zeusinbrooklyn
New member
- Oct 26, 2013
- 1
- 0
- Country
- US
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Zeus
Hi all! We are new to the forum and (relatively) new bulldog owners. We adopted a 4 year old male English bully named Zeus in April. He came with no vet records or history -- apparently his previous owner just dumped him at the rescue, along with his mother and sister, and drove away! =(
We adore him and are ready to give him whatever care he needs. Although he's still adjusting a bit, he seems to really love us and we are totally in love with him. He's quite healthy overall, outside of a little skin infection recently (he's on antibiotics...our issue has been happening since we got him, not at the start of antibiotics).
The main problem we are having is at night. He used to sleep with his mom and sister, so we imagine this is contributing to the issue. We decided not to let him sleep in our bed and bought him a doggie bed which we put right next to ours. He in no way is isolated or goes to bed alone, we put him to bed every night when we go up to bed. (He's our little shadow.) Some nights that's fine, but most nights he wakes up multiple times -- generally right smack in the middle of the night! We'll get a 3am wake-up a 5am wake-up and, finally, the 7am when its all over. (Not so much worried about the 7am but sometimes you wanna sleep in on the weekends, ya know?)
He gets walked 3 times a day and has consistent access to our backyard. We pick up his water around 8:30-9 and head to bed before midnight
Sometimes when he wakes up he needs to go out to pee or poop, but often he's seemingly just attempting to get into bed. We usually take him out back, just incase he needs the bathroom bc we've also been battling an old habit of his - peeing on his bed. He's made big improvements in that area (now only doing it occasionally) & wears a belly band at night (vet said it was okay). The whole process can take 45 minutes or more and lately he has refused to settle back down into his bed and go to sleep. In desperation one of us has slept on the couch with him around 5am (even though we're giving him positive reinforcement that way). When he's on the couch with one of us he's as happy as he can be and sleeps forever.
Any advice for some sleepy bulldog owners on how we might help him sleep through the night? We're willing to try most things, but really want to keep him out of our bed (given his love for peeing on bedding and a desire to keep some mild boundary with him, haha)
We adore him and are ready to give him whatever care he needs. Although he's still adjusting a bit, he seems to really love us and we are totally in love with him. He's quite healthy overall, outside of a little skin infection recently (he's on antibiotics...our issue has been happening since we got him, not at the start of antibiotics).
The main problem we are having is at night. He used to sleep with his mom and sister, so we imagine this is contributing to the issue. We decided not to let him sleep in our bed and bought him a doggie bed which we put right next to ours. He in no way is isolated or goes to bed alone, we put him to bed every night when we go up to bed. (He's our little shadow.) Some nights that's fine, but most nights he wakes up multiple times -- generally right smack in the middle of the night! We'll get a 3am wake-up a 5am wake-up and, finally, the 7am when its all over. (Not so much worried about the 7am but sometimes you wanna sleep in on the weekends, ya know?)
He gets walked 3 times a day and has consistent access to our backyard. We pick up his water around 8:30-9 and head to bed before midnight
Sometimes when he wakes up he needs to go out to pee or poop, but often he's seemingly just attempting to get into bed. We usually take him out back, just incase he needs the bathroom bc we've also been battling an old habit of his - peeing on his bed. He's made big improvements in that area (now only doing it occasionally) & wears a belly band at night (vet said it was okay). The whole process can take 45 minutes or more and lately he has refused to settle back down into his bed and go to sleep. In desperation one of us has slept on the couch with him around 5am (even though we're giving him positive reinforcement that way). When he's on the couch with one of us he's as happy as he can be and sleeps forever.
Any advice for some sleepy bulldog owners on how we might help him sleep through the night? We're willing to try most things, but really want to keep him out of our bed (given his love for peeing on bedding and a desire to keep some mild boundary with him, haha)
I know how much it sucks getting up that time of night, know your not alone
but what don't you do for your lill furkids
Hi, and welcome to you and Zeus to EBN. You'll love this site. It's so sad how people can just dump off their pets, like they don't matter, so sad and heartless. 
I don't understand why people like that ever get animals in the first place. Thank you for rescuing Zeus and giving him a furever and loving home. You have already got a lot of great advice, and suggestions from members. We also use a crate for our two guys, they go out for their last walk around 11:00 pm, their crates are downstairs, and they love their crates, they are used to it, and it is their safe place. We get up at 6:00 am, and they go out for their duties, and we feed them at 6:30 am. They are out of the crate all day, unless we have to go out, as this is safer for them. Dozer eats socks, and anything that isn't nailed down, and Blossom chews stuff, like electrical cords.
