Hi, Tally is now nearly 7 months old but we are still having problems at bedtime, the usual drill is that we are sat watching TV - she is usually asleep..then turn everything off and go into the kitchen and let her out for a wee, she sleeps in the kitchen so we sit and watch Tv with her for a bit while she settles and (hopefully) goes to sleep..this worked really well for us for a while..and we took the TV back out of the kitchen and started to reduce the length of time we sat with her..however this didnt work so we went back to the start and now watch Tv with her for about 1/2 before leaving her to go to bed..however this has now pretty much stopped working when we leave her she just barks...and even when we are sat with her she wont settle in her bed...it is taking about 1 hour for her to be quiet/ go to sleep.  We never go in to see her when she barks..we wait until she stops then just go into the kitchen to reassure her....what does everyone else do at bedtime?..any suggestions..we are always tired with all the late nights and early mornings!!!!

Sounds like Tally is just pushing her luck and seeing how far she can go . She is still a baby and of course its more fun with mum and dad than having to go to sleep . Most children are the same at bedtime after all - always wanting that extra half hour. :)
I would say you are going to have to stay firm and when you say bedtime then thats what it is bedtime .
If you return to settle her then in effect you are rewarding her . And this is what she is learning .
Do you leave a radio on or a small lamp ? Maybe one to try.
But dont return to her if possible- she will eventually learn, dont worry
Lesley

Thanks lel..she does have alight on but no radio..I will be firm!!!..or at least try to be!!

When my pup first came home, she cried a bit when I put her in her cage in the kitchen, when it was bedtime. I would lay in bed listening to her making noises for a little while, pleading she would just shut up on her own accord, so I wouldn't have to go down to her. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that. Luckily she didn't cry long. But for the next few nights I put her out for a wee, then to bed about 15-30mins before we were going to bed ourselves. Then by the time you go to bed she is already settled. That seemed to work for me. Then your not in bed feeling guilty.
IMO you are prolonging it sitting in the kitchen with her till she's settled, you've just got to be hard and decide on a bed time and stick to it. :(  I know it sounds awful, but it's worth it in the end.

Michelle.

Sam has done really well going to bed,  we leave a small light on and the TV on very quietly where he sleeps.  He still barks at around 7.00 every morning - but last night we tried not leaving as much paper down for him (one sheet)  and this morning while he barked we just ignored him - this seemed to work there wasnt as much mess to clean up and I actually got half an hour more sleep!!

Jenny

When he barks in the morning it may not be for attention - he may need the loo ?

tried that. I take him outside - and he just looks at me and then saunters back in and goes back to his bed
:-)
Jenny

hi,got molly at twelve weeks old ,first night she had the radio on a lamp,hot water bottle,alarm clock,didnt hear anything out of her till morning,then we would wake her cause shes so lazy,over a few weeks started taking things away untill we just had the lamp on then that went to.now its out for wee plenty of hugs and kisses then she gets in her bed and you still have to wake her in the mornings x

hello,
i agree with an earlier post that taking the tv into the kitchen is prolonging the situation. IMO (and this has always worked for me) when YOU are ready for bed let the dog out for a wee. Give her praise and a maybe a treat for doingso. Put her in YOUR chosen place for her to sleep, and leave her. DONOT go into the other room and watch tv until she is asleep. Most dogs and i say most because i have two that are an exception to this, but most dogs will wake again when they hear you go to bed anyway.
Once you have secured her in her bed, ignore the whining. This is difficult, but will decrease in length within days and you and the dog will setle into the routine. Good luck xx

At bedtime myself and my partner split jobs, one takes the dogs out and one turns off the tv, fire, straightens up etc etc... we say, come on boys time for bed, and they instinctivly go to the back door for a wee. Once acomplished they then file into the kitchen and sit waiting for their treat, they then follow us upstairs and settle in their chosen spot where they remain until morning, no whining etc. I have my dogs in my room with me because that suits me, i found this easier to toilet train them, and also felt my kitchen was too cold - i'm a softie.
However my mum keeps her pup in the kitchen at nights, and she has a similar routine before bed, Wee, Fuss Treat lights off door shut- about 2 minuits of whining then nothing until morning.
Whatever works for you good luck xx

