Lately our dog has taken the habit of waking us up at an ungodly hour to take him outside. Since we live in an apartment, it's not as if we can just let him out the door, so I do feel bad for him. Still, 6 AM is just too early for us because of our work schedules. His last walk is usually around 11:30 PM. I would love it if he would let us sleep until 7:30. Is this just too long to expect him to wait? I know that part of him has to go to the bathroom (in which I truly feel terrible for wanting to sleep -- imagine having to ask permission to go the bathroom!), but part of him just wants us to get up and start the whole morning routine. Should I resign myself to getting less sleep from now on?

Hi Sammy,

Not too sure of an answer, but we get up at 6am every morning regardless, and have since we have had him - its habit more than anything now.

Could you not take it in turns to get up... in our house mark sorts him during the week and me at the weekend (not a pretty sight if we have had a few the night before!!)

I have got to say though that Rufus never wakes us, we normally wake him...(it takes about 15 mins the sleepyhead)..or if he has woke he sits waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

Perhaps by keep going to him each morning, he has realised that by making a racket he gets your attention...??

I know how you feel! A lie-in till 7.30 is such a treat now!

Now that the mornings are starting to get lighter (only just, I admit!) could it be he's being woken by the dawn? If so, try thick curtains in the room he sleeps in to fool him it's still the middle of the night.

If he really does need a wee, then he must go out; as you said yourself it's horrible to need to go and not be able to (long car journeys as a child spring to mind :() But I would expect him to last longer than 6/7 hours overnight, so it might be worth having him checked outfor a possible urinary infection/cystitis or something along those lines.

Hope this helps.

Hi Sammy,

In my house we share the duty, I stay up late with my pup, and my boyfriend goes to bed early and gets up during the night/early morning. Seems to work for us, but we don't usually have strange working hours

My Whippet Fred usually barks at 2-3 am in the morning to be let out. He just won't hold on, and if I don't take him out he wees on the kitchen floor, which causes staining problems. My partner refuses to get up so it ends up being me. Just lately I've taken to letting him sleep in our bed because whilst he's warm and snuggled up to us he can hold on until about 7.00 am. We only have a small garden that is unfenced so I can't just let them (I have 2 dogs) out either, I have to take them for a walk. They get 4 walks a day which can be exhausting sometimes especially when it's raining! I never get to lie in beyond 7.30 even at weekends. Still, I wouldn't be without them.

Try waiting until there is just a little break in his "hurry up" racket :); even 5 seconds, then say "Good boy, quiet", and go down. Never go to him when he actually is making a demanding racket, if at all possible - I appreciate this may not be easy due to neighbours etc.

If you can teach him that being quiet gets him what he wants, and also teach him the meaning of the word "Quiet" in other areas of his life, he will gradually work out what you want of him - we hope!!! ;) :p

Dont ask for too much at first, just a few seconds, and then over the months you can ask for just a bit more, and so on, always rewrd him for being quiet, and try not to reward with your company when he is demanding.

My dog now understands that it is acceptable for her to give a little "urgent" whine, but knows that nagging at me will not get her anywhere ..... its easier too, as i KNOW that if she does make a noise it is for a good reason and she needs to go out :)

Maybe have a chat to your neighbours and mention you are trying to train your boy but it may be a bit noisy for a while?

Lindsay

Sammy

Even my lab which is 14 weeks old can hold on all night if she puts her mind to it. Mind you she is kennelled with my 9 month old akita who can hold it for britain (gone 13 hours one night when I over slept!)

She doesn't appear to want to go in her own accommodation - not that this really helps but may indicate that there is a solution out there.

I also wholeheartedly agree with comments on not responding to the dog when they bark as this jsut rewards them otherwise

Sammy,

I do not know who you feel about adding a sleeping companion, but I have found with most of the pups I've had that if you plop them down on the bed with you they will fall back to sleep without complaint.

Stacey

And if they don't it'll be your bed they're piddling on :D :p :D :D

We have tried letting him sleep with us or letting him into the bed when he wakes up, but all that does is bring the noise closer! He has learned this semi-obnoxious habit of putting his paw on our heads and even sitting straight down on our heads to wake us up! I swear, he's crying so loud that it sounds as if someone is murdering him!

Hi Sammy,

I agree with not paying attention to him when he's being demanding. Try the curtain trick to, you never know.

I find it helps alot if you crate train your dog as well. Dogs are naturally clean animals and usually do not soil their sleeping area, it goes against their natural instincts (with the exception of alot of pet shop purchased puppies) It's also a great tool for when your away from the house and don't want your dog getting into mischief.

However, if crate training does not sound very enticing or if it does not work there is another alternative. When we were raising our puppies we could not expect 6 week old puppies to hold their bladders overnight. We did not want to crate him overnight because we didnt want to initiate a habit of going in his sleeping area. At the tender age of 5 weeks it was inevitable that he was going to go at least once while we slept. As a result, we started putting newspaper down on the floor and it didnt take long for him to learn that whenever he went on it he got a treat. After about 2 days he got the hang of it and started going on the paper while we slept. During the day, we removed the newspaper and encouraged him to ring a bell hanging from the doorknob to let us know that he needs to potty. Whenever we opened the door we always shook the bell and said "outside." He caught on in about a week! PROBLEM SOLVED!! =)

If you have a carpet and are concerned about the carpet absorbing the urine, consider purchasing a litter box for him to go in. Dogs can be very easily taught to go in litter boxes with kitty litter in it, especially small breeds. Plus, an added benefit of the litter box is that it absorbs the putrid smell of feces and urine so you don't wake up to a room that smells like a toilet.

Also, take your dog to the vet and have him checked out for a bladder infection or some other ailment that may be causing the behavior.

Best regards,
Oblivious

When we first got our puppy 2 weeks ago we had to crate train her which was absolutely heart renching as she cried and cried the first few times. But after she realised that we were not going to let her out after just 5 seconds she settled down and got used to it.

My only advice is you have to ignore the crying. We ended up making a rule that if she cried, very loudly, for more that 5 minutes we went down to her, let her out for a pee and then put her back in the cage until we were ready to get up and walk and feed her.

It has really worked, though I felt really cruel at the time. She loves her cage now, especially her vetbed!

She now sleeps for 8-9 hours depending on how tiring her day has been and what new things she has seen to excite her.

Keep strong and it will get better

Heidi

Just thought of something else....last month rufus starting waking up earlier than usual and was waiting at bottom of stairs when we came down at 6am (we normally have to wake him up)...so we snook down at 5.30 one day and realised that the central heating was on timer to come on at 5.45am...and this was waking him up...

Could your timer on the central heating be waking him up..? (our makes an ever so slight tick noise)

I think it's more of a bad habit that he's gotten because we've given in to him so many times. He knows that no matter how much he cries and barks that eventually, we WILL get up because we can't stand it anymore. He also wants his breakfast, and being a lab, knowing that it's food time, he just won't quit about it. He's 1 1/2, and he's been fully house trained since he was around 12 weeks, so I'm not really worried about him soiling the carpet. It's just the noise -- oh, the NOISE!!!! He has a crate that he sleeps in at night, although the door is open and he can leave whenever he wants to.