Dog Crying in Sleep

Dog are wonderful animals to have as pets. They can be a lot of fun and very affectionate. Dogs are social animals and love to be in the company of other dogs and people they have bonded with. As a dog owner you are responsible not only for feeding and providing your pet with the medical attention it needs but you also have to train your dog with basic commands and behavior. One behavior that you may want to correct is your dog crying and whimpering in his sleep. Whining or crying is your dogs’ way of communication as they can’t speak.

There are several reasons why your dog is crying or whining at night, some of these are; it might be uncomfortable because of a new sleeping arrangement, it might be in heat, it might be in pain or it probably needs something. It is important for you not to slavishly respond every time your dog cries, because if you do then this will become a very bad habit your dog develops. There are many ways to help your furry friend overcome this problem. The first thing you need to do is take your dog to the vet in order to rule out any medical reasons that might be causing your dog to whine or cry. When dogs aren’t feeling well they have no verbal means of communicating these feelings to us so they become very quiet or cry and whine. Once the vet has examined the dog and given you the go ahead then it’s time for you to address this behavior. Try and maintain a journal where you pen down everything you notice about the behavior, both before and after the dog starts crying. You need to do this in order to find out if there is a pattern or any particular thing that triggers off this behavior.  You need to do this for at least a week and surprisingly you will notice a pattern. You must understand that if you pay attention to the dog every time it cries it will never learn to stop crying. You must teach your dog replacement behavior by ignoring it when it cries and react by giving it a treat once it is calm. You must ignore his crying especially if it is using it to escape a bath or medication and continue with what you need to do but give it a treat instead when it calms down.