What Time Does Your Grey Wake Up?

[Guest Rocket]

Hi,

I am having an issue with Rocket waking me up too early in the morning - 6:20am.

I feed him dinner between 5:30-6:30, walk him at 9 to do a last pee and poo and he is in his crate in our bedroom sleeping at 10-10:30.

Any suggestions?? I have tried ignoring him. but he just keeps making sounds - I think he needs to pee and is eager to eat. Is this normal??

Thanks,

Amy

[Guest RMarie]

Ha, 6:20 a.m. here is sleeping in! James wakes up anywhere between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. Breakfast is at 5:30 a.m.

[Beachbum1]

My boys go out for the last time at 11:30 PM (that's after waking them up after sleeping all evening), and I usually get up between 7:00 and 7:30 AM. They both sleep on beds in my bedroom, with the door closed, and as soon as I sit up, Face will get up and then follow me out of the bedroom to head outside. Taylor is usually 20 seconds behind. Then Face gets a cup of food, and they both go back to bed for another couple of hours.

[Tallgreydogmom]

Jessie gets up at 5:30 and makes sure all the other greyhounds are up also.

[Guest jbbuzby]

They wake up when I do. I have never allowed any of the dogs I've worked with or trained to wake me up, because I am the boss and call the shots of daily activities. The only time I'd be flexible is if the dog is a foster dog, but even then, I always request the dog "down" for at least 30 seconds before I say, "Okay," leash them, and take them out (dogs live in the moment, and this way, learn they must lay down and be quiet if they want to go anywhere). And during this time, absolutely no play or fun time is allowed; they pee, we go back inside with very little interaction or words exchanged. If they have a crate, they go right back into it. If not, I walk them straight to their bed, tell them to "down" and back to bed I'd go (assuming this episode happened in the middle of the night). If they break the down, I correct them and put them back to their spot. This ends up being a few sleepless nights/mornings, but is well worth it for a lifetime of sleeping in on weekends. Also, if I have a foster dog, I will do my best to wake up before them, even if it's two am, to teach them to trust that I will meet their needs and they don't need to wake me up, in addition to reinforcing that we only get up when I decide.

 

My dogs don't sleep in our bedroom at night anymore, (boyfriend has allergies, and having a dog-free room is helpful), but the most they will do is get up, walk around, and shake (they know how much noise their tags make) to let me know their awake, but they'll go lay down again and wait for me. Often, I remove their collars at night to not allow them to do this, especially if I've taken them out late and want to sleep in since during the week we get up around 7. I will say that if there is an emergency, they will cry or even my male will hit the knob with his nose if he is exceptionally anxious and in trouble. However, they have learned to ONLY do this in an emergency. Otherwise, they have been taught to "go lay down" if they ever try to bug me and hear stern words early on if they try anything otherwise.

 

You really need to know your dog and their habits to recognize when they need to go out, but with mine, we pick up water at 8pm and take them out for "last out" at 10-11, waking up at 7 or so, and this is our normal routine. Insist your dog lay down and be quiet for at least 30 seconds before you ever take them out, and they'll learn this is what is acceptable and will trust you to meet their needs when they need to go .

[Fruitycake]

They are used to routine, and it is modifiable, but I have to say that if I ate my last meal at 5:30 and had nothing until early morning, I'd be hungry too. But that's just me projecting, I am sure that dogs can mostly learn to deal with it. But in our house, our dogs have 3 meals: 7:30 AM, 6:00 PM (after we eat dinner) and the last small meal at around 9:00 PM.

 

Monty likes to go out by 7:00 AM, and if it doesn't happen because of our schedules (trying to sleep in on the weekends), he'll get restless and whiny. On weekdays he gets walked around 6:30 AM, so the routine change is on our part, not on his. You can modify a schedule to be more consistent to what you want, but I think expecting a dog to walk early some mornings and sleep in on others, on a random (to them) schedule, is asking a bit much.

[Ragsysmum]

I think 9pm is too early for a last trip out if you expect him to sleep longer in the mornings. Also I would give him a few biscuits or handful of kibble at bedtime so he isn't hungry and may sleep longer.

