Sleep Walking Boxer!!!

[DMHyankees]

Just kidding....but I do have a problem!

We had our boy sleeping in a crate in our room for the first year of his life. All was going great and we got into a good groove with his sleeping patterns. We thought in order to give him some more time out of his crate (he was never really a fan and it was never really his sanctuary), we would buy him a bed. He loved it and slept in it every night for a few weeks.

One cold night a few weeks ago, we brought him onto our bed after he flashed those big watery eyes and musher. BIG MISTAKE...I know. We haven't had a good night sleep since. He sleeps like a starfish. One night I woke up with his tail in my eye (you can imagine the rest of that image). We will get him off the bed and get goes back to his. After a few hours, he jumps back into hours and the process goes on all night.

<b>Is our only option to go back to the crate?</b> Our making him go back to his own bed does not seem to be getting the point across. While we love him dearly and have clearly sent him the wrong message, we need to "reset his expectations".

~Sleepless in NJ

 

[Jan]

You might try putting him back in his crate every time he gets on the bed. He may eventually figure out that if he doesn't want to go back in the crate that he has to sleep on his bed, not yours. It would be important that he is immediately removed from the bed and isn't allowed any time up there.

Good luck!

 

[Sansal]

I agree with Jan. See how that works and if it doesn't you might have to start crating him again for a while and then reintroduce the bed.

 

[PattonsPeeps]

have you tried??

It may be that he's getting into bed with you b/c he's cold. I often wake up in the middle of the night to recover my boxer in his blankets. He knows that the bed is off limits and doesn't even try to get in with us. I bought some fleece to make him a sweater to wear now that it's so cold. Maybe try using a heating pad? Or make a sweater for him to wear at night too. Good luck!