WildNoodles

I am the very light sleeper in our house. My wife sleeps like the dead. That said, all the dogs do want to sleep in our bedroom, and our iggy sleeps in bed with us almost every night. I definitely used to be disturbed by their noises and movements, and sometimes they still wake me up, but mostly I have grown accustomed to it and am not disturbed the way I used to be. The thing that is most likely to wake me now is making sure that my oblivious wife has not rolled on the iggy and that the little punk is safe and sound, lol. All that to say...it is definitely possible for us light sleepers to become accustomed to certain noises or things. It just takes time and willingness.

Thank you for the encouragement and feedback!

Back yard - it is pretty dark out there. Once out there, he just wants to go back in. Lights might help, too - I’ll have to try that. (No animals that I’ve seen, and the shrubs are all away from the central area.)

I have noticed he seems a bit less happy to see me since our potty struggles started, which is heartbreaking. He typically indicates (if he’s going to) by running up to me and then to the back door. If it’s his “I refuse to potty” time, he won’t ask, he’ll just stay in the living room.

Tried using the leash last night and it got him out there! Thank you. He actually has wanted to avoid going outside so badly that I think (he’s not an only dog) he has gone in the house once or twice despite generally being very good about such things.

Since adopting our boy, we’ve discovered that he’s very scared of thunder and absolutely terrified of fireworks. Initially he had no problems going outside to potty when it was dark, but now he fights me and sometimes growls at me if I try to get him to go out when it’s dark (sometimes this is after he hasn’t gone out for a long time, by his own choice, and yet he’ll still keep refusing). I’m wondering if he’s linking the dark with scary noises. I’d like to get him to go out without a struggle and without growling at me. Treats and encouragement don’t work. Any suggestions?