[Guest jbbuzby]

You can modify a schedule to be more consistent to what you want, but I think expecting a dog to walk early some mornings and sleep in on others, on a random (to them) schedule, is asking a bit much.

 

I do also agree with this. Consistency is very helpful and be sure they always know what to expect. No matter what time we wake up (though I never ask them to go past 9am), the routine we do is always the same: I wake up, take them for a walk, they eat, then they go back to sleep and veg (since this is what they do when we go to work). Your dog will be happy when they know what to expect, but you can set the rules rather than them!

[Neighsayer]

Mine get up when I do. This may not be the same time every day., but some time between 5:30 and 7:30. Now that it is still dark in the mornings, I sometimes have to wake them up. If I go outside to feed the horses before feeding the dogs, I find them sleeping again when I get back in.

[greyhead]

I think 9pm is too early for a last trip out if you expect him to sleep longer in the mornings. Also I would give him a few biscuits or handful of kibble at bedtime so he isn't hungry and may sleep longer.

 

This. Our last out is between 11 and 11:30. Our first out is around 6:30, give or take 30 minutes. One of our greys had a 12-hour bladder; that's just who he was, and I think it's a bit unusual. The other grey is completely different and will leak urine while sleeping if not accommodated. So much depends on the dog and its age, and what they need is not entirely up to them -- or you.

Edited October 13, 2013 by greyhead

[ramonaghan]

The cats are the early risers around here. We are very lucky with Sweep; she has always slept until 7:30 or so, which is when we get up anyway 7 days a week. She eats dinner between 5:30 and 6:00 and has last out around 10 p.m. She gets a chew treat (Blue Buffalo bone, Greenies bone, lamb ear, or bully stick) about 8 and a cookie or other small treat at bedtime right after last out. I definitely agree that a small bedtime snack might be a good idea for Rocket.

[Guest Rhea]

Dane woke me up at 5:15 this morning. Let him out, but he came right back in, so it's obvious to me that he was angling for an early breakfast. (He usually gets rowdy about an hour before dinner in the evenings, perhaps in hopes that I will feed him sooner.) He's also probably a bit frustrated with me tho because I've been down this week with the flu so he's been getting less exercise, and I think he can sense my weakened state cause he has been getting into EVERYTHING cause he knows I have been too tired/weak to discipline him augh. I crawled back into bed and I heard him licking his food-bowl so yeah ugh XD being sick has thrown everything all off our game, going to bed earlier than usual too.

[Remolacha]

I get up around the same time every day, between 6-7, and the animals are all used to this. Molly believes in getting up when it starts to get light outside (fine in the winter, not so much in mid-summer!) but she knows by now that I am not going to get up before 6. If she whines, she gets ignored, so she doesn't much anymore.

[Guest Waterdog66]

Audrey wakes up between 5a and 5:30a doe her morning walk and eats. I get up around 4:30a most days during the week. (Morning training session) and she has figured out that if she sleeps in, she will have to wait until I get back to do we business.

 

The great thing is that she keeps me from bagging a workout

[Feisty49]

Each dog is different but most can learn a schedule that suits you. Having said this, Annie has always been easy peasy about everything, and I mean everything, so she may not be a good example. Nonetheless, I pretty much expect a healthy dog to learn my schedule, within reason, just like I expect her to not lead on our walks. I'm not talking about who's the boss or alpha, etc. I'm saying that as much as I love/adore my Annie girl, and since she is healthy, I set the rules because I'm the human in the household.

 

Annie and I are up any time between 6 and 7 AM. The later it gets light in the morning, the later she likes tosleep in. I'm usually awake at 6 but will often snooze on and off for a while. Even when I do get up, if Annie senses it's too dark, she stays in bed upstairs while I start my day downstairs. When she does get up, she is immediately let out for her first P&P. She comes right back in and gets breakfast.

 

She eats supper about 4 PM, though she starts giving me "that look" about 3.

 

Her last out for the day is never later than 8:00 PM, and this time of year, with it getting darker earlier, it's often 7:15 PM. Why? Because she goes up to bed when it gets dark, and if she doesn't have to pee, no amount of calling gets her off her bed. I've had her over two years and there have only been three times in those two years where she asked to go out in the middle of the night, to which I responded immediately because it is so rare, so this schedule works.

