Dog won't sleep in own bed

Hi all, looking for some advice.

We have a 5 month old female french bulldog, she's absolutely brilliant but just wants to be by your side all the time.

Most of the time she sleeps in her bed fine and sleeps till we get up in the morning, during the week that is. She sleeps in the living room as her snoring is so loud we couldn't have her in the bedroom every night!

However lately when we go to bed she gets out her bed straight away and scratches at the door and starts crying. We do try and leave it till she stops but she's a stubborn wee thing!

What she really wants is to get in our bed at night with us but that obviiusly isn't happening. She does get a wee hour or two in our beds at the weekend so we can get a longer lie (we get up at about 7 to let her out for the toilet and bring her in the bottom of the bed till about 9).

We are now worried she is going to do this crying and scratching every night and just want her to go to bed and stay in her bed every night.

Even if we get up for the toilet at 2am she hears us and gets up and scratches at the door.

Does anyone have any ideas how we can get her to go and stay in her bed all night? It's a real struggle to get her to stay in her bed without getting out it and trying to follow us

Is she cold? That would be the first thing I would consider. Some dogs need to wear a coat, like a fleece jumper, at night. There are also heated dog pads that have armoured cable for part of the flex though not all of it.

I think that the weekend lie in is what has caused her to want to be in bed with you. Can you not get up and let her out and then settle her with a chew or stuffed kong (stuffed and kept in the fridge overnight)? Once she stops coming into bed with you she may, in time, forget about it and settle in her own bed.

Another way would be to crate train her so that she loves to sleep in her crate. She could then be popped back in there after her morning wee. I must admit we gave up morning lie-ins years ago lol! Just get up and snuggle on the sofa now

The most important thing is that whining and scratching do not work. Wait until she stops before giving her any attention.

I agree with gypsymum, stop her coming into your bed.

My dog isnt allowed upstairs at all, as that's our space and he respects that now, however we used to have a baby gate to stop him when he was a pup.

Crate training is a perfect way for you dog to feel safe and for you not to worry about not having a door left from all the scratching! if you make it extra cosy then they are more inclined to curl up and stay there quite happily. You will need to intorduce the crate slowly though with positive reinforcement training so she associates the crate with a nice place to be, other than to fear it. It will take a couple of weeks, but she is still young enough to switch her beds.

I dont have lie in's anymore. I'm up 6.30 every morning with mine and 8am on a weekend, as gypsymum said, we have cuddles on the sofa (only when I invite him up) instead of letting him into bed with us.

you need to set clear boundaries with her and she will soon learn that she has her own space and thats that.

Good luck

Sophie x

The thing is she will fall asleep on the carpet, on our lap and even in her bed at various times across the day.

She will even be sleeping in her bed as we go to bed but when she sees us leaving the room she gets out of bed and stands at the door.

She just wants to be next to us or in the same room.

We are trying to ban her from getting near our bed at any time for the time being.

The scratching and whining is unbearable, we have taken to getting up and going through and simply lifting her back into her bed but you can guess what she does next.

My wife did that on about 10 occasions last night and the only way she got her to sleep in her bed was to sleep with her on the couch and put her into bed once she was sound asleep.

French bulldogs are known to be cuddlers and love being with their owners pretty much all the time.

You need to build up the time leaving her, as it sounds like she is siffering a little bit from seperation anxiety, but with her still being young you should be able to sort that out pretty quick.

What i did with mine when i had him, was crate train him as I said in my last post. We put the crate in the bedroom with us at first, so he knew we were there but was only allowed out for toilet breaks in the night. He whined like crazy to get out but he soon gave it up when he realised it wasnt happening. We also kept our door open and have the landing light on so he could see us.

After 2 weeks we moved the crate out of the bedroom and onto the landing and kept our bedroom door open. Same thing again with the toilet situation but with yours being 5 months old, she should be able to hold it for quite a while; at least until the early hours of the morning. This time the light was off.

After another 2 weeks he went downstairs in his crate and kept a the landing light on for him. Then after a week the light went off and ta dah, we got a dog that slept through the night, in a crate in the kitchen

Now we did this from the day we brought him home, so it was a lot easier for us, so if you do decide to do this, then it may take a little longer for you as she is so used to being in bed with you, or near you.

You wil go through sleepless nights and be at breaking point with the whining but you must not give in!!!! Even if it means you only get an hours sleep (trust me!) she will soon learn that she has her space for sleep and you have yours and thats that, no giving in.

Time, patience, consistency and plenty of caffeine (during the day as you will be shattered!) is what will get you through. You must follow through on everything you do as if you give in she will get her way and training her will only seem the more difficult!

If you do decide on this method of crate training but the crate on line, they are so much cheaper!!!

I wish you the best of luck!

Hang in there!!

Sophie x

Thanks for the replies so far!

We did try the crate training but she seriously went crazy inside it. Didn't get a wink of sleep for a week I don't think and we did give up on that idea.

In hindsight we should have stuck with it but couldn't handle the sleep deprivation any more!

She is fine once she is sleeping but it just seems she needs cuddled in every night, not ideal, she is a dog after all!

she was sleeping fine for a while, sleeping from about 9 all the way through to 6.30 when my wife gets up for work but she has regressed a bit and takes any opportunity to get up earlier now.

