Max Sleeping Outside At 3 Am

[rsieg]

This is Max' new thing. Last three or four nights, he gets me up around 3 am to go outside. Then he lays down in the grass and goes to sleep. We have had nice evenings so he won't freeze to death or anything (I let him stay out about an hour two nights ago, but it was colder last night so I woke him up to come in), but we will be getting mosquitoes soon and I don't want him dying of blood loss a few weeks from now :-)

 

Any thoughts as to why he is doing this, or how he might be discouraged from this so I can sleep through the night? I don't mind getting up at 3 am to let him out (has been on that schedule for a while) since I can get back to sleep, but if he sleeps outside for an hour then wants back in that is a different matter. He is 12 years 8 months old now, and I suspect it is just comfortable for him. I'm wondering if some sort of chilled bed indoors might be good, since it might be the coolness of the grass he likes.

[Time4ANap]

Try using a fan. I found Rocket sleeping in front of our fan one night with the air blowing right on him.

[ramonaghan]

I recently bought Sweep a cooling mat and have been very impressed with how quickly she stops panting after coming in from a walk. It might be worth a shot with Max. The tricky part is just getting her to lay on it, since it's not the soft, cushy bed she's used to. I usually end up putting it on top of another bed.

 

Here's the one we have; these are the largest sizes I found and the Medium works for Sweep, who's 62 lbs. Amazon's pricing seems to be wonky today (I assure you I didn't pay $300 for it!), so here's a Chewy link too.

[XTRAWLD]

I think the sleeping outside behaviour is because it's cooler and he's more comfortable and the mat and/or fan is a good idea. How nice to just sleep out under the stars!

 

I recently bought Sweep a cooling mat and have been very impressed with how quickly she stops panting after coming in from a walk. It might be worth a shot with Max. The tricky part is just getting her to lay on it, since it's not the soft, cushy bed she's used to. I usually end up putting it on top of another bed.

 

Here's the one we have; these are the largest sizes I found and the Medium works for Sweep, who's 62 lbs. Amazon's pricing seems to be wonky today (I assure you I didn't pay $300 for it!), so here's a Chewy link too.

This is neat. I admit this would be nice for Ryder and I've never considered it before. He is quite the sun bather but when we've had enough and we go inside, he takes a while to cool down.

[Remolacha]

One of my broodies liked to sleep outside when she got older. I have a dog door and dog beds on the patio, so I just let her. She would go out at 2-3 a.m., stay an hour or so, then come back in. This doesn't help your problem , except to say I don't think it is unusual.

[Scoutsmom]

My 12 year-old Henry does this sometimes. He asks to go out every night around 3 am, If it is a warm night, he often refuses to come back in when I call him and goes to one of the outside beds and snoozes. When he is ready to come in, he gives a soft bark under my window. We don't have bad mosquitoes so I have no problem with letting him enjoy the night.

[rsieg]

One of my broodies liked to sleep outside when she got older. I have a dog door and dog beds on the patio, so I just let her. She would go out at 2-3 a.m., stay an hour or so, then come back in. This doesn't help your problem , except to say I don't think it is unusual.

I would love to let him stay outside, right now there is not a good reason not to, but I'm afraid he will want to come in and not be able to wake me from outside. Mosquitoes are also a concern going forward. I may have a fan around and can try that, and/or will get the cooled mat. The old guy deserves his creature comforts!

[sobesmom]

Is a dog-door an option? I assume you have a fenced yard.

[rsieg]

Dog-door is not really an option, I have a sliding glass door to the backyard. Also, the adoption group pointed out that a doggie door is not necessarily a good idea in Cleveland, because it is possible for the hound to go out and then have a snow drift build up to block the door while he is outside. (Of course I could bar it off in the winter).

 

Last night I stayed outside for about an hour and a half doing some astronomy observing. Max came out and laid in the grass for a while, then went in. Seemed to satisfy him as he asked to go potty at 3 am but did not lay down. (I'm fine with the 3 am potty break). So that may be an option, try to spend some time outside with him, weather permitting, before bed.

[Cricket57]

They make dog doors for sliding glass doors - it's a panel that fits in the same track. Most of them have a "cover" that slides over the flap for when you don't want the dog to go out. We don't use these with our greys, but had one in our sliding glass door when we had the poodles.

 

https://www.petdoors.com/pet-doors/sliding-glass-dog-door.html

 

Cricket