 

So Annie goes from 4 PM until 6:30, give or take, the next morning without eating and is fine. Some mornings she won't even eat her b'fast right away. She also goes at least 10 hours between last out at night and first out in the morning. Is she unhappy about it? Nope. She's often in bed before I am, and I go to bed early. She can actually get a bit pushy, in her way, if she thinks it's time for both of us to go upstairs. She'll walk over to me, give me that look with those eyes, softly whine and then walk to the stairs.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Feisty49

[Hubcitypam]

All my seven personal greys, including the five out of the seven that came straight from the farm, track or track kennel have always slept in until I get up - which is between 10 a.m. and noon. I don't have any idea why except for maybe the dog door...but I didn't have one for my first two.

[Guest Rocket]

Thanks so much - I knew I could count on good, sound advice here

Here is our routine - Rocket wakes up at 6:40am ( perfect time during the week as I have to get boys up and get ready for work)

He goes out to pee

eats breakfast

goes out to poo

I work from 9-2pm

home at 2:30- out to pee and poo - walk about 15-30 min

dinner ( working on the time - he seems really hungry at 5:30) 5:30-6:30

Walk 1 hour after eating - about 6:30-7:30 - 20 min - he usually pees and poops.

out before I go to bed about 9-10pm

He sometimes squeaks in the night and I tell him "no - lay down"

His schedule seems to work on all days except the weekends- my yorkie lets us sleep as late as we want - about 8am-9am

So, today - when he work up, I put him out and fed him and then he came back upstairs with me to sleep.

After breakfast - I need to wait a bit until he is ready to poo.

I like the idea of giving him a light meal before bed - I know I need a snack.

I would prefer him not to sleep in our room as my husband and I both wake easily. That being said, Rocket seems to be upset if he isn't with us.

I may try to keep him in his downstairs crate - across from our yorkie.

Amy

 

 

Edited October 12, 2013 by Rocket

[Guest FreeholdHound]

M-F : I get Harry up at 4:45- 5:00 am.

Weekends: 6:30-7:00 am.

Last out 10:30 - 11:00 PM

[Guest OPointyDog]

Ours also will sleep until I get up - which varies between 7:30 and 9am. Last out is around 12:30am, and I've always tried to be sure to not make them wait more than about 8 hours. I give them a snack around 9:30pm and then a big cookie at bedtime, and that seems to help.

[cleptogrey]

last turn out is 11 or so. my dogs, unless they have tummy issues, will sleep as long as we do. so, generally it's 7-7:30 and occassionally 8-8:30. but they didn't come that way, it was a learned behavior. for the first 3/4 of a year w/ both of my ex-racers it was kennel time for them- some rediculiously early ungodly hr- and when the clocks were changed i wanted to shoot myself.i don't get too excited or talk in the morning, both of my dogs go back to bed until i call them for breakfast.

[Guest KayGreat]

Several nights a week, our guy awakens at 4:30am and barks! How can we train him out of this?

 

His people sleep upstairs, and while he has a bed there, he chooses to sleep downstairs by himself. He has yard access through a dog door and doesn't seem to be barking because he needs to go out.

 

Any ideas you have will be most appreciated!

[cleptogrey]

exercise, exercise, exercise...looooooooooong walks at night since he isn't too busy during the day. go for a good 1+hr walk at a good pace and see what happens. i would also keep him on a dog bed in your bedroom. when he gets up at the ungodly hr you can shsh him and put him back in his bed. no conversations, keep it minimal. maybe he will hop into your bed and go back to sleep.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Lucky is a Diva. She's not about that 7am stuff. She gets up at 9 because she wants to keep her girlish figure, breakfast is a handful of kibble, teaspoon of yogurt, teaspoon of oatmeal, teaspoon of coconut oil. I can't get her to eat more than that in the a.m.

 

She gets a snack around 2pm. Either teaspoon of peanut butter in her beef bone, or, piece of turkey jerky.

 

She had dinner about 6:30-7pm...to which I must include some sort of raw fowl. 8:30 she has her snack cookie, then she rests her eyes and lets the tv watch her until 10:30 thats also her last call, then brush teeth (she finally allows it every day) and bedtime by 11pm.