Morning Barking

[Guest FireHorse]

Our foster Pete is still crated (the group's foster rules). He crates easily and well, and knows the command, "Crate please!" The problem is in the mornings. Every morning, just like clockwork, he starts barking at 4:48. I finally realized it was the living room light--on a timer--turning on that's setting him off. I think; I've deactivated it now that we're all on Christmas vacation, so we'll see.

 

Our normal routine:

 

5AM-me and ThingTwo get up, the dogs go out, come back and get breakfast bones. Pete goes back in his crate.

6AM-ThingTwo's bus comes, and I go back to bed.

615AM-Pete starts barking. (He eventually quits, but it can take as much as 5 minutes, although that's better than it used to be.)

630AM-Pete starts barking.

645AM-Pete starts barking.

700AM-Pete starts barking.

715AM-Pete starts barking, and I get up in disgust, never having gotten back to sleep. (Often I get up sooner than this, too.)

 

Things I've tried:

Yelling "Knock it off!" down the stairs. (Works on mine, who occasionally join in, but not on Pete.)

Ignore him.

Leave him out of the crate. (He paces. Up and down the stairs, around and around the bed, around the coffee table, and sometimes, just for variety, around the coffee table, up the stairs, around the bed, and back down the stairs.

The citronella collar we got for Jet. (Lemon-scented dog, but otherwise no effect.)

 

Things to know:

He's four.

We've had him since Nov 19, and while he's settled in a LOT, he's still settling.

He's a nice dog, but a lunkhead.

He doesn't have to pee, or at least not urgently (he always has to cruise the fence to check for cats first)-last call is usually 10PM-ish.

 

So my question is what am I missing? What can I try to convince Pete that going back to bed is ok? I'm sure some of it is leftover kennel schedule, and some of it is the living room light. Other than the light, what can I do? I don't mind getting up at 5 to let them all out, even on vacation, as long as I can go back to bed, and right now, that ain't happening.

[RobinM]

I haven't had a normal/decent night's sleep for 4 years. Why should you!

 

When are you feeding him breakfast? Have you thought about putting his crate or just his bed in your room with a baby gate up? I bet that would help. He doesn't want to be alone.

[LaFlaca]

He doesn't want to be alone.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he's lonely. Allowing Wendy into the bedroom with us at night helped with the early morning whining. She gets me up at about 6:30 a.m. for potty and breakfast and then we can all go back to bed.

[Jiffer]

Could he be cold?

 

I ask because Uber wakes me somewhere between 3 and 5 a.m. every morning because he's cold and wants in bed with us. Essentially saying "Mom SHOVE OVER!"

[Guest NeverSayNever]

How about feeding him breakfast in Kongs instead of a bowl? I find that 1 cup of kibble stuffs 4 medium sized Kongs. So the night before, take his breakfast, mix it with canned food, canned pumpkin, yogurt, cottage cheese, or a raw egg. Make it nice and gooey. Stuff into 4 - 8 Kongs (depending on how much you feed him) and freeze overnight. Next morning, put him back in his crate with all the Kongs, so he's got something to do for the next hour or so.

[Guest Greytluv]

I vote for putting him in your room.

 

Doni Rae gets up in bed in the morning cuz she's cold

[Guest FireHorse]

I think we've solved our mystery/problem. Yesterday I had ThingOne put the extra crate up in our sitting room (attached to our bedroom) and Pete went to bed with us last night. He settled in just fine, and not a peep out of him until 6ish this morning...when *Luke* started whining at the bottom of the stairs. Usually he'll just come up and sleep on the rug beside the bed, but he doesn't like to do the stairs in the dark. I've reset the lamp, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

 

I feel like Sherlock Holmes!