Dog wakes up to early - help!!

jacko74

You mention you live in a very quiet village, would you consider it safe enough to get up and let him out in the back garden and leave the door open for him to wander in and out while you go back to bed for another hour or two?

We've always done this with our dogs.

xsjw

To make the situation more frustrating he has now been curled up, fast asleep since 8am so he's obviously not sleeping in the early hours of the morning!

Person_one

I know you've said that you don't want the dog to sleep in the bedroom, but would it really be any worse than the frustration/sleep deprivation you're getting now?

They don't have to sleep on your bed, mine have their own beds on the floor and they know they can only come onto my bed if I specifically invite them to (usually when its freezing cold and I want to use them as hot water bottles!). If you're worried about them affecting your sex life, you can always keep them out at first, and let them in when you're ready. After all, the problem seems to be the morning not the first few hours you're in bed.

xsjw

Person_one wrote: »

I know you've said that you don't want the dog to sleep in the bedroom, but would it really be any worse than the frustration/sleep deprivation you're getting now?

They don't have to sleep on your bed, mine have their own beds on the floor and they know they can only come onto my bed if I specifically invite them to (usually when its freezing cold and I want to use them as hot water bottles!). If you're worried about them affecting your sex life, you can always keep them out at first, and let them in when you're ready. After all, the problem seems to be the morning not the first few hours you're in bed.

Haha I had thought about that!! I think I'm going to try and get him to sleep downstairs first and if after another few weeks we're still not getting any better than I'll bring him upstairs. I know it sounds silly but we're thinking about starting a family in the next few years and I just think having a dog in the same room as you as well as a newborn would be a nightmare but I suppose other people do the same thing! I brought him upstairs at 5am a few days back to see if he's go back to sleep upstairs - big mistake! - he kept jumping on the bed, running up and down the stairs etc but I suppose if he was upstairs from the start of the night be wouldn't be quite as energetic in the morning.

aileth

When we first got our pup, he was used to getting fed and walked at a similar time yours is getting up at. He sleeps in our bedroom, so it's a lot easier, we just tell him 'bed' and he will sit there and wait till 7-7.30.

Nowadays he is like clockwork. We have an alarm set for 7.30 and he will be up on the bed waking us up at 7.28 on the dot EVERY morning. Sometimes I think he knows our routine better than we do.

krlyr

Moving him to the bedroom wouldn't have to be a permanent solution. It would possibly fix the issue in the immediate term, then once he's settled down a bit, you can slowly move him out - move his bed closer to your door, then out in the hallway (using a babygate across the doorway if needed) etc. before moving the bed back downstairs if that's your longterm goal.

xsjw

krlyr wrote: »

Moving him to the bedroom wouldn't have to be a permanent solution. It would possibly fix the issue in the immediate term, then once he's settled down a bit, you can slowly move him out - move his bed closer to your door, then out in the hallway (using a babygate across the doorway if needed) etc. before moving the bed back downstairs if that's your longterm goal.

That's a good idea - I might try that actually as he may get used to a new routine whilst feeling safer upstairs with us and then it'd hopefully he easier to sleep the same amount of time by himself. I wouldn't mind him sleeping outside out bedroom door on the landing forever if that was easier for him than downstairs but just don't want him in the room forever! Thank you for this 😊

Sarahdol75

Sarahdol75 wrote: »

My puppy is 7 months old, and goes to bed when we do, usually around 10.30 - 11pm. He goes out for a walk around 7- 8pm, has around 10 wees on his walk, then will not go out again until the morning, no matter how many times I put him out in the garden before we go to bed he will not have a wee.

He wakes up around 6,30 - 7am, when we get up and lies flat out on the kitchen floor for about an hour, then goes out for a wee. He has such good bladder control for a puppy.

Since I posted this last, Harley is being a pain in the bum:-

Thought it too good to be true:-

Waking up at 1am every morning barking really loud, I have tried ignoring him and hoping he will stop, but the neighbours are starting to complain now, as it goes straight through the houses.

I have started to come down to let him out, and all he does is go outside and fall asleep under the trampoline :mad:

He has plenty of walks/run with friends dogs, in a morning

1/2 walk at lunchtime then an hour or so in the evening, playing fetch with a stick.

He has lots of toys, kongs, hiding games during the day.

Any suggestions appreciated.

sheramber

I don't see what breed he is but I am inclined to think he needs mental stimupation to tire his brain out.

Playing with other dogs, walks and toys are all physiacl exercise but do not tire the brain.

My dalmatains could walk/run about all day but fifteen minutes clicker training and they slept for hours.

Do you have any training classes you could go to?

Could you do some agility training in the garden- there are suggestions on the internet of how to make garden eqipment but a broom over a couple of bricks can be used as a jump. A hula hoop to jump through. A few canes stuck in the gorund to make a weave.

These exercises make him use his brain as well as his muscles.

Clicker training is very useful as the dog has to think things out. There are videos on youtube explaining how to do it. Kikopup's videos are good.

krlyr

Have you tried having him sleep up with you, temporarily? If not, he may be worsening due to feeling stressed being left downstairs - having him up with you may resolve this in the short-term and you can work towards moving him downstairs, at a pace he can manage.