Too much too soon?

babydoll · Junior Member Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 66

We have started to give our 5 month old LD free reign of the bedroom at night. She has done beautifully on most counts...no potty accidents, no chewing.

The one issue we are having is that she wakes up at 5:30 am and decides that she wants us to get up too and will not take no for an answer. She is tall enough to place her front paws up on the bed and will go from one side of the bed to the other "pawing" at either my husband or I. We push her off and tell her "no" or "off" but it obviously has no effect as she walks around to the other side of the bed an trys again with the other person.

We don't want her to get in this habit - Any ideas how to stop this behavior? Should we ignore her and not acknowledge the behavior? It is really hard to use positive reinforcement when you are cranky and tired and woken from a dead sleep!

We are considering putting her back in the crate at night just to nip this behavior now before it becomes a habit. Do you think we need to? Was the freedom too much too soon?

blueteal · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject:

This is gonna sound too simple but at 5 moths of age
Denver was still in his crate and he woke us up at 4:30
in the morning and we would take him out to pee and
bring him back to bed and he would go back to sleep............
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MaxandMe · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:59 pm Post subject:

ditto here too

all our doodles at 5mos of age had times they'd wake up too early whining to go out
we'd walk them, they peed instantly, put them back to bed and we all slept till regular time

every doodle is different in bladder needs and maturity.......almost like having a little child again
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cocoandjane · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject:

I agree that probably a quick potty trip and then back to bed might be needed....
Maybe the crate would be good to go back to, especially if then she seemed to be OK to wait to go out until everyone got up.
I don't think mine were out of the crate all night that early...not to say there's anything wrong with it....but mine liked their crates at night.
Abby still will go get in hers at bedtime....on her own! She will sleep and/or stay quiet until I get up.

hmz819 · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:06 am Post subject:

Maya did that at 5 mos too. I would let her out and then when she was done say back to bed. To this day I say back to bed and she will stay in bed til I ask her if she wants breakfast. Some days it's 8am when we get up other days it's 10am before we get up.
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mtd885 · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:20 am Post subject:

Consider your self lucky that your Doodle is considerate enough to train you properly. Imagine what will happen if you ignore the message Shocked

This is a GOOD THING!, which you should be grateful for Wink

We routinely walked Abby at 4pm, 9pm, 12am, 5-6am until she was 7 months old. She never had an accident and can now stay in for 10 hours (we did this for training purposes not routine) before she gives us the message she needs to go out. You can try not feeding or watering after 7pm, it may help.
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lmtoth2 · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:23 am Post subject:

I have to agree with MTD...until Dex was 8-10 months we tried to take him out immediately when he gave us a signal. However we also did not let him sleep in our bedroom until he was older (~10 months). I would try what Heather does...take your puppy out and then right back to bed so she lears that crying does not mean she gets to get up and play.
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sandy · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:47 am Post subject:

You are lucky that your dog wakes you up. It's her signal that she needs to go out! You should not be upset or ignore her.

What I do when Nicky wakes me up at a time I consider too early is to put a leash on him and take him outside. Once he pees we go back inside and back to bed. I don't just let him out by himself off leash because then he'd want to play.

I know how annoying it is to be wakened from a sound sleep, but your dog's behavior is good! She knows to come to you instead of peeing in the house! Smart dog!
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and Nicky the Doodle

babydoll · Junior Member Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 66

The thing is...if we get up and take her outside to potty, she instantly thinks she is getting breakfast. In fact, she is more interested in breakfast than potty and often hurries her potty to rush into the house for breakfast. Going back to bed at this point is almost unheard of. Sometimes on the weekends we try...but usually it involves giving her breakfast and putting her in her crate for another hour.

She has a very specific potty cry that she uses when in the crate and most often she will wake up and be restless in her crate at 5:30 but not give her potty cry till closer to 6:30-7am which is our standard awake time. Maybe it is selfish to want that extra hour of sleep?

This morning we both ignored the paws on the bed and she actually went back to sleep for a half hour when she saw that we were still "sleeping" (or at least pretending to). She only starts the pawing when one of us moves/flips over - I think she thinks we are awake. Maybe ignoring is the best bet - her potty whine is a much better way to get woken up to than paws in the face.

I do understand the point that she is young and that we are lucky that she is at least waking us up rather than going potty on the floor. I just worry about the pawing of the bed. We don't plan on allowing her up on our bed at any point and I just feel this is a bad habit she may be developing. I guess we will see how the ignoring goes instead of the correcting.

CRoswell · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:14 am Post subject:

Looks like she might be getting the hint!

I personally don't let Dudley in the bedroom EVER. I need somewhere 100% hair-free to sit down and put on my shoes in the morning. (Well, as hair-free as a dog loving house can be anyway...)

He is about 80% of the way to sitting nicely at the door to the bedroom and waiting. The other 20% he typically takes a step or two over the doorway and is given a reminder in my stern voice.

mtd885 · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:24 am Post subject:

Based on your responses I would just crate the dog at night. Surprised

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mtd/renee/abby/dr katz
DOODLE ON!
DOODLES OF AMERICA UNITE!

Tink · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:54 am Post subject:

I would put her in her crate when she wakes me. If you don't want her thinking it's time to go out, show her that she gives up the freedom when she does this and I dare bet she'll stop. It won't take long for her to connect the idea that she's free until she bothers you... and crated after.

Good luck!
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babydoll · Junior Member Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 66

I had to share this.... my father sent me this link of the cat version of Sienna's morning wake-up ritual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

MaxandMe · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:15 am Post subject:

hahhahaaaaa I LOVE That Video hahhaaaaaaaaaaaa
my princess Peanut is like that if i even TRY to sleep in Shocked

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Taryn L · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:30 pm Post subject: