# plz help, dog won't stop whining at night! i dont know what to do



## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

hello all, 
I do not own this dog but I am dogsitting for my cousin while she's away on vacation. Little information was given about her dog. This is also my first time with any dog, as I hae no dogsitting or dog training experiences.

I'm taking him in for 14 days and this is day 5. Every night, he whines when I go to bed. I don't know what to do with him. Should I ignore him? I leave him in the computer room (he won't sleep anywhere else), but he'll go upstairs and scratch at my door and whine loudly. Tonight, I shut the computer door and he's been scratching at the door to come look for me. Is it ok to ignore him or what else can I do to make him sleep? 
I've tried exercising him and I'm leaving music on for him tonight.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Sounds like he wants to, or is used to, sleeping in the same room at the very least with his owner. Does he sleep in a crate at home or in bed with his owner? Are you opposed to him sleeping in your room?


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

Can he sleep with you? He is probably trying to come to you because he is scared. If not I would just ignore him as long as he isn't getting into stuff.

I also to not recommend leaving him in the computer room, especially unsupervised at night with a ton of wires. Can you place him in a safe room like a bathroom?


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

he sleeps in the bed with his owner. I'm not comfortable with him sleeping in my room because I have a lot of junk laying around and a lot of things that can easily topple over.


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

Then I suggest either crating him or putting him in a room where if he gets into stuff, it can't really harm him. Cords and wires can be very dangerous, even if unplugged, that is why I suggest no computer room.


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

He has slept in the computer room every night, except with the door open. What he usually does is he'll come whine by my door upstairs and either I ignore him and fall asleep or he goes back downstairs to the computer room. His first night here I tried the bathroom but he wouldn't sleep. The second night I let him roam around to see where he preferred to sleep and he was in the computer room under the desk. He's been there in that spot every morning that I've come downstairs. Tonight is the 5th night that he's still been whining every time I leave him. I was in the computer room with him up until midnight and he was actually laying down and not whining, but the moment I shut the door, he started scratching and whining.


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

Is there anyway you can remove all the wires and cords? It is just a bad idea to let a dog roam around where there are dangers, even if they haven't been interested in the "danger" areas before.

Does he have a crate he can sleep in? Maybe you could put that in your room, so he is safe and can't get into your stuff but is still comforted by human presence.


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

No it's a big complicated set up, otherwise I would have removed them long ago. I have a lot of stuffed animals in my room too and quite a fair amount of cords too. I let him into my room during the day and he seems to really like to chew on my stuffies and play with the things i keep under my bed (boxes of photos, piggy bank, etc). He ignores the cords though. My sister refuses to let him sleep in her room. I just creeped downstairs and peaked into the comp room and he seems to be laying in his bed and sleeping. I know he won't chew on anything in that room during the day, but my main concern is what if he gets anxiety and finds things to destroy during the night. But so far, even ignoring him while leaving the computer room open, he hasn't done anything destructive. Just whines and scratches.


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

Anxiety can cause destructive behavior, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he could chew on the cords. It is only day 5 of a 14 day trip.


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

Yeah I read up on that on google last night so I'm worried. I wish they trained him to sleep in a crate. I did speak to my cousin earlier this morning and she said to just ignore him completely. It really breaks my heart to hear him whine yet at the same time I'm really uncomfortable with him in my room. Leaving him in the computer room with the door closed makes me worried yet when he's ignored during the night he'll still go sleep there. What other alternatives would you suggest aside from crate and being in my room? I was told by another dog owner to not let him sleep in so many different places. 

Also, might I add that he's with me or my sister every minute of the day that we are awake.. and I usually sleep around 1230 or 1am, which is usually when I leave him for about 8 or 9 hours for the night. Is there anything wrong or bad about that? Sorry, I have no experience, so lots of questions.


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

I say ignoring him is okay ONLY if he is in a safe room. I would just keep him in the bathroom, he will fall asleep eventually if he is tired. If not, at least he is safe.

Please don't apologize, it is great that you are asking questions. It just means you care


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

Okay, I think I'll try that approach because overall he'd be safe. What do you think in terms of not moving his bed around so much and changing the "room" that he sleeps in?


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

I think it would help to keep his "bedroom" (lol) the same. The consistency would probably be comforting.


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

Okay, thanks all for the advice  I really appreciate the quick help that I've gotten!


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## LilasMom (Jan 18, 2012)

No problem


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## kitsl (Mar 14, 2012)

well, I'm back.
I moved his bed up into my room tonight to see if it would make a difference. He's downstairs growling and refuses to come upstairs now. I am at a complete loss as to what to do with the dog and my cousin won't be back until Saturday. I love him and feel quite attached to him already but I'm getting stressed and restless with him.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Would you be willing to sleep on a couch downstairs? It's a bit silly, but it would solve your short term problem here. I generally don't appease my dogs if they're attention whining, but in this situation I'd probably do it since it's what he is used to and I bet you'd like to sleep.


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