Sam is 14 wks and really good at going to bed.  The only problem is the mornings - he wakes up at 5.30 crying and barking.  I have tried leaving him to it and it dosent pass.  I have also tried going downstairs and letting him out for a wee - he just looks at me and then runs back in.  This morning I have him a handful of food and that worked.  At the moment he is on smaller portions for his food because he is on special medicated food for gastro problems.  Shall I keep getting up and giving him some food? Does any one else have ideas  (by the way he gets fed at 7am, 12.30 and then 7pm)

Jenny

7pm to 7am does seem like a long time for a little chap. what time do you go to bed?
could you not split the 7pm feed into two and give him a feed at about 10pm. if you go to bed at least an hour after that that is?

thats what I thought last night, so I gave him some of his food a before we went to bed and he was a lot better - think its just a learning process.  Im getting there
Jenny

Hi I have increased the amount of food tally has too at her evening meal..thought she might be hungry as she barks in a morning...she is fine now..we are feeding her a fair bit more than it says on the back of the pack though about 40ml more than the top amount..but I figured the worst thing that can happen is that she puts on a little weight and she is still such a skinny thing..so we will see how she goes, bed times are much easier now though, she hasnt barked for 4 nights now!!! success!!!

i have just got a puppy springer spanial 9 weeks old now he crys and howls every night i have tried to leave him but it wakes the whole family the longest i managed to leave him was for 30 mins by then he was going mad. i cant even leave the room for more than 5 mins or he will start to cry.unfortunatly he wasnt with his mother when we got him he was in a stable with his brothers and sisters. we have tried the lamp ,telly and hot water bottle but no good. if i was to increase the amount of food he has before bed will i not just get up to a load of poo. i will try anything i dont want to get rid of him he is so lovely please help

Poor little scrap - he's really lonely, isn't he? Have you tried giving him a nice big marrowbone to gnaw when you put him to bed last thing? Along with the hottie and the ticking clock that might be enough to take his mind off being alone.
:)

when we were training tally to be left, we did it quite gradually - she was still sleeping in our room at the time.. but through the day we started by leaving her for 10 seconds in th kitchen then walking in and back out, read somewhere that it just reassures them that you will always come back once she could do 10 seconds we waited for 20 seconds and just walked in and back out...this obvioulsy increases and increases..my hubby did it for an entire day..and it really paid off..if she barked though it went back to 10 seconds and the whole process starts again..we never spoke to her or anything on the visits..usually just opened a cupboard or something nothing dog realted..she seemed to get bored of us walking in and out of the kitchen and would just settle, we did this through the day so that neighbours werent woken etc etc and she slept in our room in a big box for the fisrt 2 weeks..after 2 weeks she was fine and didnt really bark too much..I think in dog mind he thinks you have gone forever!!..might be worth a try if you have a bit of time and some patience!!!

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice.  Started giving Sam some food before we go to bed and now he wakes up at around 7am which is fine because thats when we wake for work anyway.
At the weekends think it will just be a case of getting up to feed him and then hopefully being able to go back to bed, even for another hour.
Jenny

i love vizslas.............

don't give him a bone unsupervised!!!!!
Get him a teddy to cuddle up to at night - you will be surprised having something next to him when he's sleeping will make him feel safer - try it it works honestly xx good luck and all the best with the sleepless nights xxx

just to let you all know my pup has now settled at night i just needed to to be a bit more firm . he wakes every morning at 7 ready for his breakfast. he is so gental an lovely. thakyou all for your sugestions.p.s. i have just started taking  him training, the club i goto is very good www.armchairdogs.co.uk lovely people they have 6 pups to a class and one person training and two people helping.

We had huge problems with our pup not sleeping, and refusing to be left alone at night. We tried the following:

hot water bottle, soft cuddly teddybears, sleeping in the bedroom, radio on etc...

None of it worked he would howl the house down as soon as he realised he was alone. He was waking us up roughly every hour.

After about a week of this, and the 3rd time up that night, my husband went downstairs and told him off- told him to get in his basket and shut the door. after that not a peep- he has slept through from that day onwards. Now I know many will not agree with punishing the puppy but sometimes I think they are just trying to push their luck, and need telling who is boss.