dog proofing a sleeping room

billyhead

Folks,

I was just wondering I have a small bedroom upstairs in the house. It is empty apart from a bed turned up on its side and a build in wardrope. I was thinking of moving a doggy bed in hear for the new arrival for sleeping in at night time and then keeping the door closed so he can't start wandering around the house. Do you think this would be okay. Also does anyone know the best time to take up the water bowl before bed time and what the best time would be for the dog to get shut eye at?

liquoriceall

I dont know I couldnt lock my dog into a room on his own, what if he needed to get up during the night? My boy usually sleeps all night and has the biggest bladder so can go 13- 14 hours no problem (if you put him out to go wee he just wanders around) but last night he had to get up at 5am to vomit, he would of been very distressed if he couldnt tell me

seamus

"Small bedroom"?

Presumably with one small window about 3 or 4 feet off the ground? Not ideal. You don't mind sleeping in your bedroom because it's got a window at head height and you can come and go as you please. But imagine if you were locked into your bedroom at night, no lights and the only window was 6 feet above your head.
Although you'd probably sleep, you'd quickly start to dread bedtime.

If my dog is locked into a normal room on her own, the first thing she does is find the highest spot she can, close to a window, where she can sit. If the windows are too high, or worse there are no windows, she freaks out.

Kitchen, IMO, is the best place. It's usually the brightest room in the house and usually has at least one glass door or some way that the dog can see out and not feel like he's trapped.

Plus, when the dog pees, poos or vomits during the night, tiles and lino can be cleaned. Carpet and wood flooring gets damaged.

My advice when thinking about where the dog can sleep is to give the largest amount of room possible where the dog can cause the least amount of damage when left alone. Again, kitchen usually fit this bill because very little is left sitting out below waist level. Outside kennels also fit this bill because although the kennel may be small, the garden is not.
High-traffic areas of the house are not bad places to put a dog. They really don't mind. In fact, if you gave the dog the choice, he would choose to sleep somewhere that everyone is coming and going rather than in a back room where he's left alone.

In terms of the water bowl, leave it down all the time. If the dog is thirsty, let him drink. There's no "best time" for a dog to sleep, just get a routine in place. So the dog knows that he goes to bed when you go to bed, and it's time to get up whenever your usual time for getting out of bed is. If the dog is tired, he will go to sleep himself earlier. If the dog wakes up before the usual "getting up" time, he will chill out until that time. If you try to sleep in, he'll raise bloody murder

thebullkf

seamus wrote: »

"Small bedroom"?

Presumably with one small window about 3 or 4 feet off the ground? Not ideal. You don't mind sleeping in your bedroom because it's got a window at head height and you can come and go as you please. But imagine if you were locked into your bedroom at night, no lights and the only window was 6 feet above your head.
Although you'd probably sleep, you'd quickly start to dread bedtime.

If my dog is locked into a normal room on her own, the first thing she does is find the highest spot she can, close to a window, where she can sit. If the windows are too high, or worse there are no windows, she freaks out.

Kitchen, IMO, is the best place. It's usually the brightest room in the house and usually has at least one glass door or some way that the dog can see out and not feel like he's trapped.

Plus, when the dog pees, poos or vomits during the night, tiles and lino can be cleaned. Carpet and wood flooring gets damaged.

My advice when thinking about where the dog can sleep is to give the largest amount of room possible where the dog can cause the least amount of damage when left alone. Again, kitchen usually fit this bill because very little is left sitting out below waist level. Outside kennels also fit this bill because although the kennel may be small, the garden is not.
High-traffic areas of the house are not bad places to put a dog. They really don't mind. In fact, if you gave the dog the choice, he would choose to sleep somewhere that everyone is coming and going rather than in a back room where he's left alone.

In terms of the water bowl, leave it down all the time. If the dog is thirsty, let him drink. There's no "best time" for a dog to sleep, just get a routine in place. So the dog knows that he goes to bed when you go to bed, and it's time to get up whenever your usual time for getting out of bed is. If the dog is tired, he will go to sleep himself earlier. If the dog wakes up before the usual "getting up" time, he will chill out until that time. If you try to sleep in, he'll raise bloody murder

:D:D oh don't i know it.... had good chuckle @ that;)

billyhead

The room would not be that small. Has anyone ever put a dog door up to bloack the stairs i.e if I was to leave the door open for the boxroom and let him roam the landing and the small bedroom for more space if that would reduce anxiety. Also I presume I would need to lay down a good bit of newspapaers on the room floor so he can releive himself if he had to

seamus

billyhead wrote: »

The room would not be that small. Has anyone ever put a dog door up to bloack the stairs i.e if I was to leave the door open for the boxroom and let him roam the landing and the small bedroom for more space if that would creat anxiety

Yep, a standard child safety gate will work for this. We have one of these to keep the dog in the kitchen at night.