our dog and our bedroom... bad combination... need help!

MichKev2012

I have spoiled my dog to no end, and now we have a problem.  When she was a puppy, she was crated when we were not home and overnight.  When my FI at the time, now my husband started working the overnight shift, I let her sleep in our bed.  Eventually his shift changed, but we didn't crate her again.  So now, she is never in the crate.  She is a lab/shepherd mix and almost 3 years old.  Anyways.... now we are having trouble with her when we are looking for alone time in the bedroom.

 First we tried closing the door and leaving her in the hallway, but then she scratched at the door and cried to come in, to the point where we are just not into it anymore.  So we started freezing peanut butter in her kong to distract her.  That would last for about 10 minutes, but just as things were getting started for us, she would be back at the door scratching and crying.  If we let her in the room she jumps up on the bed and cries and paws at us to make us stop.   Any suggestions???

ErinO21

We had the SAME problem, and ironically, with the same mix of dog haha. 

We buy "sex treats" lol. They're bully sticks and are like crack for dogs.  They are somewhat pricey compared to your typical rawhide bone or dog treat, but they give us a good 30 minutes of alone time in the bedroom. Rawhides are bad for dogs anyways and since our dog is extremely spoiled, the higher price is worth our dogs health and the health of our marriage.

Kimbus22

Shut her in another room and put up plexiglass on the bottom half of the door so she can't damage it.

Missing Perspective

MichKev2012:

I have spoiled my dog to no end, and now we have a problem.  When she was a puppy, she was crated when we were not home and overnight.  When my FI at the time, now my husband started working the overnight shift, I let her sleep in our bed.  Eventually his shift changed, but we didn't crate her again.  So now, she is never in the crate.  She is a lab/shepherd mix and almost 3 years old.  Anyways.... now we are having trouble with her when we are looking for alone time in the bedroom.

 First we tried closing the door and leaving her in the hallway, but then she scratched at the door and cried to come in, to the point where we are just not into it anymore.  So we started freezing peanut butter in her kong to distract her.  That would last for about 10 minutes, but just as things were getting started for us, she would be back at the door scratching and crying.  If we let her in the room she jumps up on the bed and cries and paws at us to make us stop.   Any suggestions???

 

Get rid of your dog

TarponMonoxide

Missing Perspective:

MichKev2012:

I have spoiled my dog to no end, and now we have a problem.  When she was a puppy, she was crated when we were not home and overnight.  When my FI at the time, now my husband started working the overnight shift, I let her sleep in our bed.  Eventually his shift changed, but we didn't crate her again.  So now, she is never in the crate.  She is a lab/shepherd mix and almost 3 years old.  Anyways.... now we are having trouble with her when we are looking for alone time in the bedroom.

 First we tried closing the door and leaving her in the hallway, but then she scratched at the door and cried to come in, to the point where we are just not into it anymore.  So we started freezing peanut butter in her kong to distract her.  That would last for about 10 minutes, but just as things were getting started for us, she would be back at the door scratching and crying.  If we let her in the room she jumps up on the bed and cries and paws at us to make us stop.   Any suggestions???

 

Get rid of your dog

Yikes.

Crate her in the kitchen or the furtherst part of the house where she's less likely to be heard -- and the bully stick or the special treat will let her know "hey, this is really cool! Whenever I'm in here when the people are upstairs, I get a neat treat!"

ErinO21

Yeah, no reason to get rid of the dog. When a dog is spoiled, its generally because they are viewed as family members, which is exactly what ours is.

Our dog has gotten to the point that when we start kissing, he starts barking and going nuts because he knows he should be getting a treat. Dogs are brilliant! lol

riscolindres

I guess this is a process that won't happen over night, but maybe she should start getting used to the crate at night again.

warpedredpenguin

I used to have this issue with my dog. He slept in bed with me, and when then-FI would come visit, he would try to interrupt sessy times. He already knew "off" so we started telling him to get off the bed. If he wouldn't listen, he got left in the hall. He'd whine, we'd ignore him or put him outside. Eventually he learned he wasn't going to get his way, and stopped. It was a months long process. Now he sleeps on a dog bed in our room or on the couch, but he's not allowed on the bed anymore. Maybe you just need to stop letting the dog on the bed, period. My dog was allowed for years, but then he wasn't, and he's not damaged by it. You have to be firm and consistent. 

