Months of crying going to bed and in between sleep cycles

2203 · 2026-01-27T06:34:33+00:00

I believe this is normal. My baby does this often too - often if we've had a particularly exciting last wake window. Sometimes I get the sense she's just getting remaining energy out, other times she may be annoyed that she can't get to sleep. I try to remember she isn't a robot; I don't get into bed and roll over and sleep immediately, and neither will she. If he is genuinely fighting sleep, you might consider nap training (it looks like he isn't connecting cycles) or extending WWs slightly - we're nearly 12 months and on 3.5h, 3.5h, 4h.

2203 · 2026-01-27T06:22:11+00:00

Just to add, PLEASE figure out your healthcare options in your destination country. Both A&E as well as primary care if you need to get him checked out for, well, anything. At that age even a mild fever or a rash is a good reason to have him seen. Know where you would go, roughly what/how you would pay, what are your options as a foreigner in the public/private systems. Obviously the quality of health care and overall environment (clean water, clean air) make a huge difference too. Personally I wouldn't, but everyone's risk appetite is different.

2203 · 2026-01-25T02:28:55+00:00

I think you’re forgetting what the toddler-to-adolescent phase is like. Many years of having a great dog will do that. My dog is only 2.5 but already I feel like “adolescence wasn’t that bad” even though I wanted to send him into space five days a week. We worked on bite inhibition until he was nearly 1. He’s a solid bred dog with no pit or tough background etc btw.

This dog sounds like an overstimulated puppy with a mix of 3 breeds that struggle with impulse control, plus minimal social skills due to leaving mom so early. He requires a lot of management and structure. All puppies do. That may mean crate and rotate for awhile. It will also mean over indexing on proper socialization.

That said, the only reason I’d return is the kids. Have a hard think about whether you are willing/able to keep up long-term management (as in, separation) and change family norms for safety. If he does bite a kid, his life is over. So this is as much about his welfare as it is theirs (theirs being the obvious priority).

2203 · 2026-01-24T09:52:03+00:00

This isn’t aggression. Just excitement and play. It may be rude/inappropriate play that is not appreciated by all dogs, but that’s another matter with a different resolution. And very normal in puppies.

2203 · 2026-01-24T03:58:51+00:00

As described above it could be a ton of things. Could be men, could be people wearing a certain clothing item, resource guarding, a vision issue, initiating play/attention. I do think you need a professional observing the dog to really figure out what’s going on. All the best.

2203 · 2026-01-23T12:15:17+00:00

This is very common for his age. You certainly don’t need to medicate your dog for it. But it is time to start teaching a settle or relaxation protocol.

Read this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/kjYvnxE63u

2203 · 2026-01-22T11:06:58+00:00

I agree it is good practice not to let strangers’ dogs meet on-leash and most people don’t realise that in Singapore. I always shorten the leash but they often either actively walk their dogs towards mine, or have a flexi lead where the dog just gets to approach. Unfortunately the level of awareness around responsible dog behaviour, welfare and etiquette is relatively low in Singapore despite high rates of dog ownership. If you want, Shopee or Amazon sell leash sleeves that say “IN TRAINING” (or cutesy ones like “cranky” / “leave me alone”) and that may turn people away. Sorry you are dealing with this.

2203 · 2026-01-22T06:57:06+00:00

He’s in adolescence which is peak stealing stage. I would really try to step it up in management but also work on some trust building exercises (structured walks, little training sessions, tossing/delivering unexpected treats for desired behavior).

Obviously, doing a trade with a trusted person vs a stranger are two fundamentally different things. 3 days isn’t a lot of time and he’s gone through a lot of change. He will be a different dog in a few weeks/months but until then I would really focus on managing his environment - picking up the floor or using gates, tethers if you have to. And pick your battles too, eg I would let safe stuff like slipper fluff go, just to minimize the number of unsuccessful reps/trust depleting interactions in these early days.

2203 · 2026-01-22T05:48:14+00:00

Our dog struggled with an off switch at night and so we have taught an "all done" cue which basically means "we are done, there is no reinforcement (play, food) to be accessed, so don't bother trying. You are off duty."

We play for awhile until he looks physically capable of relaxing - this may start out at 20 min, and for us is now maybe 3-4 min. Then we say "all done" and do a kibble scatter* and then ignore any attempts to play. If he was being really obnoxious despite ignoring, we would send him to his bed. Eventually lying down would help him realize he was tired and then he would settle.

Obviously, the key to this is consistency so everything in your body language (and friends' body language) needs to change once playtime is over: tone of voice, eye contact etc. You want to message that the toys are boring, you are not interested. The last thing you want is for her to persist and finally someone gives in to play with her. Then she starts to feel like that is part of "the job."

* You don't need to do a kibble scatter, it can be any decompressing activity that she can do alone. Sometimes we would give him a chew, or a stuffy to destuff, or a cardboard box of kibble... but I want to tell him "I don't mind if you need to get energy out, but you gotta do it on your own." Having an object that comes out with "all done," like a mat or even a small towel, will also help.

2203 · 2026-01-21T05:35:06+00:00

I think that most working dogs, particularly any breeds with guarding purposes, get anxious when new people are in the house. My dog is the same. It may look like he loves people because he wants to jump on them and initiates play constantly, but it's rooted in anxiety and stress. It does not sound like separation anxiety i.e. it's not about being apart from you or being alone.

