What do you do with early waking?

[Maggie Mul]

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Me again!! we seem to be on our way to resolving one issue and then bam....another one comes along to keep us on our toes
What do you do when your puppy wakes up early?? Our puppy sleeps from 10:30/11:00pm until around 6:15am. However, every 2 mornings this week she has been waking around 5am. I am the one who gets up with her, so I take her out for a wee, and put her back in her crate again with a little treat and say night night again- this worked when she was waking at 2/3am when she was 8-10 weeks, but now it is not!! She is not going back to sleep. She whines and starts to bark and obviously I don't want the whole house up at 5am, so I go and get her and we snooze under a blanket on the sofa until 6:30am. This, she is quite happy to do!!! My husband says I shouldn't be doing this as she is going to get used to it and will start doing it more often.....I can see his point but I don't want to let her whine and cry and wake everyone up. What do other people do? Should I expect that at 14 wk old pup is doing great 11pm-5:00am and just except this is her awake time??

 

[JoanneF]

As the light is starting a little earlier (not suggesting you actually have light at that time) is it possible some animal outside is starting its day earlier and disturbing her? Is her crate quite well insulated from light and sound? A blanket or similar over the top and three sides can help. Another possibility is she is waking up hungry. Does she have a bedtime biscuit or something? Food that late is unlikely to pass through before breakfast so shouldn't upset her toilet routine.

If neither of these apply it might just be that once she is awake, she wants company so how about a bed in your room? You could go back to bed and it's easier to give a 'settle down' cue from your bed when she is in the same room. She has the company and you have the duvet!

 

[JoanneF]

Ps - 11.00 to 5.00 is pretty good!

 

[Maggie Mul]

As the light is starting a little earlier (not suggesting you actually have light at that time) is it possible some animal outside is starting its day earlier and disturbing her? Is her crate quite well insulated from light and sound? A blanket or similar over the top and three sides can help. Another possibility is she is waking up hungry. Does she have a bedtime biscuit or something? Food that late is unlikely to pass through before breakfast so shouldn't upset her toilet routine.

If neither of these apply it might just be that once she is awake, she wants company so how about a bed in your room? You could go back to bed and it's easier to give a 'settle down' cue from your bed when she is in the same room. She has the company and you have the duvet!

We cover her crate completely with a blanket - there is no light yet and no animals around us. She is very food orientated, so could be hunger. I will try giving her a biscuit before bedtime tonight and see if that helps.... Thanks.

 

[Maggie Mul]

Ps - 11.00 to 5.00 is pretty good!

Yes I thought so, but when it had been 6:15 consistently, you begin to feel a little cheated on missing out that extra hour!!!

 

[poptart]

My first thought was food. How old is your pup? If she's going through a growth spurt she might need some extra calories.

 

[Maggie Mul]

She is very food orientated so could quite possible she she is hungry. She currently has 2/8 of a cup of kibble 3 times a day- this is according to guidelines on the food bag. Obviously she gets lots of treats for wees in the garden and we are training so extra treats there. She has a kong in the morning ( filled with some kibble from lunch time allowance) when I am at work and a chew bone in the evening. I gave her a frozen carrot today, which she loved!! She is like jaws at the moment and we are battling a biting issue!! Do you think sound enough food?

 

[poptart]

If you're following the instructions on the package you'll just have rely on your own instinct. These are only guidelines after all and every dog is different. You know your dog better than anyone else so it's really your call.

Has anything changed that may have upset her sleeping pattern? If you live in a cold climate she could be feeling the cold as the house will be at its coldest at that time of the morning. Maybe a hot water bottle in her bed would help?

 

[lynyona]

Sorry to jump on the post but to save repeating a post.. I have the same trouble with my puppy she s 9 weeks old .She will settle in her crate at night but as soon as my husband and sons get up for work about 5 ish up she gets and wont settle down again then I end up taking her upstairs with me so she doesn't whine the house down. I was going to try the cover up cage with the blanket thing and hope if she cant see people or light she might stay quieter for a bit longer as I don't want to get her into bad habits like he did my last dog(on my profile picture) who I had 15 years I babied him and he couldn't be left alone without howling the house down and slept on the end of our bed from him being 8 weeks old

 

[JoanneF]

At 9 weeks she has just left her littermates so probably feels a bit vulnerable and lonely. I would take three approaches to this.

First thing in the morning, I would be ok about taking her upstairs in the morning. If she doesn't feel lonely and anxious, she will develop more confidence more quickly. Later (after the second approach i will describe below) you can start to move her gradually away, by moving her from your bed to her bed at your side, then moving her bed a foot at a time over a few weeks back to her proper sleeping place.

The second approach is that in daytime you should encourage her to be independent. So when she is calm and settled, just walk out of the room for a few moments. Your aim is to be back before she gets distressed. Leaving while she is settled, maybe with a Kong or similar (and when you are not actively engaging with her to make your absence less of a contrast) will teach her that being alone is ok - as long as you are back before she gets anxious. Build up the time you are gone gradually, always aiming to be back before she thinks there is something to be worried about. This may have been the root of the problem with your last dog.

Third, in conjunction with the other two things above, train a "settle down" cue so you can tell her when it is time for her to be calm in her bed.

 

[lynyona]

At 9 weeks she has just left her littermates so probably feels a bit vulnerable and lonely. I would take three approaches to this.

First thing in the morning, I would be ok about taking her upstairs in the morning. If she doesn't feel lonely and anxious, she will develop more confidence more quickly. Later (after the second approach i will describe below) you can start to move her gradually away, by moving her from your bed to her bed at your side, then moving her bed a foot at a time over a few weeks back to her proper sleeping place.

The second approach is that in daytime you should encourage her to be independent. So when she is calm and settled, just walk out of the room for a few moments. Your aim is to be back before she gets distressed. Leaving while she is settled, maybe with a Kong or similar (and when you are not actively engaging with her to make your absence less of a contrast) will teach her that being alone is ok - as long as you are back before she gets anxious. Build up the time you are gone gradually, always aiming to be back before she thinks there is something to be worried about. This may have been the root of the problem with your last dog.

Third, in conjunction with the other two things above, train a "settle down" cue so you can tell her when it is time for her to be calm in her bed.

Thank you very much , I will try that she doesn't seem to keen on her crate but we have realised that she doesn't like having her bedding in there so we have taken it out and if she falls asleep on my knee I put her on her bed on the floor and she stays asleep

 

[lynyona]

Thank you very much , I will try that she doesn't seem to keen on her crate but we have realised that she doesn't like having her bedding in there so we have taken it out and if she falls asleep on my knee I put her on her bed on the floor and she stays asleep

Just been in Pound stretchers and their pet section had some Kong s so I bought her one to give it a go along with her own towel and doggy brush I'm turning into the mad puppy woman lol

 

[Maggie Mul]

Just been in Pound stretchers and their pet section had some Kong s so I bought her one to give it a go along with her own towel and doggy brush I'm turning into the mad puppy woman lol

It'a been a while since I started this thread and our puppy is now almost 6 months old. I am pleased to say the early waking didn't last too long, as far as I can remember!! I started to give her a little bedtime snack when I put her in her crate. bit of chicken and a handul of kibble. This helped massively and she went back to sleeping until 6;30 ish. Interestingly, we have been on holiday the last couple of weeks and not going to work and some mornings she hasn't stirred until 8am!! I couldn't believe it. So, I just wanted to say, I think it does get better as they get older.