How to Train Your Dog to Sleep on His Bed

Hello Michele, First, work on teaching the Quiet command during the day using the Quiet method from the article linked below. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Second, during the day practice the Surprise method from the article linked below. Whenever pup stays quiet in the crate for 5 minutes, sprinkle some treats into the crate without opening it, then leave the room again. As he improves, only give the treats every 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hour, 2, hour, 3 hour. Practice crating him during the day for 1-3 hours each day that you can. If you are home during the day, have lots of 30 minute - 1 hour long sessions with breaks between to practice this, to help pup learn sooner. Whenever he cries in the crate, tell him "Quiet". If he gets quiet - Great! Sprinkle treats in after five minutes if he stays quiet. If he continues barking or stops and starts again, spray a quick puff of air from a pet convincer at his side through the crate while calmly saying "Ah Ah", then leave again. Only use unscented air canisters, DON'T use citronella! And avoid spraying in the face. Surprise method: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Repeat the rewards when quiet and the corrections whenever he cries. Practice for a few days until he is doing well during the day. You can either continue what you are currently doing at night during this process or go ahead and jump into what I explain below for night time training - waiting until the day is good before starting the night or starting the night and day both at the same time. When he cries at night (in the crate - where he needs to be sleeping for now) before it has been 8 hours (so you know it's not a potty issue), tell him Quiet, and correct with the pet convincer if he doesn't become quiet and stay quiet. If you go straight to nights and days like this you will probably have about 3 rough nights, with lots of correcting before he gets quiet - don't give in and let him out or this will take much longer! But the overall process will go faster if you can stay strong. If you practice the daytime routine first while your husband sleeps on the couch for a few more days, then start the nighttime routine once pup understands the new rules, the night should go easier when you do make the transition. Either way you need to stay very consistent for this to work - expect pup to protest and for you to have to correct a lot. You may want to pretend like you are all going to bed two hours early and read in bed with the lights off - anticipating having to get up a lot the first couple of hours to correct - so that you don't loose as much sleep. Choose whichever option seems less stressful for you ultimately and is something you can stick to. Don't worry about feeling bad for pup. I know it's hard but your husbands sleep and your relationship is most important. If this continues indefinitely a lot of people would re-home the dog - when the issue could have been resolved with a some fair but firm training for a few days. Ultimately, every ones relationships being healthy and rested is better for pup too. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Diane, You probably already know this but you are dealing with an underlying aggression and lack of respect issue. The bed is just the symptom. I would hire a professional trainer who specializes in aggression to help you safely build his respect for you and add structure to his life. He has learned that he can get his way by biting and using aggression. I would make pup work for everything they get in life for a while, by requiring him to do a command first, such as Sit before being petted, Down being feeding, ect...I would drill pup on some obedience that builds impulse control and calmness, such as the commands linked below. I would keep a drag leash on pup so that when you tell pup to do something you can follow through calmly by picking up the leash and leading him. Working and Consistency methods: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omg5DVPWIWo Crate manners: https://thegooddog.net/training-videos/free-how-to-training-videos/learn-to-train-the-good-dog-way-the-crate/ Thresholds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w28C2g68M Heel article - The turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Heel Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTiKVc4ZZWo Once pup is being more respectful you can add in giving him treats for obeying the first time, but at first your attitude should be calm and firm, less rewards, and more matter-of-fact. He is in doggie bootcamp for a bit. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Caryn, Because Farley is deaf you will need to modify the method a bit. Instead of giving a command, get his attention by getting in his line of sight and waving your arms in the bedroom, a few feet from his dog bed. As soon as he is looking at you, toss a large treat onto the dog bed while at the same time pointing to the bed with the same hand, so that when you toss the treat your finger is pointed when you do it. Practice this until he will eagerly start toward the bed when you start to motion toward it - before the treat has left your hand. Use large enough treats for him to easily find the treat on the dog bed. When he starts to move toward the bed when you motion toward it - even before he sees the treat leave your hand, then put the treat in your other hand, behind you back, pretend like you are still holding the treat in the hand you will point with, and simply point toward the bed with your empty hand-making the same type of throwing motion that you did before with the treat. As soon as Farley takes a couple of steps toward the bed, then toss the treat on the bed in front of him. Practice this until he will go all the way to the bed when you point and not just a couple of steps toward it. When he will go all the way to the bed when you point to it, then toss the treat to him once he is on the bed and make your pointing gesture calmer and calmer over time, until you can