Archived Message

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Kelly

Hi... I have a problem. We got a new Maltese puppy a little while back. She had her own kennel to sleep in, and after the first few nights, she slept fine through the night. She didn't wake up and cry or need to go to the bathroom. The problem is that I work, and she's technically not allowed to go to work with me, but since she's so cute no one complains. I frequently have morning meetings, though, and she can't come to those. I really didn't like keeping her in her kennel all night, and then letting her out for an hour and putting her back in all morning. What I started doing was putting a matress on the floor, and letting her sleep in the same room with me. She doesn't sleep on the bed; she usually curls up next to it. The problem is that she wakes up several times throughout the night and wants to play. She has plenty of toys, but she wants to play with me, and she will pounce on me and play with my hair until I wake up. Any suggestions?

DISCUSSION:

ABSOLUTELY UNCANNY!!!!! My baby girl does the exact same thing! I, too have taken her to work a couple of times. I'm so proud of her when she sleeps through the night, that I can't bring myself to leave her all alone, locked up, for hours after she's been sleeping all night. She, too, pulls my hair when she wants to play. She gets a mouth full of it at 3-4:00 a.m., and pulls and growls until mommy wakes up. Even though she knows I'll be angry (how angry can you really get!), she also is comforted when I waken. I never really found a solution to this problem, but she seems to be getting better as time passes. Unlike you, she sleeps on the bed with me, and is learning that the bed is for sleepy time. Now I can tell the difference: when she BARKS to get on the bed, she wants to play. When she CRIES to get on the bed, she's sleepy. She is also learning to play with her clown (her favorite chewy/rattle toy), instead of mommy's hair, at night. GOOD LUCK!
-Cindy

Herald did the same thing!!! Only I am afraid I was not as patient as Cindy. I just refused to play and scolded him for waking me up. I am home all day so I don't feel like he is deprived of playtime, but I know what a bear I am the next day if I don't get my sleep. I was fairly patient with him until he turned five months old and that is when I decided enough was enough. He never did sleep in my bed, for some reason he has taken to sleeping with my two year old son, but every night he would come in our bedroom in the middle of the night and cry and fuss, so I would get up and take him outside, and then he would start crying because he wanted to play and there wasn't anybody to play with. He does get especially bouncy right around midnight for some reason and he too pulls hair with his teeth, which is really cute but painful!!! He also digs at your scalp like he is combing or something. Really cute, but not in the middle of the night!!! So I just told him to cut it out and I try to make sure he gets enough exercise in the late afternoon and evening so he is worn out. I read somewhere that a tired puppy is a good puppy.
-Ruth

In my opinion, you should play with the dog A LOT until he get really tired before he goes to sleep, and maybe that will put him to sleep through the night. You should try that. That used to work for my Maltese. I still remember I would run around in the grass at night, and play with him,and then I would feed him water, and my mom would put him to bed and the dog slept like an angel.
-Michael

Prissy and Buffy sleep in the bed with us. Prissy will climb up on your chest and get really close to your face and look at your eyes to see if they are open. If they are she jumps on you playing. If you keep your eyes closed, she will go and lay down. When the others will not settle down, I close the door to my bedroom. They are all inside the bedroom, but something about closing the door makes them think it is time to settle down.
-Marsha A.