Sleeping away from home.

[lizjane]

Help please! Has anyone dealt with a cocker who just will not sleep through the night in unfamiliar surroundings?
We have an almost 3 year old working boy, who is absolutely fine at home, but when we go on holiday or visiting overnight he will not stay in his bed. He will get into bed reluctantly, settle for a couple of hours, then he is up, scratching at the door and crying. We dare not ignore the scratching and crying in case he is ill or needing toilet, but it seems he just wants human company.
It's making holidays very stressful for us.
We are in self-catering cottages, he is warm, dry and fed. He is in his own bed, with his own blanket and toys. We stick to his usual routine. What more can we do?

[bizzylizzy]

Would it be out of the question to let him sleep in the same room as you?
We allowed Humphrey into our room while we were on holiday last year, - he had his box and   his bed and we were strict that he had to stay there. I was a bit apprehensive how he would be when we got home again, but it was no problem,  he settled straight back into his routine of sleeping alone downstairs. If it means a less stressful holiday, it might be worth a try.

[ips]

I would agree with BL, although our rough tough working dog sleeps in her cage in our room at home anyway 😉

[Carolynleah]

When on holiday both our dogs sleep in our room. At home they sleep downstairs and don't have any trouble adjusting.

[ips]

I think your all mean.....only joking 😁

[bizzylizzy]

I think your all mean.....only joking 😁

Ah, but that's because you're a first dog owner Ian. Having shared our marital bed with a long haired German shepherd for 14 years, followed by a German Shepherd mongrel for another 14,  - plus the two children who also used to like to creep in during the night, we decided that for once in our lives we'd like to have a bit more room!!! Humphrey's never known any different and is quite happy and its sooooooo nice not to wake up to a dog bum next to my face!!! 

[Mari]

Laurië is very restless the first few nights in a new place. She will eventually relax, but it takes a few days. I too have her in the room with me (but in her own bed, I like my space), so I guess that makes things easier. She usually settles under the human bed in new places, ignoring her own bed because it is not where it is supposed to be. So she crawls under the human bed, sighing and huffing and being very clear about the fact that she would rather be at home with her bed in its correct spot. Oh and she must have a dirty sock or she will not sleep, no room for negotiation on that point 
I would probably follow advice others have given and try sharing a room. If there is still scratching at the door I would do the same as with puppies. Out for a wee, no fuss, back in bed, ignore further scratching.

[ips]

Ha 😁
Its very true I cannot deny it, and yes dog bum in face takes some getting used too 😁

[Karma]

Honey was awful whenever we were away from home with her.
We tried taking a travel crate, but that didn't work.
Now, if we go to in-laws (she goes there for her holidays) they have to settle her to bed, and she's fine.  Anywhere else, she sleeps with us.

[Gazrob]

My dog has slept in the kitchen in his crate since day one. I won't allow him to sleep in my bedroom. He moaned the first Couple of days but now he's fine he likes sleeping on his own. It's the only time I get any space from him.

[Archie bean]

Sorry, no advice as Archie is a nightmare away from home. I almost never go away because of it. Occasionally I have to visit family (I like visiting them but I would rather not take Archie - that's how bad he is!!) He sleeps in my room at home but won't settle when we are away and wants to sleep with anyone else but me. His guarding issues can also re-emerge when we are away for longer than a day or two and he can be particularly challenging in the evenings and over night. He is also destructive so I can't risk him being unsupervised. He just doesn't like a change to his routine, it's too stressful for him, and therefore, me. So no holidays for us.

[hoover]

We've had a lot of success using a travel crate for Ollie to help settle him. We got a fairly expensive one that has has velcro flaps over the mesh openings so that it can be made very dark whilst still ensuring good ventilation.  It was probably a little easier as he was used to a crate at home already.

I think if it's something you really worked on you could get it to work.  I would get a decent sized one, put it up at home in the location that his bed is usually in and start feeding him in it to build up positive associations. Play around with zipping it up whilst he is in there briefly but make it like a game and keep it as a positive experience.  Then I would try tiring him out during the day, preventing him from having his usual naps so that when he goes to the crate in the afternoon he is very tired and strongly inclined to rest and sleep.  Give him a favourite treat and do/ say what you usually do to get him to settle down. (for eg. Ollie knows that if he say 'have a good sleep' he is expected to have a nap and settles down quickly.  Keep a close eye on how he gets on,,if he's really unsettled it's probably not worth persevering with that time.  But in time he should probably get used to it with a process like that and you can the experiment with moving it to different locations in the house for nap time so he begins to learn that it doesn't matter where the crate is, this is where he can relax and sleep.

It certainly worked for our dog, who without the crate could not settle, and like yours was up and about and scratching doors.  With the crate we do not hear from him until we get up and then we just hear the thumping of his tail against the fabric as he waits to be unzipped 

[Koslg]

Humbug sleeps in the same room/bed as me. Usually he gets off and sleeps on the floor or in his bed. But when on holiday he sleeps leaning on me or between my legs on the first few nights almost as if checking I'm there or protecting me.
On one it was twin beds. He had more room than I did and more sleep!
I always take my own bedding completely and change the bed once I'm there so it smells normal.

[Jaysmumagain]

You may well be home bye now - but I just make sure Ollie can see us, he is nine now and just settles where his bed is, but when younger I used a wooden expanding garden trellis, and placed it across the bedroom door with his bed the other side.

It is really handy as it closes flat and is easy to put in the car, we took it with us the last time we were away it comes in handy