- Owned by
- 2 cockers
I hope people still like me on this forum after I tell all of you that our pets generally don't sleep with us. Keith is tall, long legged, and generally a restless sleeper. Our new king sized bed (after over 30 years of marriage) helps but any more bodies are just too much.
Our previous cocker spaniels slept on a dog bed right next to ours. They would cuddle with us until we turned out the lights and then jump down into their own bed. I was about to start that routine with Dylan when we got Riley. Riley can't be trusted out of his crate at night, especially now, and both dogs run right up the stairs into their crates at night and wait for their treats. If we forget to shut Dylan's door, he usually runs up to us, runs back to his crate, and stares until we shut it, so we've just kept them crated next to us and they've seemed happy until now.
We moved up Dylan's mouth surgery because he had begun to whimper with pain at night. We let him up into the bed with us for comfort. After his surgery we didn't let Dylan up because he was on pain medication and I didn't want him to injure himself if he became confused. Our bed is VERY high (I found out why they now have the option of low profile box springs after we placed the new bed on our frame) and I worried about him falling off.
For a few days Dylan was fine. He would whimper in pain about 5:30 am and I suspect that was when the meds would begin to wear off. Dylan had to have soft toys only and I found a squeaky basketball that was very soft. He loved it and began to squeak it frequently. Dylan's pain meds were discuntinued 5 days post surgery. He seemed to be pain free and acted fine during the days. However at night Dylan began a new routine. About 3 am he would begin to make a sound. It wasn't the same whimper as he made when he was in pain. The best I can describe it is the horrible high pitched squeaking made by a child's tricycle that needs oiling. It begins very softly and gradually becomes louder and louder. Then Dylan begins to rattle the crate door. At first we took him outside thinking he had to go to the bathroom. It has been very rainy here and it's always a struggle to get these dogs to go out in the rain. The very first thing Dylan would do when he ran downstairs was to begin squeaking the basketball. Going outside didn't seem an emergency.
We put the ball up at night and have taken it away completely now that Dylan can have his raquet balls again. It hasn't made a difference. The vet hasn't found anything wrong with Dylan either.
For over 3 weeks I have been awake almost every night from 3:30am on. Luckily (?) for Keith he has some hearing loss from working with machinery and doesn't hear Dylan until he becomes VERY loud. If we tell Dylan "NO!" he will quiet down for a while but it will gradually begin again. Yesterday in frustration at 3:30 I opened Dylan's crate door and swatted him on the bottom. He was quiet and went back to sleep until time to get up but I was so upset I couldn't go back to sleep. This morning when it began, Keith picked up Dylan's crate and put it out in the hall then shut our door. It was harder to hear the squeaking and today Dylan is walking around like he's in trouble.
I really think the problem is that Dylan became fixated on that ball and that began everything. Now he is carrying around his raquet balls a lot also. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do? This has never been an issue with Dylan before at all. Between this and Regina, who I will post about in Part 2, I don't think I have gotten a full night's sleep in several months and I'm getting very tired and cranky.
Our previous cocker spaniels slept on a dog bed right next to ours. They would cuddle with us until we turned out the lights and then jump down into their own bed. I was about to start that routine with Dylan when we got Riley. Riley can't be trusted out of his crate at night, especially now, and both dogs run right up the stairs into their crates at night and wait for their treats. If we forget to shut Dylan's door, he usually runs up to us, runs back to his crate, and stares until we shut it, so we've just kept them crated next to us and they've seemed happy until now.
We moved up Dylan's mouth surgery because he had begun to whimper with pain at night. We let him up into the bed with us for comfort. After his surgery we didn't let Dylan up because he was on pain medication and I didn't want him to injure himself if he became confused. Our bed is VERY high (I found out why they now have the option of low profile box springs after we placed the new bed on our frame) and I worried about him falling off.
For a few days Dylan was fine. He would whimper in pain about 5:30 am and I suspect that was when the meds would begin to wear off. Dylan had to have soft toys only and I found a squeaky basketball that was very soft. He loved it and began to squeak it frequently. Dylan's pain meds were discuntinued 5 days post surgery. He seemed to be pain free and acted fine during the days. However at night Dylan began a new routine. About 3 am he would begin to make a sound. It wasn't the same whimper as he made when he was in pain. The best I can describe it is the horrible high pitched squeaking made by a child's tricycle that needs oiling. It begins very softly and gradually becomes louder and louder. Then Dylan begins to rattle the crate door. At first we took him outside thinking he had to go to the bathroom. It has been very rainy here and it's always a struggle to get these dogs to go out in the rain. The very first thing Dylan would do when he ran downstairs was to begin squeaking the basketball. Going outside didn't seem an emergency.
We put the ball up at night and have taken it away completely now that Dylan can have his raquet balls again. It hasn't made a difference. The vet hasn't found anything wrong with Dylan either.
For over 3 weeks I have been awake almost every night from 3:30am on. Luckily (?) for Keith he has some hearing loss from working with machinery and doesn't hear Dylan until he becomes VERY loud. If we tell Dylan "NO!" he will quiet down for a while but it will gradually begin again. Yesterday in frustration at 3:30 I opened Dylan's crate door and swatted him on the bottom. He was quiet and went back to sleep until time to get up but I was so upset I couldn't go back to sleep. This morning when it began, Keith picked up Dylan's crate and put it out in the hall then shut our door. It was harder to hear the squeaking and today Dylan is walking around like he's in trouble.
I really think the problem is that Dylan became fixated on that ball and that began everything. Now he is carrying around his raquet balls a lot also. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do? This has never been an issue with Dylan before at all. Between this and Regina, who I will post about in Part 2, I don't think I have gotten a full night's sleep in several months and I'm getting very tired and cranky.
. Glad that you got some sleep and hopefully he will settle back into his old routine.