simply point to the bed without pretending to throw anything also. Practice the training regularly during the day at non-sleeping times also so that he will learn to look to you when you enter the bedroom and then follow your point to his bed. If he forgets at any point, then after you point, remind him by walking him over to the bed. You can also sprinkle a bit of his dog food onto the bed randomly during the day for him to stumble across. The randomness of his bed producing dog food will help him want to go to it on his own after a while also. If he tries to get off the bed when you want him to stay on it, calmly but a bit firmly walk toward him so that he backs back up onto the dog bed. When he gets back on it and stays on it while you take a few steps away again, then give him a treat. Use a hand signal that means you can get off, like clapping, to let him know he can leave if you choose to practice him staying on the bed. You can also teach him to look at you whenever you buzz a soft vibration collar. You can do a similar method as clicker training: buzz the collar - give a treat, buzz the collar - give a treat. Practicing rewarding right after buzzing it over and over again during training sessions. Once he understands to anticipate a treat after a buzz, then randomly buzz the collar throughout the day and when he looks at you, toss him a treat, and if he comes over to you, give him three. Vibration collars in combination with hand signals can help you communicate with a deaf dog a lot better. Deaf dogs can be taught most commands using hand signals instead of words. You just need a way to get the dog to look at you first in real life, and having a dog wear a vibration collar that has been paired with positive reinforcement in the form of rewards can accomplish that. Look for a vibration collar that has different levels of vibration since some dogs are very sensitive to the sensation and some don't notice it on lighter levels and need stronger vibration to feel it. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Alyse, First of all, know that you are not being a bad dog mom by being firm about her sleeping in her own bed, both you and her will actually get more restful sleep according to studies, and anything that is better for your family is better for her also - being tired makes it harder to be patient and a good trainer during the day after all. Start by making the dog bed a desirable place for her to be. During the day sprinkle her dog food or small treats on and around the dog bed. Let her discover the treats on her own after showing her them the first couple of times. Periodically replace the treats after they get eaten when she is not looking - so that she begins to associate the bed with the "magically" appearing treats and chooses to visit that area on her own frequently to check for food. Next or at the same time, work on teaching a long Place command. Check out the video linked below for this. Start with shorter periods of time and progress to her staying on Place for at least an hour a day to get her used to being on there. https://thegooddog.net/training-videos/free-how-to-training-videos/learn-to-train-the-good-dog-way-place-command-the-good-dog-training-tips/ At bedtime tell her to go to Place (her bed) and anytime she tries to get off of it, calmly but firmly bring her back to the dog bed. When she whines you can either discipline the crying or ignore it. Disciplining will work much faster but ignoring normally works also with time if you stay consistent and don't give into it! - Remind yourself that sleeping on her own soft bed will not hurt her, she is either crying because she is adjusting (with means she just needs time to adjust) or because she is being demanding (which you don't want to give into because that's a respect issue) - either way she is totally fine sleeping on her own bed and enforcing the new rule from the beginning in your house will be much easier than trying to change it later when you are even more sleep deprived - the environment is new and you are semi-new to her so now is a good time to teach her your house rules. The above way typically equals the least amount of crying but there is another way you can also teach this that tends to work a lot faster but involves being a bit firmer. Sprinkle treats on the dog bed when she is not around and practice sending her to the bed and rewarding her when she gets on it during the day. Make the bed fun during the day. At night once she has the pleasant association with the bed either send her to the bed and enforce her staying on it whenever she tries to get off of it OR crate her with the bed. When she cries either ignore the crying (typically this takes about 5 days to work doing it this way), OR tell her "Ah Ah" and use a Pet Convincer to spray a small puff of air at her side (through the crate's wires if crated) - avoiding her face and only using unscented air - NOT citronella. The second method above can be used without a lot of prior training and tends to work quickly but there will be more crying typically and it can feel harsh for the owner - but it is still fairly gentle. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Ryan, Are you saying you feel like he may be avoiding the dog bed because the fabric is making him hot? If so, that is very possible. I wouldn't be worried necessarily but he may be more comfortable if the room was a bit cooler. It's common for dogs to want to sleep on cool, hard surfaces when it's hotter and sleep on things like dog beds more so in the winter when the house is cooler. You way want to check out something like www.primopads.com for hotter days and a bed that is a little firmer memory foam instead of super soft, plush bed for cooler weather - to help with sore joints. