My 8 month old puppy wakes us at 5 a.m.

Our dogs DO train us well, don't they?

My dogs are on a very fixed routine during the week. They know exactly what to expect and when, so I don't get any whining out of them weekdays.

Weekends are a whole other matter. It used to be that they knew that breakfast happened only after the shower and hair dryer routine was done.

But I made the mistake ONCE of feeding them BEFORE the routine, and ever since they hound me to feed them starting about 6 a.m. on weekends.

That's just plain wrong. I'm trying to train them back, but its really hard when you've got two Shelties standing on top of you....one woofing in your ear, and the other licking your neck.
 
Sheri said:
I have three shelties as some of you know. Two are adults and know the routine, then there's MAGGIE!

I adore my little puppy, she is pretty well behaved and learns a lot from her big sisters but she likes to get up at 5 a.m. every day. She barks like crazy until we come down and set her free. I have her in an x-pen at night. She goes in and lays in her bed (inside the pen) willingly each night and is an angel the entire night until this 5 a.m. wake up call. Any ideas? I have tried leaving her free but she still barks at the steps and I tried penning her in her actual bed, neither seems to work.

Here's a picture of her, can't you just see the trouble-making look in her eyes? http://www.sherizona.com/maggie7months3.jpg

She doesn't seem to need to be let out, she just wants to play. Is this a puppy thing, am I doing something wrong or should I just start to appreciate the early jump on the day?
Click to expand...

just wanted to say she is the most beautiful pup. my word. she is so well proportioned and just looks like she is growing in such a healthy way. :smile2: at 5am bring her to use the bathroom and then go back to sleep :lol:
 
I have an eight month old (almost) puppy too, two of them actually! One of them pulled the same thing you're describing. What I would do if she wakes up is take her to potty, then put her directly back in the pen. Don't speak to her or anything, just focus on going out to potty and nothing else. Once she's back in the pen just ignore her totally if she barks, even though it sucks sometimes and seems like it can go on forever. It should only take a few times of flat out ignoring her for her to get the point. I don't think, or in my experience, taking them out to potty caused them to keep doing it b/c she was ultimately put back into her crate (in my instance) after she went out and wasn't given any attention. That's the key -- If they receive no attention for the behavior and they will end it. My pup got the hint within three days and now she sleeps until I wake up which varies every day from 7am-11am and she goes to bed on her own every night around ten. So it's pretty nice and doable once you show them that they have to stay quiet and wait for mommy to get up! LOL
 
Last edited:
Some time has passed and progress is being made but it is patchy. I took your suggestions and I don't come straight downstairs right away. I also wait an hour before I feed them, I used to feed Maggie right away. She is gradually letting me sleep a bit later but every once in a while she goes back to her dirty ways! :lol:

Many thanks for the puppy admiration, I wish you all could hear her little puppy growl, she sounds like a giggly little girl, which makes her even cuter. I'll post some new pics in the forum.
 
Sheri said:
Some time has passed and progress is being made but it is patchy. I took your suggestions and I don't come straight downstairs right away. I also wait an hour before I feed them, I used to feed Maggie right away. She is gradually letting me sleep a bit later but every once in a while she goes back to her dirty ways! :lol:

Many thanks for the puppy admiration, I wish you all could hear her little puppy growl, she sounds like a giggly little girl, which makes her even cuter. I'll post some new pics in the forum.
Click to expand...

I hope you post more about her,she really looks awsome & with loads of character! Sounds like another pup I know well. Our Jasper is a character as well.He keeps us wondering all the time!
 
She is so cute! What a coat and fuzzy ears!

I agree with the general advise of ignoring her. Lucien would whine at exactly 6am during the first days. Now, at 4 months, he sleeps in the crate and only starts crying if I oversleep. He knows I'll be there between 6 and 6:30 am, so he waits.

My advise would be picking an hour and ignoring her until then. I think that she has learnt that barking = playtime.
 
I'm glad things are improving. It is just a habit she has gotten into, Merlin is rather fond of 4.30am (he is only 18 weeks and normally does want the toilet then:wink2:) I had a similar thing with Cadbury (labrador), but they do grow out of it if you persist and ignore any whinges until the correct time. These days usually I wake up and Cadbury is still asleep!:rolleyes2:
 
mbfrench said:
I hope you post more about her,she really looks awsome & with loads of character! Sounds like another pup I know well. Our Jasper is a character as well.He keeps us wondering all the time!
Click to expand...

I'll start a thread soon with some photos, she is absolutely adorable with her fluffy fur growing in!

And labgirl, I can only dream that someday I wake Maggie up instead! ;)
 
Ours know that food time is 0730. Annie will jump up on Brad, lay across his chest and go, "Mmmffff."
Beckon is very patient, as is Bits. Layla sometimes sleeps in until 9 or so -- long after everyone else is up and at 'em!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top