Hello. I have a 9 year old Vizsla who has recently started some troubling behavior. She knows when my wife and I are about to wind things up for the night and put her in her crate, and she lies on her back and refuses to get up so we can let her out one last time before bed. We try and gently coax her up, but she has recently started to snap like she's going to bite. She has never bitten one of us, but we want to avoid and discourage this from happening. She is healthy, and acts completely normal throughout the day. It is only at bedtime when she acts this way. Any advice appreciated greatly.
Mark
Dog refuses to move at bedtime
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Re: Dog refuses to move at bedtime
I am no expert so my advice is just thoughts.... I started to notice my puppy starting to do similar things in the last few weeks so I made a conscious effort to change my routine every night. Us humans tend to be creatures of habit and perform rituals and dogs pick up on those things so you have to make a point of not performing those rituals the same way every night. What I do is I will get up open the back door, go sit out back finish a glass of wine ect and let him come out on his own potty if he needs to (I will start this process well before I have to be in bed). Then I will go back in sit down watch the news a little longer get up walk back outside see if he comes out to potty, go up stairs and not make/let him follow brush my teeth/wash my face, go back down walk back outside hang out for a few min to give him a last chance to potty, get water for the night and head to the bed room. Once I go to the bedroom I always bring his favorite toys/chewy's/a treat/frozen peanut butter filled kong ect toss them in the back of the crate and when he decides to come up on get in to get his chewy i close the crate and go to bed. Every night you should do these things in a different order example: brush your teeth go hang out in the yard for a bit the come back sit on the sofa watch tv, then wash you face then change then go back outside ect to keep your dog guessing on what is going on so she doesn't know when bed time is coming. Make going in the crate a good thing! I have special treats he gets only going to bed/getting in the crate and he LOVES them! We are working on crying in the middle of the night right now but since he is only 4 months I am seeing that he just knows he wants to be next to Mom(me). We get him in the crate just fine it is at 5 am when he wants out to come sleep on the floor by my side of the bed. that we are working on right now!! Once I noticed he was picking up on my pre bed habits and didn't want to come to bed I started to change my habits and it has helped with that! Hope it helps! Good luck sorry if its useless advice! 
Re: Dog refuses to move at bedtime
lets start off with.....markmcd wrote:Hello. I have a 9 year old Vizsla who has recently started some troubling behavior. She knows when my wife and I are about to wind things up for the night and put her in her crate, and she lies on her back and refuses to get up so we can let her out one last time before bed. We try and gently coax her up, but she has recently started to snap like she's going to bite. She has never bitten one of us, but we want to avoid and discourage this from happening. She is healthy, and acts completely normal throughout the day. It is only at bedtime when she acts this way. Any advice appreciated greatly.
Mark
when was the last time your dog had a full vet check. meaning as complete as possible check for pain, early signs of illness etc?
how much time does your dog spend in it's crate?
is the crate large enough for your dog to stretch out and assume comfortable sleeping positions?
how many hours a day does your dog spend by it's self?
is there a reason your has to sleep in it's crate vs a "dog bed"?
Re: Dog refuses to move at bedtime
Interesting topic for me. 
When we first got Sandy a chihuahua mix neutered male at 1 year from the shelter, we had him sleeping in his dog bed at the foot of our bed. But, we had a hard time getting him to get in his bed. Then, with New Years Eve noise outside, he kept jumping on the bed. So, I found that unacceptable.
So, we put him in his crate to sleep at night in the bathroom. He hated it. We had to drag him in it to sleep. He finally went in slowly with tail between his legs. Then, I found out that when my husband would let him out to bathroom in the early morning, he would let him stay in the living room where Sandy decided to sleep on my recliner, perhaps due to it having my scent. He totally eschewed his dog bed. So, we stopped forcing him to sleep in his crate and let him sleep in the living room on the recliner. He has been perfectly happy since then.
We do use his crate in the car when we go out. Otherwise he goes crazy all over the car everytime he sees a bicyclist or big truck, dog, etc. He readily goes into his crate in the car which not only keeps him safe, but also may give him a sense of security.
We will use the crate in the house, when there are workmen or other visitors or if we leave him for an hour in a hotel room especially when too hot to keep him in the car when we go out to eat. We let him out as soon as we get back or the stranger has left and usually treat him. We have also used it when watching a program with dogs in it on demand or on tape or DVD. That keeps him from going bezerk.
One thing, we learned is that he didn't like to sleep in his crate and ever since we found that out, we worked out another place for him to sleep which he likes and is his special place now. He also has his favorite blankets that we travel with and us in every hotel and anywhere he will be sleeping. (We bought a new recliner for me so he now has his own.) We also look for hotel rooms that have armchairs or sofas that we cover with his blankets for Sandy to sleep.
So, if a dog doesn't like to sleep in the crate, I wouldn't force it. The crate should be a safe place and not feel like punishment. We found what worked for us,
Diane
When we first got Sandy a chihuahua mix neutered male at 1 year from the shelter, we had him sleeping in his dog bed at the foot of our bed. But, we had a hard time getting him to get in his bed. Then, with New Years Eve noise outside, he kept jumping on the bed. So, I found that unacceptable.
So, we put him in his crate to sleep at night in the bathroom. He hated it. We had to drag him in it to sleep. He finally went in slowly with tail between his legs. Then, I found out that when my husband would let him out to bathroom in the early morning, he would let him stay in the living room where Sandy decided to sleep on my recliner, perhaps due to it having my scent. He totally eschewed his dog bed. So, we stopped forcing him to sleep in his crate and let him sleep in the living room on the recliner. He has been perfectly happy since then.
We do use his crate in the car when we go out. Otherwise he goes crazy all over the car everytime he sees a bicyclist or big truck, dog, etc. He readily goes into his crate in the car which not only keeps him safe, but also may give him a sense of security.
We will use the crate in the house, when there are workmen or other visitors or if we leave him for an hour in a hotel room especially when too hot to keep him in the car when we go out to eat. We let him out as soon as we get back or the stranger has left and usually treat him. We have also used it when watching a program with dogs in it on demand or on tape or DVD. That keeps him from going bezerk.
One thing, we learned is that he didn't like to sleep in his crate and ever since we found that out, we worked out another place for him to sleep which he likes and is his special place now. He also has his favorite blankets that we travel with and us in every hotel and anywhere he will be sleeping. (We bought a new recliner for me so he now has his own.) We also look for hotel rooms that have armchairs or sofas that we cover with his blankets for Sandy to sleep.
So, if a dog doesn't like to sleep in the crate, I wouldn't force it. The crate should be a safe place and not feel like punishment. We found what worked for us,
Diane
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09