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Tatyana, Having a puppy sleep with you is super cute and fun - I remember when my own dog was that little. Unfortunately, allowing a puppy to sleep with you before they are past the destructive chewing phases (which have only started and may still get worse) and fully potty trained and can hold it overnight, can be dangerous and lead to life-long potty training issues that result in puppy never being able to sleep with you! I highly suggest crating puppy at night at this age. It's not fun, I know, but crating pup now until you have laid a solid foundation of training and pup is older, can mean 10+ years of freedom later. Not doing it now, can result in pup never becoming trustworthy inside and your relationship with each other being less enjoyable for years to come because you can't trust pup unsupervised due to bad habits formed as a puppy. Surprise method for crate training: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Laurie, She is old enough you can begin the transition to your room now or wait until after 1 year. I would not transition to an open crate until 1.5 years old and she has gone 6 months without chewing anything she shouldn't when left alone for short periods, but she can begin being crated in your room with the door closed now - or you can wait until she is older without issue also. The transition to your room shouldn't take longer than 2 weeks if you are consistent. The transition to more freedom will probably not start until 1.5 years old, then once she is ready for it, you can expect about a month of gradually giving her more and more freedon and seeing how she does...such as 10 minutes alone, 15 minutes, 25 minutes, 40 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours 3 hours, 4 hours, 5 hours, 6 hours, then all day or night...without surpassing her potty needs. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Lisa, Since she is getting onto the bed while you are sleeping so you can't effectively train at that time, you will need to crate pup - putting her bed into the crate in your room, until she gets into the habit of sleeping there on her own. During the day, practice the Surprise method from the article linked below to introduce the crate if she isn't already crate trained. https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Alyssa, I suggest making the dog house more appealing in general. Place a dog food stuffed rubber chew toy at the back of the dog house and attach it to the dog house using something like a Virchewly leash - which can be wound through the holes if you get a large enough Kong and thin enough leash, and then clipped to the back of the dog house so that pup has to stay in the dog house to eat- check sizes to make sure they will fit together. https://www.amazon.com/VirChewLy-Indestructible-Leash-Medium-Black/dp/B001W8457I Periodically sprinkle treats and right in front of the dog house when pup is out there and is likely to eat them quickly - you don't want the food just left there or it will attract critters though. Consider adding a waterproof bed, like a rubber mat, low lying cot type bed, or vinyl covered crate pad. What is the weather like where you are? Pup may also be avoiding the house simply because they are hot-natured or want more visibility. More ventilation or visibility could help if it won't compromise the house providing enough insulation during really cold times of the year. It might be worth putting an outdoor thermometer inside the house for a bit to see how hot or cold its getting in the house - if its hot in there that may be the issue. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Karina, Realistically, you would need to go back to crate training, putting his bed into the crate, and have him sleep there for a few months, until it was a habit, then transition the crate out if you want him to sleep on just the dog bed. During the day, I also suggest randomly sprinkling treats on the dog bed in the crate for him to find also, so that he begins to go into the crate on his own, checking often. This process will mean crying, but staying consistent and not letting him out when you know the crying is just for attention and isn't hurting him, and practicing the Surprise method from the article I have linked below during the day, will help there be less crying in the long run. Know that every time you let him out when he cries for attention, you are teaching him to cry longer the next night - since he will decide that crying is what gets the door open. There will be less crying in the long run if you stay consistent and give him the opportunity to learn to calm down and go to sleep instead. Usually the first 3 nights are the hardest. Surprise method for crate training: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Teach pup to go into the crate on command during that time, so that once you phase out the crate later, at night you can send him to his bed also. You can also simply teach him to go to his bed and stay there without the crate, but right now with the behavior needing to happen at night you won't be able to be consistent enough about enforcing him staying on his own bed and off yours while trying to sleep, so the crate enforces that for you while you sleep - until it becomes the new normal for pup. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Naisha, I suggest downloading the free PDF e-book AFTER You Get Your Puppy from the link below. www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads Crate Training method for potty training: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside Crate introduction - surprise method: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Puppy Class videos: Week 1, pt 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnhJGU2NO5k Week 1, pt 2: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-1-part-2-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 2, pt 1 https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-2-part-1-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 2, pt 2: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-2-part-2-home-jasper-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 3, pt 1: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-3-part-1-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 3, pt 2: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-3-part-2-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 