Rottweiler won't sleep through the night

by Angela
(North Carolina)

Hello,

I have a 9 month old male rottweiler and he will not sleep through the night. I have to give him a chewie to keep him occupied. He gets plenty of exercise daily but just refuses to sleep longer than 4 hours. I don't want to crate him as I want him in my room for security.

I make sure that he is cool and do everything that I can possibly think of. Do you have any ideas/thoughts?

Thank you,
Angela




Hi Angela
This is tricky because you can't actually make a dog (or a person or any other animal for that matter!) sleep, you can only put them to bed.

If your pup has a comfy bed to sleep on, and is well fed, not thirsty and has had plenty of exercise then he should be normally be tired - but if he's not there's not a whole lot you can do about that. But you can insist that he doesn't disturb you.

Having him sleep in your room is going to disturb both of you to some extent and he may be a lot more relaxed and inclined to sleep if he's in another room, even if he's not crated. I have a dog who is the most restless sleeper in the world, and although he likes to sleep on the bed he's not allowed in my room at night because he wakes up half a dozen times and I can't take it! For us it works better if he sleeps in the living room, and I'd recommend trying to work out something along similar lines.

Although you say he gets plenty of exercise, it may be that although his body is tired, his mind isn't. I always recommend making sure that every pup and dog has regular, daily training sessions at home in addition to a weekly formal obedience class. The mental energy, focus and concentration required for learning helps make a puppy tired and it's very good for them because Rotties are an intelligent working breed and need to be kept active both physically and mentally. They're happier and more content that way.

Other than these suggestions I'm afraid this situation is just a matter of trial-and-error until you can find what works for both of you. I wish you lots of luck with your pup... and a better night's sleep really soon :)