The Buck Stops Here.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

I feel a little silly after reading so many of you say that there's no reason for your dog to need to go out every single night at 3am.

 

So be it if it's just the way it has to be at my house. I'm sort of used to it. But I'm going to give this an honest shot.

 

Game plan: Potty trip just before bedtime. When she wakes me up, lead her back to her bed and have her lay down. And then ignore her? She has gone in the attached bathroom and peed before. One time. But that's enough times to motivate me to take her out at 3am.

 

Suggestions? Words of encouragement?

[CaliforniaGreys]

there's no reason for your dog to need to go out every single night at 3am.

 

I'm probably coming into this subject late, but why would anyone say there's no reason? If she has to go at that hour, she has to go right?

[LuvEarsies]

Agree with cbudshome. The last two hounds we adopted woke us up between 2-3am every night for the first 6-8 weeks. Now it's only occasionally. We have no problem getting up to put them out. We always say...when ya gotta go, ya gotta go. We try to put ourselves their "shoes".

[Guest isntitgreyt]

I always let mine out right before bed but if they do wake up and need to go out in the middle of the night, I take them out. It doesn't happen often but it has. I know I wouldn't be happy to have to hold it all night

[JAJ2010]

I'm right there with you! Rainy has been pulling this stuff for a week since she bored and is only allowed on potty walks due to an injury. Tonight I am sleeping while hugging a squirt bottle.

 

I don't mind emergencies but when we get outside she better have to go!

[Guest GreyFan09]

Good luck! We are going through the exact same thing with our dog now! For the first 5 months he was with us, he slept fine all night long. Then around the beginning of January he decided to start getting up in the middle of the night to bark, whine and run around. We thought he had to pee, so we would let him out, but 75% of the time he would just walk around and sniff, then he wanted to eat or play. Grrrr...! We just started having to crate him at night to keep him from his nightly escapades so we could get some sleep, however, sometimes he will start whining and howling in his crate at 4 a.m. Very stressful!!! Keep trying different things to find a solution. Any ideas are welcome.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Well, she can hold it all day when we're gone (at most 10 hours). I was/am of that same thought: when they gotta go, they gotta go. I mean at the very least it's just routine for her. But when we go to the dog park or otherwise totally tucker her out, she won't wake us up. So, it's like 4-5 days a week that she wakes us up. I'm just going to make an honest shot at determining if it's a behavioral issue.

 

(just because I know how T&B goes, I will put in my general disclaimer that she's perfectly well, and has seen a vet recently. and she gets walks every day.)

 

Good luck! We are going through the exact same thing with our dog now! For the first 5 months he was with us, he slept fine all night long. Then around the beginning of January he decided to start getting up in the middle of the night to bark, whine and run around. We thought he had to pee, so we would let him out, but 75% of the time he would just walk around and sniff, then he wanted to eat or play. Grrrr...! We just started having to crate him at night to keep him from his nightly escapades so we could get some sleep, however, sometimes he will start whining and howling in his crate at 4 a.m. Very stressful!!! Keep trying different things to find a solution. Any ideas are welcome.

 

YES! Omigosh she does this about half of the time. And she always chooses the below freezing nights to play 'chase me' when I try to get her back inside at 4am. I've resorted to high value treats to get her and I know this is soooooooooo not the right direction to make her quit.

[Magdalyn58]

Sometimes Daisy and/or Teddy will want to go out in the middle of the night, especially if the bedroom door is open. We'd get up and let then out, and most times they would just walk around outside enjoying the evening, and never actually relieve themselves. We now close the bedroom door at night and have found that they rarely want to go out at night now. I hear them get up, stretch their legs and rearrange themselves in their beds and go back to sleep.

 

If they really have to go outside, they stand at the bedroom door instead of going back to sleep, so we then get up and let them out. I'm a very light sleeper and always know when one of them gets out of his or her bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest GreyFan09]

Well, she can hold it all day when we're gone (at most 10 hours). I was/am of that same thought: when they gotta go, they gotta go. I mean at the very least it's just routine for her. But when we go to the dog park or otherwise totally tucker her out, she won't wake us up. So, it's like 4-5 days a week that she wakes us up. I'm just going to make an honest shot at determining if it's a behavioral issue.

