Getting Up Too Early

[cgs]

We've had Percy for just about 3 months now. Until last night (more on that later), he slept in his crate in the living room at night. He would happily go in there to sleep, and often spends time in there by choice during the day. A couple weeks ago, maybe because it's getting lighter earlier, he started rooing around 6:15 or 6:30. Prior to that, I'd get up around 7, 7:15, sometimes 7:30 and shower and then go downstairs and get him out. He was fine. Never made a peep. This rooing early in the morning is just not ok. I have a college age daughter who needs a lot of sleep. She gets up around 7:30. Getting woken up early every day really messes things up.

 

So I started running downstairs at the first noise I heard (sometimes the rooing, sometimes I'd hear him whining as he geared up for rooing) and sleep in the couch for another hour and he'd settle immediately and go back to sleep.

 

But I thought we'd try having him sleep in our room. The first night I was going to try, I couldn't convince him to come upstairs. This dog who follows me around, up and down all day, wouldn't come up. He just looked at me like "I just want to go to bed. Why are you bothering me?" and he went in his crate. Last night he finally came up and slept in our room.

 

This morning he woke up early again and whined a little and I told him to lie down and go "night-night." He did eventually, but not until after he had a little playtime, barking, zipping around the room, pouncing, etc. Then he was quiet. This doesn't help with the not waking up my daughter thing.

 

Maybe he'll get the hang of being quiet over the next few days, but anyone have any suggestions? Also, he doesn't need to go out. This morning I tried to get a urine sample and couldn't even get him to pee at all. So he's not up early to go out.

[XTRAWLD]

It's another new adjustment for him. He'll get it. But remember when you go to him when he roos, you are rewarding him. Sleeping in your room is a great thing though and when he stirs just tell him to lay down, but try not to get up. I would suggest you can reinforce the lay down with a cookie, but then you might be asking for more trouble and a vicious circle!

[cgs]

It wouldn't be as big a deal if it didn't affect my daughter. I might go back to the crate/sleeping on the couch when he roos (yes, I totally know this is rewarding him, but keeping him quiet is necessary for my dd's mental health--for real) and try again with something different when she's done with classes in 2 weeks. It'll still be bad for her, but not as bad if she's done with school. Or if he wants to come upstairs again tonight, I'll try just shushing him. I didn't get up this morning, just shushed him, but he still had that little bout of playtime first. Maybe he just needs another day or two to get it. But again, maybe waiting until classes are over is better.

 

On the good side, my husband leaves for work around 4:30am, and while Percy got up to see what was going on, he really didn't make noise--a little whimpering, but nothing more. I think he'll get used to that routine pretty quickly and learn to ignore it. He's always been quiet in his crate when my husband leaves. He really is a good dog and seems to catch on quickly. If it had just been me, I would have let him roo every morning until he realized it wasn't going to do any good. Because yeah, I knew I'd be rewarding him to go sleep on the couch.

[XTRAWLD]

It's a new change, give the bedroom routine a chance. He's a young pup too, and excited to start his day! Either that or you just gotta get up and start your day too!

[WabiSabi]

...he started rooing around 6:15 or 6:30...

 

Amateur.

I was up at 5am today for my whimpering hound. "Settling in" sucks.

[cgs]

But he'd been so good about just getting up whenever I got up! It's been 3 months and he's been fine until a week or two ago. Humph.

[XTRAWLD]

He's training you real good!

[amalexia]

But he'd been so good about just getting up whenever I got up! It's been 3 months and he's been fine until a week or two ago. Humph.

 

Yup, that's life with a new greyhound. Expect for other things to feel like they're going back and while you feel that, remember that it is a good sign: your dog is settling in and showing his personality more and more. I know it can be very frustrating sometimes, but try to keep focusing on the positive.

