Having a dog as a pet can bring great joy to dog owners. However, that doesn’t mean that you get to socialize with your dog all the time. Because many people need to get up early to go to work, they will need a good night’s sleep every night. While dogs can go to sleep at any time, you will want your dog to go to sleep at the same time you do. That way you don’t get waken up if your dog whines, moans, or barks while you are asleep.
That is where I come in with tips to help you with how to get your dog to sleep through the night so that you can sleep in peace every night without disruption. You will first want to make sure that your dog has his/her own dog bed to sleep on. You will want to get a dog bed that is thick and comfortable for your dog.
I definitely recommend the PetFusion Ultimate Dog Bed as it is the most comfortable one out there with memory foam that is four inches thick. It also comes in four sizes – small, large, extra large, and jumbo.
Tips For How To Get Your Dog To Sleep Through The Night
1. Make Your Dog Tired
Dogs will have a difficult time sleeping if they are not tired. So, you will need to get your dog tired somehow. The best way that you can go about tiring out your dog for the night is through exercising.
Exercising not only allows your dog to use up much of his/her energy, but also it is good for his/her health. There are two ways that you can exercise your dog. The first is to take your dog out for a walk around the neighborhood.
Before you do that though, you will want to make sure that your dog is well trained not to pull on your leash when going for a walk. If you haven’t done that or aren’t sure how to do so, this post has you covered.
Another way to exercise your dog is through a fun game of frisbee. In this game, all you have to do is to throw the frisbee across the air and your dog has to run in order to catch it.
If your dog doesn’t know how to catch a frisbee, that is ok because you can train your dog how to do that. If you need some frisbees to play with, you will want to order the Hyper Pet Flippy Flopper Pet Frisbee because these are soft which will be easier on your dog’s teeth.
I would suggest giving your dog up to an hour of exercise starting in the early evening, not long after you arrive home from work.
2. Feed Your Dog
You want to make sure that your dog is well fed because dogs can struggle to sleep at night with an empty stomach. So, you will want to provide your dog with a meal and a bowl of water in the evening soon after he/she has received his/her much needed exercise.
If you are in need of dog food, I would suggest ordering some here from the comforts of your home.
3. Have Your Dog Eliminate Waste
When your dog is being fed a meal, he/she will need to go and eliminate his/her waste at some point. And so, you will want to make sure that your dog has a chance to eliminate his/her waste right before you go to bed.
Failure to do that could set you up for a rude awaking in the middle of the night by your dog signaling that he/she needs to go and pee. So, be proactive and have your dog do his business outside just before bedtime.
Alternatively, you can have your dog eliminate within his/her own litter box inside your home. If you don’t have a litter box at home, you may want to check out the PuppyGoHere Dog Litter Pan.
4. Consider Where Your Dog Sleeps
One of the things you will want to do is to figure out where your dog will sleep at night. If your dog is comfortable sleeping along, the living room should do it for him/her.
If, however, your dog is experiencing separation anxiety, the living room isn’t going to be a good fit for him/her. Instead, you will want to put the dog bed inside your bedroom so that your dog will have company while sleeping at night.
If you don’t have room in your bedroom, try to place the dog bed just outside the bedroom. If this is the case, I would suggest leaving the door partially open so your dog can see you in there. You can also cover your dog with a blanket to sleep in if needed.
5. Establish A Relaxing Environment
To help ease your dog into falling asleep for the night, you will want to establish an environment for relaxation in the few hours leading up to your bedtime. So, don’t engage in any activities with your dog.
Don’t make any loud noises during that time period. Just take those last few hours to relax on the couch or on your bed.
You may want to set up a low volume on your radio or television to help your dog with a relaxing rhythm. I would also suggest that you dim or turn off the lights to help encourage your dog to fall asleep.
How To Get Your Dog To Sleep Through The Night – Conclusion
All in all, these are my tips for you to go about how to get your dog to sleep through the night. Also, if you already know how to command your dog to go to his dog bed, I would encourage you to take advantage of that.
It is also possible that your dog is experiencing a medical issue that is stopping your dog from sleeping for the night. If that is the case, you will want to check in with your veterinarian as he/she can prescribe a medication to help your dog sleep throughout the night.
What are your thoughts? Does your dog sleep at the same time that you do? Feel free to leave a comment below.
I remember with my kids, when we needed them to sleep, we played with them a lot and that was very effective. And we have been implementing this with our dog. But making them tired is not always easy. But all these other tips will complement in making our dogs sleep through the night.
Thank you for sharing your experience of how you and your kids managed to get your dog to sleep through the night. I am glad to hear that it has been working for you guys. Even so, I am glad that you have found this article so that you and your family will have additional tips for getting your dog to sleep at night.
These tips will help any dog owner to get their dog to sleep at night. I found that it was during the early puppy stage, that our dogs would whine during the night. I found that putting a clock in the bed with the dog, helped, as they could hear the ticking.
But tiring them out before bedtime, is a sure way of getting them to sleep. Trowing a ball for them is something that our dogs have always enjoyed, and it gets them tired. Thanks for sharing these tips.
You are welcome. Yes, the clock works too as it can produce a relaxing rhythm which should help put a dog to sleep at night, especially when combined with the dimming or turning off of the room light.
Yes, for sure, tiring your dogs for the night will go a long way to help them go to sleep then. And so, throwing a ball for the dogs to catch is a great way to do that.