Sleep

[dawnpears]

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Hi everyone,

This is my first time on here and i am need of some help. For the last four months my 4 year old female whippet has decided that she no longer wants to sleep though the night. She is havin me up at least 4-5 times a night, she does not want to go out for a wee or other and it is now drivin me mad. Do any of you have any ideas of what to do.

So very tired Dawn

 

[FifeJillandIan]

Did something happen that brought about the change or did it just start out of the blue? It might be worth taking her to the vet for a check up to rule out any health problems. Only other thing I can think of is how much exercise is she getting? Maybe you could keep her going a bit more through the day with exercise and mental stimulation /games in the house - more than usual so that she is shattered at bed time and might get her back in the habit of sleeping through again. Good luck - I hope you get a good night's sleep again soon. :luck:

 

[Seraphina]

If she does not want to wee, what exactly does she do when you let her out? Maybe there are some animals prowling around?

If she needed to urinate so often that would be another thing, but if she does not wee or try to wee then there is not much point taking her to the vet. If she does not need to go out, I would crate her and ignore her. Hope she settles down again. :luck:

 

[Nicola]

I think Whippets and sleep deprivation go with the territory.......you have my sympathies...I've had disturbed nights for the last 13 years. :wacko:

Does your whippet sleep in your bedroom? You don't really give much detail, so it's difficult to help really. If like mine, she does sleep in your bedroom, all I can say is they can be restless sleepers, especially if they sleep under a duvet. They can get a bit warm, and then a bit cold, and then want to get under their blankets again. I think the cold nights are the main culprit, as they do feel the cold. You could try a jumper on her at night. If she's crate trained, could you put a cover over the crate to keep her warmer, or again, put a jumper on her?

Just some thoughts. Good luck!

 

[dawnpears]

Thankyou for all your comments.

This first all started with Teya when she had her last booster jab at the end of October. The first night i thought it was just a one off but since then it has been every night.

There could be something in what you said about being cold but she has a very comfy bed with a single quilt and a blanket. She has always slept downstairs on her own with all her cuddly toys around her. She gets plenty of exercise with 2-3 short walks aday and a long one just after lunch time for 1-2 hours with her dog friends. Tonight i will try her with a jumper to see if this makes any difference if not i will have to have a word with her vet to see if he has any ideas.

 

[jinnyfizz]

It has been exceptionally cold of late so it may well be that she is feeling the chill.

If all else fails, how do you feel about letting her sleep upstairs with you? I have always found that warmth and security cure everything in a whippet's eyes

 

[caitlin]

You have my sympathies! I have a similar problem with my whippet which started some time after we first got her. Don't know why - it seemed to just start out of the blue, but she usually wakes up at about 5am :angry: - so annoying as it is always a bit late to get back to sleep, but also too early to get up! Sometimes, she seems to be bursting for a wee, other times, I have let her out and seen her go straight to the leftover bird food!! I have tried extra warmth (heating timed to come on at 4.30), blankets over her, a jumper that smells of us, toys, early tea time, knackering her out during the day and nothing works consistently. Last night, she left some tea and I forgot to take it away - I heard her eating it at about 10pm and was convinced that, what with extra water with her food, she would definitely need letting out during the night, but she slept right through and had not even bothered me before 7am when I got up. I am going to try this again tonight - who knows? Maybe she just gets hungry!

One thing's for sure though, I am not going to give in and let her into my bed (like othe K9ers)!

Good luck with tonight :luck: :luck:

 

[Suerose]

I think Whippets and sleep deprivation go with the territory.......you have my sympathies...I've had disturbed nights for the last 13 years. :wacko:
Does your whippet sleep in your bedroom? You don't really give much detail, so it's difficult to help really. If like mine, she does sleep in your bedroom, all I can say is they can be restless sleepers, especially if they sleep under a duvet. They can get a bit warm, and then a bit cold, and then want to get under their blankets again. I think the cold nights are the main culprit, as they do feel the cold. You could try a jumper on her at night. If she's crate trained, could you put a cover over the crate to keep her warmer, or again, put a jumper on her?

Just some thoughts. Good luck!

You too, huh? I get all of the diving up and down under the duvet PLUS she needs to be let out once during the night. To be fair we do go to bed pretty early. And those toenails! Maybe I'd better try and get forty winks after lunch

Hope you manage to get your girl settled dawnpears, that does sound a bit exhausting.

 

[dawnpears]

I think Whippets and sleep deprivation go with the territory.......you have my sympathies...I've had disturbed nights for the last 13 years. :wacko:
Does your whippet sleep in your bedroom? You don't really give much detail, so it's difficult to help really. If like mine, she does sleep in your bedroom, all I can say is they can be restless sleepers, especially if they sleep under a duvet. They can get a bit warm, and then a bit cold, and then want to get under their blankets again. I think the cold nights are the main culprit, as they do feel the cold. You could try a jumper on her at night. If she's crate trained, could you put a cover over the crate to keep her warmer, or again, put a jumper on her?

Just some thoughts. Good luck!

You too, huh? I get all of the diving up and down under the duvet PLUS she needs to be let out once during the night. To be fair we do go to bed pretty early. And those toenails! Maybe I'd better try and get forty winks after lunch

Hope you manage to get your girl settled dawnpears, that does sound a bit exhausting.

 

[dawnpears]

Hi everyone,This is my first time on here and i am need of some help. For the last four months my 4 year old female whippet has decided that she no longer wants to sleep though the night. She is havin me up at least 4-5 times a night, she does not want to go out for a wee or other and it is now drivin me mad. Do any of you have any ideas of what to do.

So very tired Dawn

 

[dawnpears]

Teya is now a very unhappy owner of a blue jumper and is now sulking in the dinning room. I have in the past let her sleep with me but that drives me mad. She goes under the quilt down to the bottom of the bed then back up so her head is on the pillow and she is totally covered up to the neck, after a while she also wants your bit of space, she is worse than a man.haha. Will keep you posted on how it goes to night.

 

[kamanoda]

Teya is now a very unhappy owner of a blue jumper and is now sulking in the dinning room. I have in the past let her sleep with me but that drives me mad. She goes under the quilt down to the bottom of the bed then back up so her head is on the pillow and she is totally covered up to the neck, after a while she also wants your bit of space, she is worse than a man.haha. Will keep you posted on how it goes to night.

Hi,

Why dont you buy Teya her own whippet sleeping bag. Our Xena has always had one, and is never a problem,

David

 

[FeeFee]

Waking at night can get to be a habit (and a hard one to break). It may help to have a complete change of regime - for instance change feeding times so the main meal is in the morning with just a small meal at night, change times of walks, build in an early evening playtime/clicker training time that will make her use her brain, which will tire her out at least as much as exercise.

I don't know if you do an evening walk, but I've found with my dogs that a late walk actually seems to leave them less settled at night - they are naturally much more 'hunty' at night, so going out for a short lead walk gets their adrenelin going but isn't enough to tire them out. I try to do a bit extra walking during the day and have cut out night walks.

Sleeping in a crate may help, I'd never been a huge crate fan but had lots of problems with Sophie, one of my rescues, getting up in the night and either whining for attention or weeing indoors at night. She now sleeps in a crate in our bedroom and from day one settled and I've never heard a peep from her at night since (she was used to the crate in the car and already loved it, though, so accepted it very easily).

Good luck, I don't do at all well with broken nights so can very much sympathise! :luck: