| 9/14/2009 7:23:41 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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zipperlynn
Porterville, CA
age: 40
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Okay, calling all you dog lovers out there!! I need help!
I am house sitting for the big boss for about the next week and a half.
She has two huge dogs. No, I don't know what kind they are. All I know is that they don't let me sleep!!!
So, I need advice. They sleep in the bedroom. They slurp when they clean themselves. Their nails click on the hardwood floor. Last night, they woke up twice barking their lungs out - 1:00 am and then 3:30 am. Course, then they bound off the bed, tear down the hallways, out the doggy door to raise hell outside at whatever the offender is.
I am not getting much sleep. I am a cat person. Cats wake you up in the morning, at worst - not all night long.
Any advice is appreciated! I need some sleep! 
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| 9/14/2009 7:57:06 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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dougiem
Brewer, ME
age: 30
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Can you call the boss and ask for advice? Seems they'd know what to do better than anyone.
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| 9/14/2009 8:43:36 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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zipperlynn
Porterville, CA
age: 40
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Can you call the boss and ask for advice? Seems they'd know what to do better than anyone.
She's at Horsey camp - yup, she has three horses and took them to horsey camp. They get special kind of grass to eat, horse massages everyday, etc.
I've thought about calling her - but, I hate being bugged while I'm on vacation... so, I'm trying to avoid that step.
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| 9/14/2009 8:45:05 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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dougiem
Brewer, ME
age: 30
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I understand. But if you think about it, you're really the one being bugged. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you gave her a quick ring. Good luck either way!
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| 9/14/2009 8:46:04 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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marudy10
Hatfield, PA
age: 40
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If you can handle it, take them for a good, long walk before bed. Possibly half an hour or more. A tired dog will cause much less trouble-of any kind.
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| 9/14/2009 9:01:37 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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alicekathleen
Sacramento, CA
age: 65
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Good advice from above posters. Wear them out, feed before bedtime, lock the doggie door. Keep house dark.
They would drive me nuts, too. Call the boss and ask if you can sleep at home and check on them in am first thing.
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| 9/14/2009 9:49:42 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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devilangel24
Stillwater, OK
age: 25
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These dogs are under your care, and you need to be providing for them at this moment. They need to be walked, played with, and fed at the proper times. Dogs need lots of love, and attention EVERYDAY. They are just like a kid, would you ignore your kid all day?? Would you feed your kid right before bed, so they have to wake up to go to the bathroom at midnight?
I say take the dogs to the local park, and play for them...Good exercise for you both! I have 4 dogs, 2 big..2 small, and I walk them 3 times a day and play with them...Even though they have HUGE pen to play in, I still believe my dogs need attention!
I say do that, and see how things go. You are an adult, and if you've never had dogs before, you shouldn't have been left in charge of two big dogs, You afraid of them?
JMO
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| 9/14/2009 10:41:01 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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craftygirl002
Tacoma, WA
age: 42
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Sounds like fun...
You have my sympathy. I remember when I let my mom babysit my dog while my sister and I took a day trip to go to my grandmother's 95th birthday party a couple years ago. When we got back, my mom was EXHAUSTED. She thought she had to entertain the little guy every second and that she had to be up moving around with him. Apparently, the little guy conned her into being the one to fetch the ball. (He learned how to fetch when he was 8 wks old.) It wasn't until she was able to spend some time seeing how I handle him that she was able to understand how to cope with his energy level. (He plays hard, but goes to his crate every night at 7pm.)
This may be a similar situation. There's no way your boss could function at work if her dogs wake her up like you described every night. Either she shuts the bedroom door, locks the doggy door, or does something else to manage their behavior. The walk before bed is a good start. Putting a pair of earplugs in might be another good idea.
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| 9/15/2009 6:18:20 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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chatte09
Linden, NJ
age: 50
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There's no way your boss could function at work if her dogs wake her up like you described every night. Either she shuts the bedroom door, locks the doggy door, or does something
Uh, no, it's quite possible that the dogs do this and the owner is so used to it, she filters it out and sleeps through it!!!  I have woken up with jingle balls on the bed and various other evidence of cat partying that I slept through. Thunderstorms tells me my cats crawl on me, lay across me to sleep, step on my head, and I'm completely oblivious to it! Drives him nuts and they get escorted out of the bedroom with the door shut behind them.
Did your boss leave their normal exercise routine? I agree with tiring them out. A tired dog is a dog that can't muster the energy to bark at a squirrel. keep them out of the bedroom. Just because the boss sleeps with them doesn't mean you have to. Lock the doggie door. Do they have crates? Crate them at night. I always crate any dog I have overnight and I never have a problem with that barking at everything and carrying on crap. If not, is there a room in the house where they can stay overnight and not be distracted by outside noises?
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| 9/15/2009 9:00:17 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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zipperlynn
Porterville, CA
age: 40
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Okay, last night went great!!!
I moved the doggy bed to the hallway.
Oh, to that one poster above, I have no idea how many acres are here - enough for 3 horses... they have access to the outside 24 hours a day.
My thing is, after work, I have something going on every night except Friday till fairly late. So, sometimes I don't get home from class till after 10:00 pm. I try to play with them every night in the field to the side - there's tons of toys over there - but, by the time I get home they're already in bed waiting for me.
I'll admit, I am a little nervous around them... the last dog I took care of was probably in 1983. I was a kid then.
At least things worked out great last night. All I had to do was move their bed outside of the bedroom! Simple solutions are great.
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| 9/16/2009 8:07:03 AM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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lavenderlilac
Brookhaven, NY
age: 63
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My daughter has three border collies and they are very active. She works but makes the time to walk them and play ball or frisby with them in the back yard. They are looking for your attention .. I know it can be exhausting but you have to tire them out.. Good luck..
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| 9/16/2009 6:33:27 PM |
HELP! Dogs are driving me nuts. |
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zipperlynn
Porterville, CA
age: 40
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I've already played throw the toys for about an hour... it wasn't enough. I wish they would return them! Throwing them and picking them up is a pain!
Gotta go!
Oh, and thanks for the advice on treating them like kids! It has helped!
I'm still a cat person though - dogs are too dependent.
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