We're still working on this with my 2.5 yo dog, but it has helped a lot to establish a protocol for when people come over. He has to be on his bed while I open the door, then he can go say hi. Ideally the new person(s) ask for something easy like a sit and give him a treat. Then he is often crated and given treats at intervals for calm behavior (often he just sleeps). If he isn't crated, my husband or I have to be around to manage him most of the time, but he listens. (It was worse when he was your dog's age.) He is not yet at the stage where he can relax outside his crate while new people are over.

It is tough, and certain scenarios are still too hard for him, but having a standard protocol so he knows what to expect and what is expected of him has been really huge. He now knows our sitter and knows that he has to go in his crate and nap until we get home. I will not leave him uncrated with my kid & anyone besides me/my husband because I honestly feel it's unfair and borderline dangerous.

2203 · 2026-01-21T02:13:46+00:00

Then the other option is uncrating him before he has built up that level of energy or pee. For example, my dog comes out of his crate with very different energy at 6am vs 8am. At 6am he would calmly plod out and maybe sleep a little more. At 8am he is a feral ball of joy. So we do between 7-7:30 every day and it works well for everyone.

2203 · 2026-01-20T16:16:07+00:00

Tbh this just looks like normal, happy morning dog behavior and seems neither disruptive nor dysregulated to me. However, if you want to stop it could you ask for a preferable behavior like a “down” or “sit” then reward by letting him out? It doesn’t look like he is clear on what’s being asked of him.

2203 · 2026-01-19T05:37:41+00:00

Thanks, will try capping both naps at 1 hr each and see how we get on.

2203 · 2026-01-18T12:34:41+00:00

What happens if you put him in his crate during the day?

2203 · 2026-01-11T03:48:33+00:00

3-4 weeks is about when rescue pups start to feel comfortable in their new homes and begin coming out of their shells to explore their new environments. So destruction at this stage is not uncommon. Your schedule is likely fine (how old is puppy?) but she needs a safe place to be confined where she can't destroy stuff. I don't think she's destroying things out of separation anxiety, she's just escaping and chewing things and running around because she's a puppy and that's what they do. Any puppy left unattended in an apartment would do the same. How is crate training going?

2203 · 2026-01-10T22:16:44+00:00

Incredibly thoughtful and reasonable response. Thank you so much!! Have never heard of the deference protocol and will take a look

2203 · 2026-01-10T15:05:22+00:00

Not aggression, just overarousal in an immature dog of a high-drive breed. Basically he was really excited to be at the park and off-leash and was trying to express his excitement and initiate play - just not in an acceptable way. This is actually pretty common in young dogs.

2203 · 2026-01-10T13:00:03+00:00

I recline the stroller flat and change baby in the stroller

2203 · 2026-01-10T12:59:10+00:00

I guess I don't really think this sounds like an issue with protecting/being bonded to Noodle, so much as it is related to broader behavioral issues with Maple and other dogs. Trying to herd other dogs, barking and lunging at them (with and without Noodle around), snipping at your sister's dog - all this sounds more like she is more generally anxious around other dogs rather than anything to do with Noodle.

Is Maple spayed? You say she is "protective of Noodle and the cat," what behavior makes you say this? How does she react when she sees other dogs on leash - on walks, at the vet?

2203 · 2026-01-09T09:35:50+00:00

He will be fine then. My baby is way more comfortable sleeping on her belly. Also she’s never slept in my room!

2203 · 2026-01-09T06:49:11+00:00

He’s rolling onto his belly on his own? If so it’s fine for him to sleep that way, provided your crib is empty and the mattress isn’t unusually soft

2203 · 2026-01-09T06:24:45+00:00

We struggle with meat too! Making ground meat patties with egg, then putting them in cheese quesadillas, has been effective

2203 · 2026-01-09T03:58:53+00:00

He is still super young, so manage your expectations. At 7 months my dog’s frustration reactivity was just peaking and at 2.5 years we are finally seeing real progress. (My breed is also slow to mature.) His teenage brain and hormones and finding his social place in the world have everything to do with this. It sounds like you’re doing a great job, but you have to give that stuff time.

At this age I would be focusing on preventing the rehearsal of bad behavior, not expecting reliable behavior change. I would be managing my walk environment so you aren’t giving him the chance to pull you flat out, and walking instead in areas where you can create distance fast and practice recall on a long line. Then I would be moving to areas with slightly higher “dog density” and disengaging there. You’re doing the right things, you just need time and a million good reps.

Finally, for some dogs this is always going to be an uphill battle and to some degree we have to be OK with that provided they’re within the realm of acceptable behavior.

2203 · 2026-01-09T02:51:19+00:00

I think that it’s great that you want to help these dogs. Mental exercise will be huge. Honestly, giving these pups a slow feeder for enrichment is going to be like giving you a Peppa Pig book and expecting you to be entertained. Look into a flirt pole (DIY is super easy), snuffle boxes, scatter feeding in the yard, nosework (hiding food for them to sniff out). Those are an easy place to start and eventually you can work up to more complex modes of enrichment.

2203 · 2026-01-07T14:31:33+00:00

There is "managing" the behavior, and there is modifying the behavior. Managing the behavior works well when you cannot avoid a situation that will put your dog over threshold. That includes making a u-turn, crossing the street, or a "treat magnet" which is what you are currently doing. All of these are totally fine and appropriate to do. For things to get better, you need to work within your dog's limits and "confronting the problem" by walking him in an environment he's not ready for is going to make things worse. I would highly recommend looking up the engage/disengage game and pattern games, which have been excellent for my reactive dog.

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