Partying At 5:30 A.m.! How To Make It Stop?

[fsugrad]

We had a perfect night's sleep last night!!Dakota is blockaded into our bedroom, so he can't go out and pace all around the first floor of our house in the middle of the night....and we strategically placed Toby's bed so that it blocks off a good chunk of our bedroom, so he can't even pace around in there. Not that he has much room for pacing or partying the way we have things arranged now.

To top it all off, he's no longer afraid of our screen door doggy door (door that goes from our screened pool enclosure out to the backyard). He was afraid to use it last week and we've been working on that this week. He is now a pro. So we are on a roll! Can we go for 2 good nights' sleeps in a row tonight??!

Thank you, oh wise and sage GT'ers!!

[Guest outdoorgirl5234]

My two girls (ages 4 and 5) started trying to get the day going too early after we had had them for about 6 months. Our alarm is usually set for 7 or 7:30, and they would start wining and running back and forth between the bedroom and living room starting about 5:30am. If that didn't get us up, one of them would jump on the bed and try to play while the other one grabbed a toy from the living room and stormed into the bedroom squeaking it.

 

I don't crate my girls and didn't want to start, so when I went to bed at night, I started closing the bedroom door after the girls followed me inside. They both would settle on their dog beds and sleep the whole night through without trying to wake us up earlier than my alarm. It stopped IMMEDIATELY. Now they lie quietly on their dog beds until I get up in the morning. In the rare event that one of them will whine softly a half hour or so before my alarm goes off, I "shush" her gently, and she immediately stops.

 

I don't know if you can sleep with your bedroom door closed, but figuring out this trick has helped me get some much needed sleep!

[fsugrad]

We don't like to sleep with our bedroom door closed because we like to be able to hear any sounds from around the house...so what we've done is put a chair in the doorway before we go to bed. That way Dakota and Toby are 'trapped' in there with us. And we can still hear anything from around the house, etc.

We have gotten a good night's sleep ever since I started doing this. Our hounds have always slept in our room with us, but Dakota would wake up and start pacing around on the wood floors, or poking us with his nose or whatever in the middle of the night. I don't know what's in his mind, but ever since we started blocking the doorway with a chair, I guess he sees that his space for pacing and fooling around has been limited, and he settles right back down and goes to sleep. He doesn't wake up til 6:00 or 6:15 now, which is when my alarm goes off anyway, and that's when Toby gets up too.

 

This has worked like a charm for the last 5 days or so!!

[LuvEarsies]

We don't like to sleep with our bedroom door closed because we like to be able to hear any sounds from around the house...so what we've done is put a chair in the doorway before we go to bed. That way Dakota and Toby are 'trapped' in there with us. And we can still hear anything from around the house, etc.

We have gotten a good night's sleep ever since I started doing this. Our hounds have always slept in our room with us, but Dakota would wake up and start pacing around on the wood floors, or poking us with his nose or whatever in the middle of the night. I don't know what's in his mind, but ever since we started blocking the doorway with a chair, I guess he sees that his space for pacing and fooling around has been limited, and he settles right back down and goes to sleep. He doesn't wake up til 6:00 or 6:15 now, which is when my alarm goes off anyway, and that's when Toby gets up too.

 

This has worked like a charm for the last 5 days or so!!

 

Good news! We block our gang of six into our bedroom using a piece of plywood about 4 inches wider than the bedroom doorway and we covered it with contact paper in a nice neutral pattern. We prop this on the inside of the door frame covering the opening and it does a wonderful job. It's lightweight enough to move out of the way in an emergency, you can easily lift it with one hand, kick it to the side with your foot if hands are full and if it falls on anyone it doesn't cause an injury. We have several of them to block doorways from room-to-room, they're easy, inexpensive and unobtrusive. When not in use we just put them against the wall near the door or behind the door. We still use baby gates to limit access to areas like hallways that lead to outside doors.

[fsugrad]

Good news! We block our gang of six into our bedroom using a piece of plywood about 4 inches wider than the bedroom doorway and we covered it with contact paper in a nice neutral pattern. We prop this on the inside of the door frame covering the opening and it does a wonderful job. It's lightweight enough to move out of the way in an emergency, you can easily lift it with one hand, kick it to the side with your foot if hands are full and if it falls on anyone it doesn't cause an injury. We have several of them to block doorways from room-to-room, they're easy, inexpensive and unobtrusive. When not in use we just put them against the wall near the door or behind the door. We still use baby gates to limit access to areas like hallways that lead to outside doors.

