Help! puppy wont let us sleep

[dextersmum]

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Right Dexter is 7 months old and has a terrible habit of waking us up at 4am every day! We have tried locking him in the kitchen but he just eats the wall. Tried ignoring him but it goes on for hours. Any suggestions people?!

 

[hannahrobiha]

If he is trying to eat the wall that sounds like he is bored to me and needs his last bit of energy used up before bed. Could you take him for a short walk? Or do some scent training before bed?

I hide a few bits or food in safe places around our living room so our dogs can scout around without us for a while when we go to bed, when they have tired themselves out they come up and sleep on the bedroom floor all night

 

[gypsysmum]

If his behaviour has worked once, i.e. he has made a fuss and got you up to talk to him, then he will keep trying. Even being told off is better, to a dog, than being ignored!

The best way is to ignore the unwanted behaviour. What happens is that you get what is called an "extinction burst" which is when the dog tries harder to make his behaviour work, and get you up, before he give up on it. Once we have responded to this extinction burst it is much harder to train the dog out of the behaviour. So, in his case, if he got ignored until he tried harder, then he will keep up the "trying harder" behaviour.

In your case, because he is eating the wall, you cannot ignore him in the kitchen!

I would crate train him. Make it into a nice cosy den and introduce it as the best new toy he could possibly have. Leave it open to start with and feed him in it, throw his toys in it, throw treats in it ect until he likes going in it. Then shut the door for short periods while he has a nice chew toy. Once he is happy in it you could put it by your bed to start with so that he learns to settle through the night. If he wakes up, then just put ear plugs in, knowing he is safe, and ignore him. Some dogs settle better with a cover over the crate.

Once he is sleeping through the night, then you can gradually move the crate away from you towards the door and slowly out of the bedroom, leaving the door open at first, until he is sleeping somewhere on his own. This will give him confidence that he can cope on his own.

Try, during the day, to make him more independent of you by ignoring his attempts to get your attention. Keep a sharp eye out for times when he is settled or playing, independently, and give him lots of attention. Needy dogs should learn to be independent. This is very hard to do because it is very easy to ignore a dog that is settled or playing independently but we should try very hard to reinforce this behaviour and ignore the needy behaviour

As has been said above, make sure he is getting sufficient exercise and mental stimulation during the day. Training is very tiring! It does not have to be formal training. Any trick training uses up mental energy too. Scenting is tiring. Some dogs like to search for food, others for a favourite toy. Make it very easy to start with and progress slowly.

Take a look at Talking Dogs Scentwork.

 

[4PawsandClaws.co.uk]

I agree with the above. A crate would eliminate the wall chewing (which could potentially be dangerous!) and he will settle down. The hardest part with a puppy is putting routine into place and you will often take 2 steps forward, then 1 back until they settle, but getting you up at 4am is absolutely NOT acceptable and he needs to learn that he needs to be calm and quiet until you come down to him. Also, as above, make sure he is shattered before he goes to sleep.

 

[Raven oaktree]

He has just got himself into a routine that needs to be broken ..plus you have an adolescent dog on your hands (which in my opinion is,much worse than a puppy) ..i would crate train him before he takes up house remodeling! ..remember when a dog behaves like Thi there are lots of things we can do to prevent it..if you know he chews and you leave him alone you are setting him up to fail . Don't give him the chance .my old boy never needed a crate ..but my young dog would gave date the house and I was stupid and trusted her more than I should knowing what she was like ..she loves walks and laptops for some reason lol..she is 19months now and i have only just been able to trust her to be left if I pop to the loo ..but only just..crates are a fab thing if used as a safe place to leave them and obviously not in them all the Tim .