 

(just because I know how T&B goes, I will put in my general disclaimer that she's perfectly well, and has seen a vet recently. and she gets walks every day.)

 

Good luck! We are going through the exact same thing with our dog now! For the first 5 months he was with us, he slept fine all night long. Then around the beginning of January he decided to start getting up in the middle of the night to bark, whine and run around. We thought he had to pee, so we would let him out, but 75% of the time he would just walk around and sniff, then he wanted to eat or play. Grrrr...! We just started having to crate him at night to keep him from his nightly escapades so we could get some sleep, however, sometimes he will start whining and howling in his crate at 4 a.m. Very stressful!!! Keep trying different things to find a solution. Any ideas are welcome.

 

YES! Omigosh she does this about half of the time. And she always chooses the below freezing nights to play 'chase me' when I try to get her back inside at 4am. I've resorted to high value treats to get her and I know this is soooooooooo not the right direction to make her quit.

 

You are exactly right! When Comet would get up at 3 a.m., he always wanted to eat and would run to his bowl and whine until I would give in and let him have some kibble (hey...I was desparate for sleep!). When he was done scarfing it down, he would run back upstairs and go to bed. So, now he had US trained to do what he wanted. No more. Now we are trying to break this behavior and get him back to where he was before he started this (hopefully).

[CaliforniaGreys]

I really do not do well in this forum so I usually stay out of it. But....

I can understand wanting to curb behavior like wanting to play in the middle of the night but if a dog has to pee, they have to pee.

Now this is also coming from someone who has a dog door and doesn't get woken up during the night but still

[Guest GentleHugs]

When we first adopted LuLu, she had to go potty about every hour or two - even during the night. But she had a reason - a valid reason. She has permanent nerve damage to her bladder and kidneys when she was hit by a car (before we adopted her) and ended up with her hip broken. She also has a tiny bladder naturally anyway because she is a tiny little girl.

 

Since there was really nothing we can do for that medically, we decided to help condition her muscles (strengthen) and help her nerves heal by slooooooowly increasing the time in between potty breaks - even if it was just by a minute or two. We paid very close attention to her so when she started getting antsy, we would ask her if she needed to go potty. If she started bouncing, we knew and we took her out. If she had an accident - we didn't scold her but we immediately took her outside so if she still had to finish she could.

 

Now, 2 1/2 years later, she can hold it completely through the night until about 5am or so. That is as long as she gets to go out and potty around 10pm before we go to bed. As it stands currently, 7 hours is the best she can do but I'll take it as long as she's happy and healthy.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I can understand wanting to curb behavior like wanting to play in the middle of the night but if a dog has to pee, they have to pee.

 

There's a big difference between needing something and wanting something.

 

Where there's a medical problem, that's one thing, but in a healthy young greyhound who clearly can hold its bladder during the day (when it's more difficult to do), its a matter of giving in and then that creating a routine. I say this a someone with three seniors in their double digits.

 

People will do what people will do, and for those who don't mind getting up in the middle of the night for some quality time with the dog or having their dogs outdoors unattended, that's their prerogative, but it doesn't help the image of the greyhound. If a healthy non-senior goes out at 10pm, he shouldn't need to go out at 3 am, but he might want to, because when the people were out busily at work he was sound asleep.

[SPDoggie]

Your dog might also be getting up cause they are cold... have you seen if they will sleep all-night-long if they have some jimjams or a blanket to snuggle-in?

 

Kingsley got up at 3am for years and we quickly learned he did not need to go out, just wanted to be up at that time (something must have happened at the kennel at that time).

[Guest kydie]

Yes, getting up every night can be just a habit, or in our house, looking for rabbits,

Me:(as I open the door) last time to go pee for the night! Let's go Bob

 

Bob: Nope! to cold and I don't like that wet stuff all over

Me: you better come on, I am NOT getting up at 3a.m. to let you out

Bob: I don't have to pee, and I'm already in my cozy bed

Me: alright I am NOT getting up

Bob: (3a.m.) Hey, Hey, I have to pee

Me: O.K. lets go! :

[CaliforniaGreys]

People will do what people will do, and for those who don't mind getting up in the middle of the night for some quality time with the dog or having their dogs outdoors unattended, that's their prerogative, but it doesn't help the image of the greyhound.

