Is it normal for an 11 week old golden retriever to take 50 minutes to settle for sleep in the evening? She naps multiple times a day as we started with the 60/60 sleeping schedule. I try not to rile her up on her last awake window before night sleep. I give her food in a slow eating rug. When I put her in her crate, I give her a frozen lick mat or a carrot or apple to chew on (which she loves and they both agree with her digestion wise).
She often finishes her licking mat or her apple/carrot and then starts whining and barking in short intervals. Like she barks twice, I tell her calmly it's sleeping time, she plops down, 1 minute later she whines for a few seconds, then stops, then 2 minutes later she barks a few barks again, and so on for close to an hour.
I cover her crate with a blanket, turn lights off, put chill music in the background. Sometimes I ignore her completely, other times I talk calmly to her, just a few words to reassure her. I don't understand why it takes her so long to fall asleep especially since she's not agitated before I put her in her crate. And she naps just fine in he crate during the day without this much complait.
submitted by /u/Maria-Heller
[link] [comments]