That's a great idea! We were going to use a baby gate, until we checked our attic and realized we'd gotten rid of the baby gate. So it's been the chair the last few days. But I like your idea because the plywood would store right behind the door or under the bed....may be making a trip to Home Depot this weekend!

[Batmom]

I make gates using a frame (square/rectangle) of 2 x 1 finish lumber, corner brackets, light duty hinges, and an assortment of things to fill in the square -- mostly green garden mesh attached by zip ties, but last one was covered with an old lace curtain and looks quite nice . I hinge mine to the wall or doorway and add a hook and eye closure and sometimes a screen door spring (where self-closing is desired).

 

For attaching to the wall (rather than the door frame), I first attach a piece of 2 x 1 to the wall, then attach the hinges to the 2 x 1 -- this way, the gate clears any molding around the door and you can fold it back flat to the wall (2nd eye on the wall on that side).

 

I have pictures of the ugly ones somewhere, will have to take a pic of the lace one.

[Guest jaws4evr]

How about waiting an hour or so AFTER you get up before giving breakfast? Since that’s what he wants, and that’s what he gets when you get up, he thinks by making you get up he gets breakfast

 

I don’t see any reason why he can’t wait an hour for breakfast. It’ll take some getting used to but it should make you getting up less desireable because he doesn't get breakfast!

 

Also some “go to your bed” training will probably help you… and/or closing the bedroom door Keeps the cold nose out.

[Pepsi2004]

Charlie is back on his routine from last fall before we moved - he sleeps on his bed in my room and doesn't stir until I get up - sometimes mid-morning or later! My Jack Russell is the same except she sleeps in my bed. My SIL feeds the cats and their boxer at 6:30 am during the week - Charlie and Sydney just ignore him. They have always been that way - thank goodness.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Pepsi2004

[Hubcitypam]

Buddy was obviously used to getting up around 7 a.m. in his previous home. From the day he came here he would stood by my bed and whipmer/whine/bark in various degrees of escalation somewhere between 7 and 8. I tried ignoring, pretending I was asleep, etc. Finally one day I got up, handed him a milk bone and went back to sleep. That's been our deal for over a year now. He gives me the evil eye and whines between 7 and 8, I get up, give him a milkbone then go back to bed. He does not make a peep again until I get up. I know he trained me, but with my blood pressure meds I usualy need to get up for my own potty break about then.

[scullysmum]

I usually feed them dinner around 6:00 p.m. or so....I can try to delay dinner some, too.

I could try a water bottle, too. I've never used that before.... lots of suggestions, thanks!

I would be cautious with the water bottle method.....should a dog be punished for having a different schedule from you? (I wonder if people advocating this method would do the same if it were a child?) Ignoring is best...that is unless he needs to pee/poop.

[Guest 2greys2cats]

I usually feed them dinner around 6:00 p.m. or so....I can try to delay dinner some, too.

I could try a water bottle, too. I've never used that before.... lots of suggestions, thanks!

I've used the water bottle trick as well, but be careful squirting him when you're sleepy and in the dark. It's easy to get them In the eye by accident. If dinner is normally at six, maybe stick with that. What I did to help them sleep later is give them a handful of kibble around 11 PM before bed. Now they sleep until 8 AM

 

Buddy was obviously used to getting up around 7 a.m. in his previous home. From the day he came here he would stood by my bed and whipmer/whine/bark in various degrees of escalation somewhere between 7 and 8. I tried ignoring, pretending I was asleep, etc. Finally one day I got up, handed him a milk bone and went back to sleep. That's been our deal for over a year now. He gives me the evil eye and whines between 7 and 8, I get up, give him a milkbone then go back to bed. He does not make a peep again until I get up. I know he trained me, but with my blood pressure meds I usualy need to get up for my own potty break about then.

So what time does he get up with you? I have mine sleeping until 8 AM and I thought that was good

[Guest KatyC]

I would love to sleep until 8am now! I miss lay ins!

Any tips for me - with Peggys getting up playing at 5.30-6am and then whines a little too. She sleeps in separate bedroom by her choice, we have removed her toys at nightime but she still thumps and thuds around for ages at this time in the morning!!

She has dinner at 5.30 - 6pm every night and she has her breakfast pretty much as soon as we get up, maybe we shouldn't have done it like that and should have given her breakfast after we have had a shower and stuff? Is it too late to do that now? She gets so excited until she gets her breakfast now!