# start sleeping on the bed? and more



## Grangeristhename (Jan 20, 2011)

Hello all,
I am crate training my pup, Granger. He is 12 weeks today and I got him when he was 9 weeks.
I was wondering what age would be a great age to have them start sleeping on the bed.
A book I purchased mentioned that 4 months of age is when I should graduate him to the bed.

Also, his ears seems to get smelly every other day. I clean them with a dry towel and the smell goes away a little.
How do you guys clean the ears.

Biting! How do you guys deal with the biting and with your experience when do they stop exploring the world with biting?
Thanks!


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## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

Only you can answer when would be a great age to have your pup start sleeping in your bed  Just make sure when ever you give in that you are committed to the arrangement. A pup nestled in your bed is cute at Granger's age, but maybe not so much when he is 50+ lbs & your wife, girlfriend, partner, friend or whatever would like a little sleeping space too. I'm not saying sleeping in your bed is a bad thing, but I would just make sure. Once you start that, it can be difficult to break. I have 3 kids, so after sharing some space for 9yrs on & off, our beloved Pumpkin & Moxie get a crate/bed of their own ;D

Pumpkin's ears have never smelled. I clean them once a week with a damp wipe (non scented baby wipe), & make sure the are dry when I am done. Hanging ears can be prone to funk & gunk. IMO, if the ear is persistently smelly with regular cleaning, I would have the vet take a look. Ear infections can have an odor. I'm sure others have much more knowledge about this than I do; however, a persistent odor isn't normal.

Your guy is still very young, and he will be using his mouth a lot. Our V pup is still mouthy at 6m, and I expect that to continue. She can be rough. If it gets out of control, meaning she is ignoring commands or getting more excited, we will crate her for a few minutes. Not as punishment, but so she can have a count to 10 moment. Otherwise, we might say "easy," distract her with another toy, or engage her in some type of fun exercise. Again, I'm sure others will have good suggestions for you. I mainly responded to say Congrats & your doing a great job! I'm so glad you continue to hang in there with Granger  Post some pics if ya can.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

If you want Granger in the bed with you, that's your decision on when. If you mean when can he sleep on a bed outside of his kennel instead of in it, you're a year or two away from that.

Be very gentle cleaning his ears,and next time he sees the vet have them check his ears internally. Gunnr's ears get "gunked up" and we have a gentle cleaner for the ear canal.

They never stop using their mouths to explore something. They just get less "animated" about it. The biting/mouthing is just something you have to gently deal with for the next year or so.


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## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

I actually did not understand the first question, like Gunnr stated sleeping on your bed is obviously your own personal choice, only you can decide that. However, I was interested in what Gunnr said about sleeping on a dog bed outside of his kennel, as we have just upgraded Axel from his small kennel to the large kennel which he now has more room and seems to enjoy alot more, however it is in our living room in the corner, and as most of you must know that these kennels are not the "most attractive" looking objects around, as well they take up quite alot of room, so eventually it would be nice to just have a nice dog bed for Axel and just use the kennel for travelling etc. (so it was nice to hear gunnr say about a year or 2) as I was curious about that.


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## Kingwilly (Aug 12, 2010)

We had big issues with Daltrey's ears...always full of brown gunk. We took him to the vet and they recommended cleaning solution and antibiotic drops. That worked a little bit, but it did not solve the continuing issue of agitation ear gunk. SO, when that failed, the vet recommended a change in diet. So we stopped all canned food and switched to a different dry food....ie. chicken to fish or fish to beef or anything that changed the base ingredients. It worked like a charm. His ears are clean and we slowly added some more canned food to spice up his dinner. We are keeping a close eye on his ears in case something in the canned food triggers another reaction.

When it comes to having your dog sleep with you....I have one question....are you through having kids??? If so, let the pup loose as soon as he can navigate going up and down on the bed. If you still want to have kids or have any type of intimate time with your spouse/partner...etc. DON'T LET THE DOG ON THE BED!!!!! Your love life will completely disappear....along with any bed space for yourself. Personally, I really enjoy my boy with me. I grew up with dogs and it is very comforting to have him around on the bed. BUT, it does nothing for the love life.....

