Pooping in the house because of change...

AmberBateman · 12-28-2011

I have 3 dogs... a 6 yr. old male shepherd collie mix, a 2 yr. old female pit bull and a 6 yr. old male english mastiff. I have always allowed them all to sleep in mine & my husband's room at night. Our mix always sleeps somewhere on the floor, our pit always sleeps right next to me in bed and our mastiff always sleeps on the floor next to me. I am now 11 weeks pregnant with twins and have decided that it is not a good idea having them in our room at night, so we have started making them sleep in the other room starting a few weeks ago. Things were fine for a few nights and then our Mastiff started pooping in the room where they are sleeping. This has been going on for the past few nights. I know he is doing this because of all the changes and that he is mad because he has done this before. In the past, we have pushed my side of the bed up against the wall and since that was where he slept, he would cry and whine and then go into the hall and poop... so we moved the bed back out for him. If our mix lays in that spot, the mastiff cries until he moves for him to lay there. I just don't know what to do at this point. I knew he would be mad and that all the changes would make him uneasy, but this is out of hand. HELP PLEASE!!!

threenorns · 01-19-2012

why is it not a good idea for them to sleep in your room any more? unless there's a real problem - ie, not enough room for the cribs - i'd just leave things be. the twins haven't been born yet - plenty of time for adjustments once they arrive and it'll be much less traumatic for the dogs.

piratekitty · 01-19-2012

I dont think its ever a good idea to let your dogs sleep with you in the bed. It puts them at your level. On the ground in their own bed can be ok. You have two babys coming I think now is a good time to start making these changes, and have them sleep in another room. Can you crate him at night? I would also plan on taking extra baby clothes with you to the hospital when your twins arrive, let you twins wear them for a few hours, then take the clothes home for the dogs to smell so this smell is a familiar smell to them before you bring your babys home. This can help dogs that might be stressed with new changes. Congratulations, how fun, twins.

Lunareclipse · 01-20-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by piratekitty

I dont think its ever a good idea to let your dogs sleep with you in the bed. It puts them at your level. On the ground in their own bed can be ok. You have two babys coming I think now is a good time to start making these changes, and have them sleep in another room. Can you crate him at night? I would also plan on taking extra baby clothes with you to the hospital when your twins arrive, let you twins wear them for a few hours, then take the clothes home for the dogs to smell so this smell is a familiar smell to them before you bring your babys home. This can help dogs that might be stressed with new changes. Congratulations, how fun, twins.

We had a saint bernard in bed with us when my little person was a baby and we didn't have any issues. Having your dogs in bed with you does not put them at your level if you make sure that they know they are only allowed up with invitation and that they have to get off the bed when you tell them to. My dogs do not think they are masters of the universe for sleeping in bed with me.

I honestly don't see why your dogs can't sleep in the bedroom with you. Having babies doesn't mean your dogs have to go on the back burner. Just treat it like adding a few more children to the household. If you had and older child, you wouldn't tell them that they aren't allowed in your room anymore because of the babies. I don't think I would do that with my dogs either. In fact, I feel my child is safer with Porter going upstairs to bed with her because he would never allow an intruder to get to her. You want your dogs to bond to your children instead of feeling alienated. So your keep them closer to you during your whole ordeal instead of pushing them away. Trust me, they will offer you comfort when there isn't anyone there to do it, especially if your husband is working and the kid won't stop crying and you don't know what to do. You can always talk to your dogs and give them a hug. You can also train them to bring you diapers and baby wipes. You can start training them on that before the baby arrives. Anything to get your dogs more involved with the babies instead of less. Your dogs are living, breathing beings. They don't understand why they have to sleep in a different room instead of with their mommy. Doing that to your dogs could cause your dogs to resent the babies.

threenorns · 01-20-2012

i totally agree - nothing wrong with letting the dog up in the bed so long's they understand it is YOUR bed and YOUR choice; they're not on the bed "just because".

i'll bring the dog up onto the bed on really cold nights (beats a duvet all to heck!) but after a little while he'll look at me apologetically then slither back off down to the floor where he normally sleeps. he positions himself exactly right so when my hand drops, it lands on his head and when i have to get up to go to the bathroom, i'll step all over him and land on my butt.

lange · 01-20-2012

I think it depends on the individual household and the dog whether or not letting them sleep on your bed can cause problems. Some people should not ever let their dog sleep on their bed or feed them food off their plate or let them lead on a walk. LOL If your dog is pretty stable and obedient it probably won't do much harm to do the above. If your dog doesn't listen to you and bosses you around & is rough, it's a pretty bad idea. When small kids come into the picture though, I'd lean towards caution.

To the OP, your mastiff is likely pooping out of anxiety not because he's mad at you or your husband. It sounds like he's going through a form of separation anxiety.

AmberBateman · 01-20-2012

Thank you for all the replies. I agree with you guys about there is no reason that the dogs can't sleep in our room EXCEPT... we have 3 large dogs and not only do they sleep in our room, but in our bed... I got interupted sleep from them taking up all the room and getting up and down off the bed... It got to the point I was pulling myself out from under them in the morning. Now that I am pregnant, I need all the sleep I can get. Also, with the dogs all in the room, if they all lay on the floor, there is no space to walk, which causes trouble walking around in the middle of the night... and with two babies coming, I am going to be up all night long. The issue I was trying to get help on was helping my mastiff deal with the change of not sleeping in the room anymore, but mainly, not being up my butt anymore. I have since put a baby gate up at our door instead of closing the door and he has stopped pooping in the house.
I love my dogs and they are and always will be part of my fmaily, my children. Once the babies are sleeping in their own cribs, the dogs will be able to sleep where ever they want to again, but while I have bassinets setup in our room, I am not going to take the chance of our mastiff sleeping under it and getting up and knocking it over, like he does with the kitchen table or chairs.

Thanks again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by piratekitty

I dont think its ever a good idea to let your dogs sleep with you in the bed. It puts them at your level. On the ground in their own bed can be ok. You have two babys coming I think now is a good time to start making these changes, and have them sleep in another room. Can you crate him at night? I would also plan on taking extra baby clothes with you to the hospital when your twins arrive, let you twins wear them for a few hours, then take the clothes home for the dogs to smell so this smell is a familiar smell to them before you bring your babys home. This can help dogs that might be stressed with new changes. Congratulations, how fun, twins.

I thought it was a good idea to start the changes now so the dogs don't associate them to the twins. Things have been working out now, I am very relieved! I have read about bringing home something from the hospital before the babies come home to let the dogs get use to their smell, this is a great idea and I plan on doing it.

Thanks for your ideas!

lange · 01-20-2012

I don't sleep well next to my own husband in the bed so sometimes 1 of us will sleep elsewhere. LOL No offense to my hubby either but if I can't sleep I want to sleep alone. It's not personal.

Do whatever works for your home. I think dogs need to learn how to live in our homes so that we can all stay happy & together! How many people in your shoes would want to "get rid of" the mastiff instead of finding solutions...way too many sadly.

Glad you have it resolved.

AmberBateman · 01-20-2012

Haha... I have the same problem! I always go to bed before my husband, because of our work schedules, but when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, if he is snoring, I have to find a new place to sleep for the remaining few hours I get before I have to get up for work. :-D

lange · 01-20-2012

Aww! I have a snorer too. It's bad enough I need to take pills to get sleepy, his snoring and flopping around like a fish in bed don't help. I can't imagine being pg and sleeping with dogs on top of all that.

AmberBateman · 01-20-2012

I feel your pain! I wake up sometime with an elbow inches from my face... and we have a king size bed, but my husband has very wide sholders and takes up more then his half of the bed.