog instead of going to drugging your animal? I can help you both if you'd like.

 

[markme2]

@righteoustales It's probably from being cooped and nerves

 

[markme2]

@righteoustales Give him some time