 

Image of the Greyhound? What does that mean?

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Go figure, last night she didn't wake me up.

[Guest Mooogies]

Go figure, last night she didn't wake me up.

 

 

HAHAHA She read all the posts while you were at work and figured "... maybe I better sleep through the night or they're going to get rid of me"!!! Good for the pup! Lets hope it continues tonight too!

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

If I had a dog that did this, I would give a long, hard off leash run in the evenings. A good hour or so. If this is not possible, then a very long, fast paced walk. Usually, that helps.

 

Mine do not wake me unless they are desperate to go out. And I can tell by the whining and panting, both signs of stress. If I wake up to that (and I don't wake easily because I take a sleep aid) then I immediately take the hound, and any others who get up and follow, outside. If one of them is just rooing at me and being a goober, I say, "Shhh! Go lie down" and roll over and go back to sleep. I can tell

 

I had a baby sitter yesterday, so I ran my dogs most of the afternoon and early evening. They're still tired

[greysmom]

A healthy, non-senior greyhound (or any dog) should be able to go through the night without going outside to potty.

 

Someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that there is a hormone or chemical released in the dog when they sleep that helps them not have to go potty. If they get all the way woken up for some reason - they're cold or hungry - the chemical abates just as if it was morning and time to get up.

 

Try a blanket or jammies to help her stay warm, and maybe a nice big milk bone or a small amount of kibble as a bedtime snack to get her through the night.

 

FWIW, my DH and I have opposite schedules - completely at times. When he's home from work or on the weekends, he typically gets them up and takes them O-U-T around 1 AM. But if he's at work, the dogs and I sleep all through the night 10pm-7am. They don't seem to have a problem doing all-night vs 1am potties so I'm sure a healthy greyhound can learn to hold it.

[JAJ2010]

In our case just sleeping with the squirt bottle next to me solves everything. I just had 2 night of blissful slumber. Who ever said greyhounds weren't smart?

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

 

She woke me up at 1am. It's been raining since about 5pm last night, leaving our backyard a lake. So I REALLY didn't want to take her out. I led her back to bed and get this. SHE WENT BACK TO BED. I didn't have to get up again.

[5blackgreys]

I can't really speak to "young" greyhounds since my youngest will be 9 this year, but I have found that they all sleep much better when they have their jammies on. Even Aggie, who is 14 will sleep through the night if she has her jammies on and is warm.

 

I do have one with some neurological damage that causes fecal incontinence so most nights I am up at some point. I've seen 3am more now as a greyhound owner then I did when I was younger and out partying

[YvetteVal]

We will get into a cycle of 3am wake ups every once in a while. Gracie will get up stand by the bed and I'll let her out because I think she has to pee and maybe she does. This goes on for a few nights because it sure is fun sniff around the yard at night. Eventually I get tired of it and tell her GO BACK TO BED and guess what? she does. We are good for a few months and then it starts over again.

[Wonder]

Well, she can hold it all day when we're gone (at most 10 hours).

Does she have access to water during the day?

 

 

 

[Guest brandi007]

We had this issue and what worked was setting up a crate in my bedroom. Hannah's always had issues with going in the house and never asks to go out, she gets all sneaky like a ninja - silently goes downstairs and poops/pee's on the floor and then comes back upstairs like nothing happened.

 

The last thing I wanted to do with her is discourage her from asking to go outside for a pee.

 

What we ended up doing was setting up a crate in my bedroom *they don't sleep in a crate, they sleep with me or on their dog beds* If we had a middle of the night "I need to go pee" I'd do the positive "Good Girl! Who has to go pee pee" with lots of praise when she goes and does the business outside. It'd be just like a normal pee break with lots of happy voices and treats - but when we got back to the bedroom she'd get put in the crate and have to stay in there for the rest of the night.

 

This worked out really well, she still got tons of praise for going to the bathroom in the proper place but when she got put in the crate she's all like "well this sucks" and stopped asking to go in the middle of the night regularly. Every now and then I don't mind getting up with them if they really need to go - but every night is crazy! At that point it's not like "oh my god I need to go now" it's just a habit.