Wakes Us Up At 2Am, 4Am, And 6 Am

[Guest Raquel_88]

Hi,

 

My foster as been with us for 9 days. He just came off the track, so I understand his unique internal clock, but I was hoping to get some help with how to work towards having him wake up later. My husband and I are drained.

 

Here is our current schedule:

 

2am- he comes into our room whininh. I take him out. Sometimes he poops or pees.

 

4am- he comes into our room whining. I take him out. He pees.

 

6am- he comes into our room whining, and I ignore him until 7. I take him out at 7, feed at 7:30, and he's asleep until 11.

 

11- I take him out to pee.

 

5- I take him for a pee, then we go for a 15 min walk. Feed him at 6.

 

9/9:30- we go out for last pee or poop.

 

2am- starts all over.

 

Is my schedule not good for him? Is there anything I can do to help him sleep atleast until 6:30?

 

Thank you!!!

Edited September 2, 2015 by Raquel_88

[Houndtime]

This is a housebreaking schedule. He shouldn't have to go out so much. At the track they are let out on a schedule and I don't think it includes the middle of the night. Is he crated? Contained in an area? It doesn't seem like he is getting a lot of exercise or play time. Maybe he is just bored.

[MaryJane]

Does he have a bed in your room? If not, put a bed there.

 

At 2am when he whines tell him to go back to sleep. At 4am when he whines, get up and let him out but only for the next 2 or 3 days. After that when he whines at 4 am tell him to go back to sleep.

 

You also need to exercise him more during the day so he is more tired at night - try a longer walk.

[greysmom]

He would probably prefer a bed in your room. You can also monitor him a bit better that way.

 

If your weather has changed, or if you have airconditioning, he may be getting cold. If that wakes him up, he has to pee. Try a nice blanket or jammies - even a men's long sleeve t-shirt will help (just tie the extra up around his waist).

 

I know you've had issues walking him, but he probably does need more exercise.

[SPDoggie]

 

At 2am when he whines tell him to go back to sleep. At 4am when he whines, get up and let him out but only for the next 2 or 3 days. After that when he whines at 4 am tell him to go back to sleep.

 

Yep-- we had to wean our first boy off of a perceived need to be up at 3.

This step-wise idea is a good one

[Guest Raquel_88]

Does he have a bed in your room? If not, put a bed there.

 

At 2am when he whines tell him to go back to sleep. At 4am when he whines, get up and let him out but only for the next 2 or 3 days. After that when he whines at 4 am tell him to go back to sleep.

 

You also need to exercise him more during the day so he is more tired at night - try a longer walk.

He has access to our room, and a dog bed. He just prefers to sleep on his other bed in the living room. Sometimes, he'll visit us and spend an hour there, but he loves his bed in the living room. He wakes us up when he has to go, or when he is bored, but it makes me uneasy thinking that if I ignore him, he could have an accident.

[bradymom]

Can you switch the beds, put the bed he loves in your bedroom... this may help him sleep longer.

[Meandmy]

A snack right before bed might help him sleep better as well. My first grey would get me up in the middle of the night and I would take him out each time. Turns out he was waking up because he was hungry, not because he had to pee. Just a thought.

[GeorgeofNE]

He may "prefer" his bed in the living room. That doesn't mean you can't make him sleep in your bedroom. I'd make a new schedule, and stick with it. Most dogs need to go out after they eat, so I'd go with first thing in AM, after breakfast (at some point this dog needs exercise, not just a trip outside to go to the bathroom! If he's tired, he's more likely to sleep) for a longish walk. Then take him out again later in the afternoon, take him for a walk after he eats, then one last chance right before YOU go to bed. Then you're going to have to wean him off the "every time I whine, I get what I want" or whoever adopts him will not thank you for your foster work! If you REALLY think he has to go, take him out on a leash, take him to wear you've seen him go before, give him no more than 5 minutes. If he DOES go, praise him. If he doesn't, take him straight back to his bed and say goodnight. Make it all very non-fun, non interactive. He has to learn that you're not available to him 24/7.

[cleptogrey]

crate in your bedroom

when he wakes up a quick sh.sh....if that doesn't work not a peep from you but a squirt of water from a plant spray

same thing when he wakes up again.

 

i had a foster who could not be handled by it's foster mom, who already had fostered 3 dozen dogs. she needed to learn quickly that crying/pacing/wailing all night, stealing food,chewing on moulding and woodwork and attacking the other house dogs would not be tolerated. praise for doing things right, limitations and boundaries turned this belligerent beauty into a fantastic dog. it was not easy, i will foster some of the difficult pups since i'm very consistant and stick to my guns.

 

one night of plant spray, the foster slept in that morning due to exhaustion and she never woke up again! do make sure that he potties well at night- send him out 2xs before bed. then there should be no reason for this unless there is a medical issue. but i would look at that later. also a benadryl at bed for both you and the pup might work wonders.

[sobesmom]

Yep, I'm with everybody else. Stop it. There is NO reason for a dog off the track to be going out all night long.

[kudzu]

Normally, I'd say crate in the bedroom. However, if he isn't being crated right now & is not having accidents then a crate shouldn't be necessary. Just keep him in the room with you by closing the door. Something to bear in mind is that you don't want to punish him for waking you up to go out to pee. Alerting you that he needs to go out is not a bad thing, even in the middle of the night. You just want to help him understand that it only works when he really needs to pee. You just want to train him to a new potty schedule instead.

 

Mary Jane's transition schedule sounds very good. Completely ignore at the first wake up call. Don't do anything that would cause him to think alerting you is bad. Just make the wake up call ineffectual. Ignore him. Make not a sound. Don't look at him. Don't even move. The idea is for him to get no response at all, like he didn't even wake you up. Take him out the second time when he may actually need to go. Don't wait to get up. Get up immediately when he wakes you up, but don't reward him otherwise. Don't say anything to him. Use no praise, play or added attention when he wakes up. Do it in a polite, kind, but no nonsense sort of way. Just calmly, quietly & without added reward, get up & take him out for a potty break only. Ignore the third wake up. Do that temporarily & then drop the middle of the night potty completely.

 

With that approach what you will usually get is a dog who adjusts to waiting to potty until morning but will also alert you to the rare occasions when he really does need to go potty.