 

And while I understand that it is not pleasant for anyone to lack sleep and get woken up by a dog, the best thing to do is play the ignore game. Ignore and don't move. It will probably make for a few rough mornings, but it will be worth it. It's the same with jumping on people, you ignore the behaviour and it goes away because the dog ends up understanding that the behaviour gets him nothing.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Agree ...you just have to ignore him.

Totally.

Do not respond. At all.

 

Responding to the roo is rewarding him.

 

Perhaps you can play his little games for another couple of weeks while your DD is still in school, but after that you'll have to do some tough love if you don't want this issue to escalate even more..

[fastpointydoge]

My hound learned very quickly once I ignored him on those too early mornings. But he's also not a youngster (just turned 6!). Now he gets up, checks on me, and goes back to his bed with a toy to wait until I am ready.

 

Took me a while to figure this out, but if I put on his jammies, he'll sleep in past 8am. So that's my trick for my day off. ;P

Edited April 24, 2018 by fastpointydoge

[cgs]

He had a dental cleaning yesterday and I had no idea this would be such an ordeal afterwards. He was whiny all the rest of the day. So that's mixed up in this too now. Never had any issue post-dental with my little dog.

 

Last night he didn't want to come upstairs. I don't know if his leg was sore from the IV or what, but he hasn't gone upstairs at all since the dental yesterday. He usually follows me up in the morning when I come up to the computer, but he hasn't today. So I put him in his crate last night and he was fine--no whining. But then at 2am he rooed, so I went down and slept on the couch. Now my dd is napping on the couch at 8:45am (she gets up at 7:30) because she was woken up in the middle of the night. She has to leave for classes in a couple hours. *sigh*

 

I'm not sure what I'll do tonight--try to get him up to our room again or just put him in the crate again and maybe do a complete reset with me sleeping on the couch for a couple of nights like I did when we first got him. If he goes up and down the stairs normally today, I'll probably put him back in our room tonight. At least he doesn't roo there. Just whines and plays.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm laughing that you think that's too early, and that you think your college age daughter will suffer--

 

I haven't slept that late in 20 years.

[cgs]

Good for you GeorgeofNE, but my daughter suffers from depression that has been very very severe at times and getting a good night's sleep with consistent bed times and wake times is important for her health. Percy is perfectly capable of keeping quiet and calm until 7:30.

[NewGrey2017]

My only advice/suggestion is pick one solution and stay with it. Ours sleeps in our room and has from night one, when we taught him the stairs with chicken bits. Initially he would get up at 2 or 3AM and try to tell us he needed food or to go out, but a few weeks of us telling him he didn't need anything convinced him to sleep through the night. He knows I'll get up at 4:30AM, but will shower and get ready for work before I take him out and feed him. I had to ignore some barking and door scratching for a few weeks, but we've settled into this as a routine and he seems to accept it. On weekends he will let me sleep usually until about 6 or 6:30 because I haven't taught him to tell time, but I think he has a belly alarm.

[cgs]

I think we'll stick to him sleeping in our room now. He didn't last night because he was feeling weird after the dental and wouldn't come upstairs. But he has come upstairs now, so we'll try again tonight. He seems pretty smart and pretty willing to be compliant, so I don't think it will take weeks to get him to catch on/agree. I think our room is also darker in the morning than the living room, so hopefully that will help.

[cgs]

I think I've hit on a temporary plan at least until daughter is done with school.

 

Last night he slept in our room. When husband got up at 5, (twice a week sometimes instead of getting up at 4am, showering and leaving around 4:20, he gets up at 5, goes downstairs, comes back in at 6, showers, and leaves around 6:30), Percy got up and whined a bit. I led him back to his bed and told him to be quiet and go night-night. When husband came back in to shower, he got up again, and this time I was worried he was going to play and bark--he got into his play crouch. So I took him downstairs, and let him out to pee, then put him in his crate and slept on the couch until after 7. He settled right down and was quiet and my daughter wasn't woken up at all. I wasn't planning to let him out and probably won't next time, but he'd gone to the door, so I did. By putting him in the crate, I took away his opportunity to play and also let him know that waking up early doesn't get him breakfast any earlier. It's not perfect, but until I'm willing to ignore his noise, I think this is the plan.

