Our Lhasa Apso, Charlie, 20 Weeks, simply *refuses* to sleep anywhere other than in our bedroom! Although we started out with all good intentions - as first time owners - when we first got him, after 7 sleepless nights of howling and crying, and with Charlie getting visibly more distressed everytime we went upstairs we gave in and had him in our room. Now unfortunately we've made a rod for our own backs, and we cant gt him to sleep downstairs! As we both have to be in work at 6am (at which point Charlie goes to my sisters for the morning), Sleepless nights were wearing us down, and so we let him stay upstairs. However, we recently took some leave and decided to try and get him to sleep downstairs. Three weeks later however, he's still howling ALL night!! Charlie is actually a really pleasant and well behaved pup normally, but once bed time rolls round, he turns into a spoilt brat! We know this is all our fault, but we were wondering if anyone had any ideas as to how to get him into the routine - we go back to work mext week, and we're now getting desperate!

Thanks

Majix

Hi majix,
Has he got a "special" place that he can go during the day to sleep? Maybe when he is sleepy (at 20 weeks he probably still is quite a lot!!), you could give him his toys and a biscuit treat and put him in there then). Our pup already goes into her basket for peace and quiet (very sensible with our two small children)!, with no assistance from us, and she is only 10 weeks! I guess it is just persistance, but the more he gets used to somewhere else being his main bed he should get better. I am sure you have tried all these, but leaving the radio on low or a lamp on and a hot water bottle or extra blanket might help. A few seconds work for a peaceful night - got to be worth a try!!!
Best of luck, he sounds lovely. Jools

Hia Jools :O)

Charlie has a basket, and he does tend to sleep in there perfectly happily, and spends a lot of his time there - when hes not zipping round like a loony that is :O). When we first got him, we tried a hot water bottle, and a clock by his bed, bit he found that too warm. He now just has a blanket - he used to wander at night, but we've now found that if we cover him loosely with the blanket he stays in bed. We're going to try him with a night light and a radio tonight, see if that makes a difference. He's such a happy, affectionate little pup, and he's just completed his puppy socialisation course, which proved *very* auccesful, so this is our major hurdle for the moment! Fingers Crossed! Thanks for the advice!

Majix

lmao, i really need to get used to the smileys on this board being different to the ones i normally use :) - they *were* menat to be smiles in the first reply!

I always have probs with the smiles too!! Best of luck tonite. Let us know tomorrow if you get any sleep!!

How does he react when you leave him alone when you go out ?
Just wondering about the seperation issue .
Where does he sleep during the day ? Does he sleep ok if you are in another room etc during the day ?
I would certainly try the radio or hot water bottle as suggested by Jools
Good luck
Lel

By all accounts, he's fine if he's with other people. If hes left alone at home (which has been built up from periods of a few minutes, and is never more than 2 hours) our nieghbours say he barks for a few minutes, but then settles down. When we get home he tends to whine and cry as he's greeting us, but this has got less and less as time has gone by. If he wakes up and we're not in the room, he does tend to come and find us, but he's quite happy to go off and sit and play in the garden by himself, as long as he knows we're still inside.

You might try gradually moving his basket further away from your bed, then just outside the bedroom door, then further along the landing etc. Take a couple of weeks over each stage and see how that works. With luck he'll accept this and you will eventually be able to move his bed downstairs to the hall.

Hope this helps. :)

Lol, we tried that, much to the distress of our bedroom dorr himges :) He seemed to be ten times more upset by the fact that there was just one door between us! We're going to try putting him in the kitchen, as he often goes and lies out there anyway (although i suspect this is because this is the magical land where food and treats come from :) ) Fingers Crossed!

Hi Majix, I should have said - leave the door open! :)

Hi Majix,
I can't offer any specific advice, but just my own experience of it :) We have always let our puppy sleep in the bedroom with us (he just tends to lie on the floor or under the bed, but he is now 6 months old and actually chooses to stay downstairs now of his own accord. We have never tried to get him to sleep downstairs, it just seemed to happen as he grows up?
HTH
Nicola & Jay

Here's what my friends always did with their new pups (I realise he's not new, but may work). Put him downstairs where you are wanting him to sleep, then you sleep downstairs as well for a few nights. Once he's got used to the new routine of where he sleeps at night you may be lucky enough to be able to go back to your own bed:)

Wendy