NicnJen01

Our dog was a rescue and although really good was never crate trained and felt better by us when we got her.  We coddled her a bit to help her adjust and let her sleep next to the bed on the floor, when we wanted her out (as we thought it was creepy to have her in there) she didn't want it- howls, whimpers, cries and scratches... we attempted to crate train but that led to anxiety and shaking to the point we thought she'd convulse! Finally, we bit the bullet, it was an awful 2 weeks of noise and begging but eventually it happened, she now sleeps downstairs (our room is on the 2nd floor) unless my step daughter is with us, and she sleeps in her room (she's 7 and right now they're  BFF's).  I wanted to give up so many times, and my hubby's tolerance is less than mine, but we stuck through it, and now she sleeps (outside a crate) out of our room. And we can have our newlywed privacy

NicnJen01

Our dog was a rescue and although really good was never crate trained and felt better by us when we got her.  We coddled her a bit to help her adjust and let her sleep next to the bed on the floor, when we wanted her out (as we thought it was creepy to have her in there) she didn't want it- howls, whimpers, cries and scratches... we attempted to crate train but that led to anxiety and shaking to the point we thought she'd convulse! Finally, we bit the bullet, it was an awful 2 weeks of noise and begging but eventually it happened, she now sleeps downstairs (our room is on the 2nd floor) unless my step daughter is with us, and she sleeps in her room (she's 7 and right now they're  BFF's).  I wanted to give up so many times, and my hubby's tolerance is less than mine, but we stuck through it, and now she sleeps (outside a crate) out of our room. And we can have our newlywed privacy- I wish you Luck!

NicnJen01

Sorry for the double post- tried to delete but it wouldn't let me!

Jdunk2008

Treat her like a dog..not a human! Kick her outside... crate her elsewhere.

fgky

 It is a dog and you can break those habits.  I am pretty sure you would not allow your child to run the house this way; so don't let the dog.  Crate the dog in the other room or teach it to stay and not fuss.  you an go in the bedroom and lock the dog out for other reasons and condition it to stay out of the bedroom.   A spioled dog still needs to know it is a dog and not the leader of the pack.

shelovesfrodo

fgky:

 It is a dog and you can break those habits.  I am pretty sure you would not allow your child to run the house this way; so don't let the dog.  Crate the dog in the other room or teach it to stay and not fuss.  you an go in the bedroom and lock the dog out for other reasons and condition it to stay out of the bedroom.   A spioled dog still needs to know it is a dog and not the leader of the pack.

This ^ 

AliciaB1987

ErinO21:

We had the SAME problem, and ironically, with the same mix of dog haha. 

We buy "sex treats" lol. They're bully sticks and are like crack for dogs.  They are somewhat pricey compared to your typical rawhide bone or dog treat, but they give us a good 30 minutes of alone time in the bedroom. Rawhides are bad for dogs anyways and since our dog is extremely spoiled, the higher price is worth our dogs health and the health of our marriage.

We use the same thing! The dog only gets the bully sticks now when we really want her to be enticed by them.  Works almost every time!

One time, though, we realized she was so quiet because she got into some of our dirty laundry...specifically the underwear. Gross, I know, but it was inadvertent and we did have quite a bit of time to ourselves... I don't recommend that one, though.

Bee234

My dog is like my child and she slept on my bed for 4 years before DH was in the picture.  But when we moved in together he said no more dog on the bed!  I could respect that because she does shed a lot and I know he doesn't like dog hair all over our bed.  I was so worried about kicking her off the bed, but she had no problem with it!  I put a crate in the bedroom and started crating her at night, until it basically just became her normal bed.  These days I don't close the door or anything, she loves her crate and loves sleeping in it.  (She'll go upstairs and hide in it during thunderstorms!)  Dogs are a lot more adaptable than we give them credit for sometimes... we're the emotional ones, not them!  So my suggestion is to try crating her again, maybe in your bedroom or somewhere close by so she doesn't feel isolated at first, and with a yummy chewy to get her excited.  Eventually she'll get used to going into her crate at night, even without the chewy - dogs like routine!

SarahM0729

Oh my God!!  My husband and I are having the same problem!  I thought we were the only ones!  Our dog is turning 3 this year and the first year or so wasn't too bad if we gave her a treat to keep her busy but now she sits outside the bedroom door and cries, whines, scratches, and even barks really loudly!  It's sad because we love her to death and she's like our baby so we know it's our fault for spoiling her so much!  

Even when we kiss or hug she flips out!!!  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well!  Are there any longer lasting dog treats?  She finishes hers in about 10 minutes and it really dampens the mood