You WILL wake up, you WILL wake up ...

Riley did this to me also recently when he had a tummy upset. We were lucky that he had enough sense to use the bathroom floor (our bedroom has an attached bathroom so he's closed in with us at night). I couldn't figure out why he did not wake me up, since in the mornings he usually lays on me and licks my chin when he has to go potty. He is trained to ring the bell, but doesn't have access to it being closed in our bedroom at night.

Well, after I got the bathroom cleaned up and Riley cleaned up (and taken out again) at 3 am, I drifted back into an uneasy sleep. Well I woke up an hour later to a very serious, determined sheltie STARING at me. I got up and took him out again. I couldn't believe it!!!

Do they really think that staring at us intently will get us up in an emergency? No whimpering or anything!!

Silly pups...
 
I must have the obnoxious crew:lol: Mine dont stare....well not that id know anyway since they are all crated...but Mia who sleeps in a crate next to my bed will start with a low squeak...if after 2.2 seconds I dont move fast enough she gets rowdy and starts slamming her foot against the crate door:lol: The rest of the crew sleep down in the dog room and Six is the Alarm bell if anyone makes noise he starts the loud barking!
 
Oh, In my house I am definitely supposed to know what the Sheltie stare means.
In fact, I tell other people what the Sheltie stare means :)

I think he gets insulted if he needs to up the ante and whine!

And god forbid he has to ring the bell to tell his stupid lazy Mom to get him outside :P
 
I understand the sheltie stare. Well come to think of it so did my irish setter stare. They only stare at me though because I get it. I know what the stares mean and it's not the same thing every time.
 
My Mozart never used the stare. At the start, I trained mine to use bell and it worked for a short while. Now I think he did a better training on me. He'd head for the door and come back to see if I'm following. I don't like him wondering the house unsupervised so he knows if he disappears for a few seconds and double back I'll definitely follow him to the door. So he'll just sit at the doormat and wait. Once the leash is on then he'll ring the bell to make me put on my shoes faster! In the night I crate him. So if he really needs to go he'll scratch the crate door to wake me up and take him out.
 
There's a thread all over this discussion that suits my brood. The stare - This is when it's 2 minutes passed feeding time or if the water in their bowl needs replacing, followed by high pitched barking (like strangulation) when I' not quick enough on the move. But the morning 'Get up I want out' system is different. The three have a race track set up around and over our bed. Yes their sharp Sheltie paws do dig in the most vulnerable places if you sleep on your back!

Good luck with the training.
 
I am so glad I read all the posts on this thread. My angel Pavi was a 'stare' dog, and for all those years, I thought he was the only one! All my other shelties had some other way to get my attention to get let out--barking, whining, chin on the knee, etc, but Pavi---he just stared! Apparently all my other dogs were the weird ones :lol:
 
This is one of those curious behaviors that I lose sleep over.

Is this just a common Sheltie trait (like the crossed front paws) or is it something that we as owners/trainers/caretakers unconsciously teach them?

I still think they are telepathic. Why else would I suddenly in the middle of a deep sleep, in a noiseless house, become wide awake thinking, "Bela. Bela. Bela needs to go out."?
 
Bailey will do the sheltie stare. I've woken up to her standing over me on my bed or her standing on the floor with her front paws on my bed, looking at me. What a creep!

But once she realizes I am up, she will start barking or whining to let me know she has to go out or wants her breakfast.
 
Mine will do the Sheltie Stare if we are awake.

If we are sleeping CJ will climb on me and lick my face to wake me up. Edan (who knows better than the wake up Mom who can be very grumpy if woken from a deep sleep) will wake Glen by either licks or flopping on his head with his hips (OUCH!).

Sometimes Edan will sit on the floor and bark at us - quiet little things at first then progressively louder. Usually this only happens when he's not feeling good; almost like he doesn't want to have an accident in bed.
 
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