The real issue is getting her to sleep in her own bed and stay there when we leave the room. Will keep at it though!

Edit: we got her a new bed a few weeks ago and she absolutely loves it, didn't used to go into her old bed at all during the day preferring to sleep on the carpet etc so it's nothing to do with her bed

i walk the legs off my dogs last thing at night never had a problem as all they want to do is sleep, the only time dogs that i own ever get near my bedroom is when they get older say 10ish cus they get softer and get cold more but until then i set the rules, give a dog a inch and they take a mile...

She wants to sleep, she's good at that! Just wants to be in the same room as us!

How about putting the bed she now loves in the crate and keep the door open for a while, that way she can get used to the crate before you start leaving her in there with the door locked over night?

I know its difficult when you have a hurdle you are struggling to get over with your dog, but consitency is key. It is so hard not having any sleep but this needs to be bipped in the bud now before you end up with her in your bed all the time because you have given in and just want sleep! I don't blame you on that side! Being tired is awful, especially when you work full time.

If our ideas we have given you are not going to work for you, or you dont want to try them, which is totally fine then maybe consult a trainer. one that will come to your house and work with you one on one.

Sophie x

She is definately not getting in our bed, that's not an option but I just don't see the crate working.

We are being consistent in not letting her anywhere near the bedroom and just going to ignore her scratching for the next wee while.

Thanks for all the replies so far!

Ear plugs. Thats what we used. She'll soon get sick when you don't hear her!

The headphones are going in tonight!

Also going to walk her about 9 in addition to her usual walk.

Just an update to this....

Still having same problems at night, ignored for about 90 mins last night but didn't subside. Tried walking her before bed too.

To get some sleep last two nights my wife goes into the living room with her and lies on the couch with her for an hour then lifts her into bed.

I was concerned it was separation anxiety so I did a wee test today and I'm happy it isn't. We both work close to our house so monday to Thursday we go home in our lunch hour to let her out and feed her etc. Friday to Saturday pretty much all of the time she does have somebody with her whether it is at our house or my mother in laws.

I had a half day from work today but rather just staying with her I pretended to leave with my wife as usual.

I sat in the bedroom quietly and not a peep from her, she wasn't even sitting at the door she had went to lie in her bed!

She is at it!

She's got your number!!!

She knows you will give in eventually so will just keep at it until you cave. Doesn't matter how long it will take she knows you will.

My dog did this with his toileting. He doesn't like peeing on the patio and the grass area is fenced off as he used to rip the grass up when he was a pup.

I let him to go out just before bed time and he will literally stand at the door staring at me until I let him on the grass to pee. I timed him once, 50 minutes he stood there for and did nothing. By that time it was 11.20pm and I had work the next morning, so I opened the gate and he took 2 steps onto the grass and he went straight away!!!!

he has continued to do this thinking he will get away with it and now if he refuses to go we just put him to bed anyway, and he goes to bed without going the toilet. He then wakes us up in the middle of the night busting for a wee and we get up and let him out and he goes straight away on the patio.

he did this for about 2 weeks and finally got the message and we no longer have this problem with him.

You have to follow though, and I'm so sorry to be blunt but you're not. You are giving in and she knows you will!

You cannot give in otherwise you will never break her habit.

Sophie x

I still say earplugs and ignore. It took about a month for us but he's fine now. Sometimes he howled for 3/4 hours! He knows the routine and he also knows we won't give in. It can seem like a battle of wills but if you don't stick it out now then she will have your life for ever!

I agree that you are just teaching her to carry on scratching and whining for longer as it always works. if you had nipped it in the bud at an early stage you would have cracked it by now.

If you could crate train her she could sleep by the bed and be unable to get to you. Then, as described above, you can wean her gently away from the bedroom.

Do not be fooled by the "cage" syndrome. Look upon the crate as a "cosy den" and train her to like going in and out at all times of the day and night. Line it with padded bumpers (like a baby's cot). Drop treats in it. Feed her in it. Throw toys in it. Once she accepts it you have a really useful tool for the rest of her life. You can take her away to stay in hotels and friends houses knowing that she has a safe secure place to settle and be happy.

Good Luck!

I'm afraid I'm with everybody else on the toughing it out. I have always found with training cats (believe me, if you're training dogs you have it easy!) that the key is to find a way that the door that they are scratching is not the one to your room is very helpful.

My cats have their own bedroom. This means that they are warm and comfortable in their room with beds, toys, climbing frame, food, litter trays and water (and each other) and they can play, thunder around, sleep or try to get out of the room without disturbing my sleep. If I just shut our bedroom door then we'd have the cats on one side of the door trying to get in, the dog on the other side of it reacting to every movement, and both of them not allowing us to sleep.

So, my advice would be to get her bed somewhere in the house where there are 2 or more closed doors between you and her, and let her get on with it while you sleep

Just an update to this.

She is sleeping fine again, completely banning her from being antwhere near our bed seems to have worked.

Even just putting her in her bed and standing over seems to have got the message across.

Thanks for all replies