Breaking dog from sleeping on my bed

Question
Hello,
I purchased my miniature poodle, Max, from a rescue group and we have had him for four months.  Max is a really, really wonderful dog and we are very happy with him.  He suffers from extreme separation anxiety and we still have to keep him in a crate if we leave him alone in the house.  I am beginning the little bursts of time away like 15 min. leaving him outside of his crate and this has worked so far.
Now my big problem is keeping him off of our bed at night.  He jumps up and insists on sleeping with us.  I don't mind him on the bed but my husband is allergic to him.  I have tried everything I can think of to keep him off the bed and the last resort I haven't tried is putting him in the crate for overnight.  This sounds pretty cruel to me.
What can I do?  I am looking for help, please!!!  My husband has been sleeping in the guest room for the past four nights!  :=(
Thank you so much in advance for your help.
Charlene Kidd


Answer
Hi Charlene,

It sounds like you are doing a great job with Max.  Thank you for rescueing him.     

Personally, I find it very hard to keep a dog off of the bed especially when they are used to it.  

My recommendation is to let Max sleep in his crate, beside your bed.   The crate should be a nice spacious open wire crate, not one of the plastic airline carriers.  It should have a soft bed for him (which I'm sure it already does!).   You shouldn't think of using the crate as cruel.  Dogs seem to like them and consider them their little den.  

Once Max gets used to sleeping in the crate you can try keeping the door open and see if he continues to go in there.  They are creatures of habit, so I bet he will.   When he does jump on the bed, put him back in the crate and give him a treat and tell him good boy.  Perhaps a nice sterlized bone would keep him busy.  

Alternatives you might want to try is to put aluminum foil under the sheets and let him jump on it.  He won't like the ruffling sound and will likely jump down.   Or, put the foil directly on top of the bed spread.  

You will just need to be consistent with Max and continue telling him no when he jumps on the bed.  He shouldn't ever be allowed there and he will learn that it is off limits.  

Using the crate at night, is just a training tool -- not something that I think would continue for that long.  

Cathy