Strange behaviour at night

We have a 2 yr old Sheltie/Aussie Shepard named Lucy & she sticks to me like glue. At night, if I go to bed before my husband, she'll nestle into his pillows to sleep. When he comes to bed, she'll move to her doggie bed (although we don't mind if she sleeps on the bed with us).

If my husband goes to bed before I do, she'll stay up with me, then we'll both go to bed.

Here's the wierd part: When he goes to be first, she will sit on the floor on his side of the bed and make short, soft little yips at him until he wakes up. It's not that she's asking to be let out because she has a doggie door. I think she'll telling him to move out of "her" spot. She does this to him nightly; she's only done it me once.

How do we break her of this? We don't want to lock her out of the bedroom, nor leash her down to anything all night. We've tried various commands, like, "down" (she went down but still yipped at him), "no barking" (she knew she wasn't actually barking), etc.

We're losing sleep over here. Does anyone have any idea what to do?

 

You're probably right, she's probably telling him to get out of her spot. The solution is to stop letting her sleep in the bed. Even if you don't mind having her there, you're giving her the impression that she's on the same level as you, and that's confusing her. She has a place in the pecking order, and you have to let her know what that place is by being consistent about things.

It's ok to allow her on the bed, but it should only be by request. And it's you, and especially your husband, who should be doing the requesting. Don't allow her to just get on the bed. Make her wait until she's been asked to come up. Snuggle and play all you want, but when it's time to sleep, make her go to her own bed. Don't allow her to decide where she's sleeping and don't allow her to sleep in someone elses spot, even if someone else isn't there at the time.

If she fusses, squeeks and whines, DO NOT GIVE IN! Send her to her bed. If you allow her up on the bed when she fusses, you've only taught her to fuss to get her own way.

 

awesome reply, Shineillusion. well friggin said. my dogs are kinda the same. but when i'm knocked-out and sound asleep, they make sure to sneek up (all tippy-toey-like) on my bed to lay beside me. their hilarious.

 

Thanks for the idea ...

I'll have to start training her to "go to bed" [-X ... her own bed.

*crossing fingers* Wish me luck!