 

I think when my husband gets up at 4 and leaves, that'll be easier, but I think either way, he'll catch on that he doesn't get up until I get up.

[XTRAWLD]

Just thinking, can your hubby just let him out when he's up and put him back in? Not to have you consider yet another change of routine, but wondering if that's a potential option/solution going forward.

[cgs]

He doesn't actually need to go out. Until now, our little dog would often (but not always) go out at 4:30 when husband went downstairs. He'd let her back in and then leave her to her own devices. He'd leave the bedroom door open so she could come back to bed, which is what she normally would do. So yes, he could let Percy out, but I don't want husband to have to get Percy back upstairs into the bedroom--just one more thing for him to do when he's trying to get out the door. And I'm not ready to let Percy roam free. And Percy would try to bug husband for a walk probably, which might make him more hyper than he would be if he just stayed in the bedroom.

 

Someday, when things settle down a bit (not that they're particularly unsettled now) we'll let Percy roam free and then if he wants to go out as hubby gets ready for work, he can choose to do that and then choose to come back to the bedroom or not.

[Roo]

I'm familiar with needing a steady sleep schedule - if I mess with mine too much, I get migraines. Not the same result, but still a result I like to avoid.

 

It sounds like you have a good plan for the meantime, but once your daughter is done with school and is able to handle being woken up without too many repercussions, definitely try ignoring him. It'll take time and it'll be annoying for everyone, but ignoring is the only way to really teach them that barking and rooing doesn't get them anything. Can your daughter wear ear plugs? They don't drown out all the noise, but they can help tone it down. I've slept through quite a bit with my ear plugs in!

 

It's a great idea to let your husband let him out in the mornings once you trust him to free-roam. Could your husband put him in his crate, or would that incite barking? Could he be baby-gated in a particular area, or could you section off some space at the foot of the stairs so that he's not entirely left to his own devices and can still come upstairs if he wants? Just some ideas (that you've probably already considered, but I thought I'd mention them in case you hadn't!).

[cgs]

I actually had not thought about ear plugs, so thanks. I'm trying to avoid baby gates because, well I hate them, but also our house is a somewhat open floorplan and hard to gate off, but there are 2 places we used to put them when the kids were little. Just not sure it would really be all that useful. We're doing baby steps with freedom and so far so good. There have been 2 occasions in the morning when I had to go out before my daughter was awake and I left him out. He probably had between 15 and 30 minutes free. He just seems to go in his crate,lol.

[cgs]

Percy is such a good boy! He's smart and cooperative. He slept in our room again last night. (He does still look a bit sad and confused when I close his crate door at night so he can't go IN). Husband got up at 4 and Percy stood up and walked over the bathroom door and looked at it, but didn't make a peep, then went back to sleep. I didn't say a word. Around 6:30, he got up and seemed ready to start his day--stretching and wagging--I lifted my head to see what he was doing and he whined a bit, but I put my head back down and he settled back down again. I was waiting until 7 to get up, and wanted to be sure to get up before he started whining or getting restless, but he was so quiet and flopped in his bed that I didn't get up until 7:15. Tomorrow husband might do the get up at 5 and leave at 6:30 routine, so we'll see. Then it's the weekend when things change again, but he's getting the hang of it. And my daughter has had 2 nights in a row without being awakened, which is helping.

 

And roo, thanks for understanding the sleep issue. Migraines can be debilitating and, similar to depression, you sometimes just don't know when you're going to have an episode and not be able to function. But some things, like sleep, can mitigate both. I know someone dealing with both migraines and depression. What a nightmare.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Greyt update

[cgs]

Another good night. Not a peep from him from bedtime to morning. He whined when I got in the shower, but that's all. Yay!