In our experience, the older your v gets the less he will bite. Especially after all the big dog teeth come in. But I also believe that every V on the planet never out grows paper towels or tissue paper....It is like crack to them.

KW


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Never. That would be my answer if someone asked me about my dog. I feel dogs are not people and don't sleep in beds. On the other hand, a dog mat/bed/blanket/towel is fine in the crate at any age. Cooper had no problem sleeping on a towel at 8 weeks in his crate. ;D I also would never let him sleep out of his crate, it just causes too many problems.

There are some very nice looking crates that I would consider furniture.

http://www.dogids.com/large-end-table-crate.html?CAWELAID=754393080


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## Kingwilly (Aug 12, 2010)

I agree that dogs are not people, but you own a V and they fall somewhere in between being a person and/or a dog....LOL

I am not sure what is right or wrong, but if you enjoy your pup falling asleep with you in your bed....have at it. I look forward to it every night.

KW


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

After re-reading the post, I lean toward thinking that the OP meant when can the dog graduate to a dog bed. I agree with Gunnr that any arrangement where the dog is free to roam without your supervision would have to wait a long time. We still wouldn't trust Rosie unsupervised, and she is 20 mos. Haha--I was just interrupted writing this to go fish an earring out of her mouth...As far as "co-sleeping," we do let her sleep with us--and not for the right reasons. When Rosie was a pup, I was overruled on the decision to give in to her crying and let her sleep in the human bed the 1st night home. That was pretty much a decision to let her stay, and she did. I can't say I mind it, actually. Occasionally she'll pin me with her 50+ lbs weight in a position that hurts my back, but I can move her.

As far as biting, if the puppy gets into biting _you_, what worked for us was to turn our backs for a minute, or if that didn't work, leave the room momentarily (not long enough for the pup to get into trouble)--like Kellygh said kind of a time out. But I've read some arguments that dogs likely outgrow this no matter how you respond to it. 

Smelly ears--I agree to see the vet. The only dog we had that had them did have a recurrent ear infection. Rosie's ears get cruddy sometimes, but never have an odor.


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## Grangeristhename (Jan 20, 2011)

Thank you all! I did meant a bed outside his crate. I agree that it will take a long time before he proves he can spend some time by himself without ruining anything around the house. 

The biting is starting to get real annoying. They actaully hurt! haha. I put him in his crate for a timeout and sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I will just be consistent with it and hopefully with time it will stop his biting.

As for the ears, thank you for all the responses. I am going to the vet Thursday for his next round of shots. I will ask him about the ears. Thank you!


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

As for nipping, we did a couple things to grow Darwin out of it.

We would let him mouth our hands and fingers. If he bit too hard, we would yelp, and take our hands away. A little bit later, I would offer him my hands again, and let him mouth them, but repeat if he bit too hard again. Gradually, over time, we lessen our yelping threshold . We would yelp if he did a "medium" bite, and then, a few days later, he would get a yelp even for a small nip. He learned that he should only "mouth" us, and not bite us. Over time, the mouthing disappeared as well.

This was over a couple of weeks. Darwin seemed really resposive to it, but I think it was because he is a giant suck - he yelped a lot when he got hurt at all, so he understood the deal . When we brought Darwin home, our breeder gave us a pamphlet on how to do this, bite inhibition.

This probably wouldn't work for all dogs though.

Good luck


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## Cavedog (Oct 21, 2010)

kellygh said:


> A pup nestled in your bed is cute at Granger's age, but maybe not so much when he is 50+ lbs & your wife, girlfriend, partner, friend or whatever would like a little sleeping space too.


I feel that letting your dog sleep on the bed is a matter of personal choice, but having your wife AND girlfriend in bed at the same time is probably a bad idea. ;D

Bruce


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

;D ;D


Cavedog said:


> kellygh said:
> 
> 
> > A pup nestled in your bed is cute at Granger's age, but maybe not so much when he is 50+ lbs & your wife, girlfriend, partner, friend or whatever would like a little sleeping space too.
> ...