4, pt 1: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-4-part-1-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 4, pt 2: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-4-part-2-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 5, pt 1: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-5-part-1-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 5, pt 2: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-5-part-2-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 6, pt 1: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-6-part-1-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1 Week 6, pt 2: https://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/week-6-part-2-sirius-berkeley-puppy-1-0 Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Claire, Is the bed located in the same location as the area she is falling asleep in, or is where she is choosing to sleep at night closer to you guys? If pup is sleeping somewhere closer to you, the issue simply might be that she is wanting to be closer. Moving her bed to that location where she is currently choosing to sleep at night should help in that case. Some dogs are hot natured or like to fully spread out while sleeping. Many dog beds are designed for the dog to curl up or have materials that keep body heat close to pup. Pup might be hot or want more space in those cases. Using a flat pad, where pup can stay cool and spread out better could help in that case. Such as www.primopads.com or a low lying crate type mat. Spy on pup while she is sleeping on the ground and night and see how she sleeps - is she curled up or sprawled out. Is she panting? Perhaps the pen wires feel nice and cold. Look for ways to mimic the things she seems to prefer with sleeping and temperature. Finally, at 10 weeks old, almost all puppies will not like the crate yet. It generally takes at least two weeks for 90% of puppies to adjust to the crate. Most dogs who love the crate love it as they get older and have made the adjustment already. If you wish to crate train still, try putting a cooler pad in there, instead of something soft and hot, and check out the surprise method from the article linked below. Surprise method; https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Sarah, I recommend teaching deaf dogs to look at you when you vibrate a gentle remote vibration collar, then teaching a hand signal for each command. To teach pup to look at you when you vibrate the collar, you would use the vibration collar similar to a clicker. Have pup wear the collar around for a week, briefly vibrate the collar with pup on a longer leash. Each time you vibrate the collar toss a treat. Keep the sessions short because the collar will seem weird at first. Choose a collar that vibrates at different intensities ideally and use the lowest intensity for training. Higher intensities can be used during times of heavy distraction later. Practice often and when pup is used to the vibration collar and starts looking your direction for the treat, begin holding the treat up to your eye before tossing it. Practice until pup consistently will make eye contact when you vibrate the collar randomly throughout the day - keep kibble or small treats in a ziploc in your pocket ready. Check out the video linked below for how to teach Place. Instead of saying Place, give a hand signal instead - like pointing to or swiping your arm toward place, then lead pup over to the place with the leash, rewarding pup as soon as they step paws onto Place. Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Know that teaching hand signals generally isn't harder than teaching most verbal commands. It's just different so requires a bit of a different approach. The hardest part is generally being able to get your dog to look at your first throughout the day so that you can give signals and communicate with pup - which is why I recommend the vibration collar training and keeping the remote in a convenient location or on your person. My personal dogs are taught both hand signals and verbal commands and perform both together or separately because their are times when I need them to perform commands without noise. I hope that encourages you, and congratulations on your dog! Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Yes, the covid trial will be causing a lot of dogs to have issues with owners going back to work. I would continue what you are doing with the crate training. You will have to put up with the nighttime crying for maybe even a few weeks, retraining Coco to go back to the way the sleeping arrangements were before covid. The Ignore Crying Method may be the answer: https://wagwalking.com/training/not-cry-at-night/. When Coco wakes in the night to go for a pee, make it a boring trip. No talking, just a trip out in the yard on the leash, pee only. Then, straight back to bed. She'll realize it is no big deal to go out and not worth it. You can also try an exercise pen with her bed in it, beside you as opposed to the crate. See here how to set it up: https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/how-to-set-up-puppy-long-term-confinement-area. Be firm but kind - she has a big adjustment being alone all day and naturally wants to be close to you at night. but, with time you can get things back to normal. Good luck!

Cute picture! Spencer sounds like a super smart pup and is doing amazing for his age! You may find that Spencer is not too keen on you moving in to your room and leaving him in the living room. But you won't know until you try. I would use the Perfect Place Method, which yes, does mean checking the camera now and then to see how he is doing. Because Spencer is using the pad and returning to bed on his own, I would continue as you are doing - and yes try to go back to your own bed. https://wagwalking.com/training/sleep-on-his-bed. The third time settling is a challenge because he may be ready to get up for the day. You'll have to ignore him and get up when you plan, hoping that he will settle eventually on his own. Good luck!