I have been pondering this for a while now and would like to get some input. Mandy does things at night while I am sleeping that she doesn't do during the daytime. She did this before puppies came and I thought it might be nesting behavior. Puppies have been off her for 2 weeks now.
Last night as soon as I laid down to sleep, I heard her barking. It was a playful bark, not an alarmed bark. I went down to check on her and there she is acting all innocent. I let her out to see if she had to do potty, etc and went back to bed. This AM the laundry is in the floor where she unfolded it and put it there.
She is also chewing at the garage door. It's a wooden folding door, not an overhead garage door. I don't know if she's trying to let herself out or just needing to chew. Last week she took the padlock off the door and let herself out in the fenced in potty area. I think it was just lucky jumping on the door to get the lock off but nevertheless I was still amazed. IF she had wanted to escape, she could have easily done so while I was asleep. Instead, she took her toys outside and destroyed the seat of the chair I sit in.
I am wondering if this is puppy behavior in her. Maybe she never has been inside, never had toys or her own bedding. And/or could this be something she learned while living feral in the woods for eight months? I mean, my dogs sleep when I sleep. They don't stay up all night goofing around like she does.
I have tried to interact with her in play and she's clueless about it.
If this is feral behavior, will she become civilized over time? If I can get a leash on her and get to a deeper level of trust, I believe she would benefit tremendously from coming upstairs and seeing how it's really done as far as living inside.
Well, Rosana, I have not
Well, Rosana, I have not progressed to getting the leash on her yet. I think once I do, we can make a lot more progress. I am playing with the other dogs outside of her fenced in area so she can see me interact with them and see them having fun. I hope it eases her mind some. Thank you for your suggestion. I hope to be there some day soon.
A dog in the woods does need to be alert at night...
It makes sense to me that she wouldn't yet be relaxed at night. I imagine that she slept more lightly during those months in the woods, ever alert on some level anyway to what might be lurking.
One idea that might help would be to take her outside just before you go to sleep at night. I know you can't play with her yet, but just going outside and getting a little exercise yourself (if you live in a place where this is safe) could begin to establish a routine. Unless we over-exert and get awakened from it, a little exercise can help with sleep for us mammals.
Do you think crate training is possible with her? If you went very slowly and didn't lock her in till she was really at home with it? That would be a way she could **eventually** sleep in your bedroom without much risk to your possessions or your own sleep.
Rosana Hart
www.training-dogs.com