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Ruining the house is definitely a bit deal, I agree. Also bear in mind the number of people on this forum who've had to have emergency surgery on their dogs to get metal or other impassible objects out of their bellies. These dogs will chew and swallow almost anything, they don't seem to have a sense of food versus non-food. So I worry about both issues--destruction of house and self-destruction of dog. 

We thought we'd lose our minds with the biting. We ranted about returning her to the breeder (even though we didn't really mean it, quite). You're right, it really kills. Just when you think you can't take it anymore, they grow out of it. I can't remember what age it was, but slowly, surely, she just stopped doing it. 



Grangeristhename said:


> Thank you all! I did meant a bed outside his crate. I agree that it will take a long time before he proves he can spend some time by himself without ruining anything around the house.
> 
> The biting is starting to get real annoying. They actaully hurt! haha. I put him in his crate for a timeout and sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I will just be consistent with it and hopefully with time it will stop his biting.
> 
> As for the ears, thank you for all the responses. I am going to the vet Thursday for his next round of shots. I will ask him about the ears. Thank you!


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## tiggers mum (Jan 6, 2011)

I moved Tigger from his bed in his crate to just his bed in the utility room at twelve months old. I just felt that it was right for him and us at this age. As far as the biting is concerned, whenever he got a bit carried away I would shout 'NO' and turn away from him. When I went back to him to play minutes later and he would start again I would say 'gentle' and keep repeating it and when he got too carried away again I would shout 'NO' and ignore him again. I know it sounds tedious but he will take something from our hands or mouths now sooooooo gently and react gently to something/someone if I say 'gentle'. He knows he has to be calmer on these occasions. Good luck!


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## Grangeristhename (Jan 20, 2011)

The biting just got worst! I would yelp in a high-pitched voice and walk away if he started biting but yesterday and today he would chase me and bite my behind or my knees. He will also bark like crazy. He won't let me walk away! These bites hurt and also tear my clothes! I'm confused on what to do, now =[. I don't want to use his crate as punishment, but he just gets so crazy!


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## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

I know you're not supposed to use the crate as punishment, but I think using it for a "time out" is a bit different. When he is being wild, give him a treat to go to his kennel. Let him stay in there a bit to calm down.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

I agree. Often they get into that bitey mode when they're overstimulated/overtired anyway, so putting the pup in the crate can be a good way to let them chill out. When Rosie was a puppy, she usually did this close to her bedtime. By the end of a biting frenzy, our nerves were shot but Rosie was relaxed and ready for a good night's sleep. I found this article on puppy biting useful. http://animalbehaviorassociates.com/blog/178/canine-behavior/puppy-behavior/puppy-biting/ They pretty much suggest the same thing, giving the puppy a quiet place to rest.


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## Macaroni (Jan 19, 2011)

Granger,

Mac (14 weeks) has done the same thing a few times after a play session or a walk. Where he'll start jumping up or biting at my leg etc, and when I get up to walk away to end the play session or ignore he'll follow and really jump up and bit at me and my clothes....even went for the family jewels once! He never seems to do it to my GF but i think it's b/c I do most of the walks w/ him and he associates me more w/ play sometimes (working on this). Anyway, at the time I'll stick my knee out and make the sound, but as you menitoned he tends to do it a few time before stopping. What I've done the last couple times is pin him on the ground when he's gotten waaay to amped up. I realize some may find this very offensive, but it's in a calm way and in no way would I ever hurt him while doing it. But anyway, after a bit of a fight (first couple times had to hold him there for a few minutes) he clams right down...he's actually fallen asleep right in the spot after I release him from the submission. And it seems to have worked as he hasn't done it in over a week now. 

Crate is a good solution though too. Anyway, just my two cents, but wanted to let you know your not alone. Theey're pups and are still learning who decides when play sessions are over, etc.

Best of luck and keep it up!


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