Cassie a shih-tzu is three. She has always slept in the kitchen until recently. We moved about a year ago but she soon settled down to sleeping. Now she goes in her bed for about 1 hr and starts barking. No a amount of telling her will make her settle. She has another dog with her . Recently with the hot weather we gave her the run of the house but she comes on our bed for a short time, then she goes somewhere else then back again and this continues through out the night. I dont mind too much her being on the bed but she spends a lot of time washing herself, then panting and by this time I am fully awake. I do not know how to break her of the habit. She evens hides now when I say she has to go in her bed. Does anyone else have this problem.

Maggie

How strange, my Aunts Shih-tzu did exactely the same thing when she moved, she was 5 and had always slept in the utility room in the house and after she moved about 3 weeks later started to be really restless and whine and cry, my Aunt did the same as you and gave her a telling off, but i think Sophie (Shih-tzu) thought that as long as she came downstairs she was getting what she wanted, so it carried on. She did not have Sophie with another dog, and it started driving her nuts, so she got a dog behavourist involved, she was advised to take Sophie 'back to basics' , basically treat her like a puppy when you leave them for the first time at night, leaving her with toys and other stimulants, maybe even leaving the radio on low, taking her around the house and leaving her on her own for 5 mins then 10 etc, and praising her when she didn't whine. She did all this and whilst it was not a quick turnaround it worked!After about 5 weeks, Sophie was back in her bed in the Kitchen and no whinging. She is still around and still sleeping happily in the kitchen...with no whining or barking!

yes I think thats what I will have to do. We live in a bungalow and we have been here a year now. I only shut them in the kitchen at night, not when I leave them during the day. She is not a problem then. Infact she likes her own space. I hope it works for me as it would be nice to get a good nights sleep. She's a sweetie really, they both are but its like having a child all over again.

maggie