15th January Very Sleep Deprived. I have read and re-read the advice on barking at nigh think I now know that my 19month old Labrador’s night waking are the result of many things. Yes she had a period of upset stomach, but has quickly learnt to get my company. I have inadvertently rewarded the behaviour by even giving a treat when told to go ‘on her bed’ or even staying with her until she has settled. The pattern lately is a 3ish waking when I go down, open back door without saying anything but she isn’t always desperate to go out for a wee/poo. In fact one morning in the past week, when temperatures were below 0, she stepped out and went to come straight back in but I was so annoyed at being woken, I shut the door on her, told her to go wee (which she did). She goes back to bed but 30 minutes later she starts whining and sing song barking again. When I go back down again she sits by our door to our attached garage asking for her dent stick (which has been our normal routine when I get up for work at 6am). I think I need to use the letting her ‘cry it out’ and ‘aversive’ advice (have been using a pet corrector spray which she already knows means ‘no’). Also, we have sometimes been giving her food earlier (sometimes 4pm) which could be the reason needing to ‘poo’ early am and wanting food in the early morning. So will push to at least 6pm. What I don’t know is, if she wakes me and is to go wee/poo and I ignore her will that become a problem? 16th January Last night she was fed at 6pm. I let her out in the garden at 10pm but didn't want to wee/poo and wouldn't wee when asked her to. Went to bed. She woke me at 3.15am to go out for a wee/poo She settled and I left kitchen door open (she isn't crated, her bed area at night is my utility off the kitchen but I shut the kitchen door) as I find if I shut again then will often whine/bark again approx. 30 minutes later. She remained asleep until I rose at 6pm. Advice please - how do I make her wee before we retire? Do I ignore her when first starts in the risk of soiling the kitchen? Have got to do something.
You need a very good wee on command. Use high value treats and give the cue word while she's weeing for a couple of weeks. Then just before for a couple of weeks, then when you know she's really full for a few weeks. After that she will be weeing on command and squeezing one out for you. It takes a long time but it will be worth it to get some sleep.
Thanks. Will definitely do that. We did when she was a pup but didn't have to do very long as was mostly house trained when we got her.
Have you tried putting her bed next to yours on the floor? A friend of mine with a Golden had this issue around the one year old mark. He would wake at 5:30am after sleeping consistently until 8am. Turns out he just wanted to be close to them. From the very first night they brought his pillow by the bed, he has slept thru again. On another note, my Corona is 6 months now and has had numerous infections. Long story short, she has trained me to also get up at least once for a pee/poo. She goes back to her pillow but will often put paws on the bed once or twice, before my alarm goes off. It has been a LOOONNNGGG haul but this is actually a major improvement to what we were dealing with before. Reading your post has me convinced we need to get even stricter with her waking us up. Like yours, Corona isn't sprinting to the door in urgency. Makes me think she can definitely go longer and she just wants our company. One thing about your post, you said you "let her out for a pee/poo". If I do that with Corona, she will sniff the yard forever, then get distracted and then come back in without having done anything. We leash her now every time, and she does her business within minutes. I had laid off the command because, like yours, she was fairly easily house broken. We continue now to enforce the command to make sure she will go "on command" when we want her to. She has gotten 100% better. Good luck, keep in touch, I've been 4 months now with sleep deprivation. I totally get it!
Hi Jeanine, thanks for your comments. You are totally right and my sister who had a golden retriever that wanted to sleep outside her bedroom said the same. After a number of times being woken from 2am onwards, I started to leave the kitchen door open after having given her the option to go in garden. I was then discovering that she slept until I got up, except a few times I heard her scratching the carpet outside my bedroom door to make herself comfortable. For the past 4/5 nights I have put one of her cushions on the landing, and yes, hey presto, most nights has started sleeping in the kitchen but when I get up she is on the landing and I haven't heard a thing. We have always tried to make her stay at the doorway of our bedroom and not invited her in so I hope being other side of door will continue to be ok. She comes downstairs when I get up and just goes onto another cushion. Hasn't even been desperate to go for a wee then. (Generally her last wee can be 8pm and not again until 7-8am). I think her going out, when was waking me wake in the night, was just her being clever. We started to train with the 'wee' command but, as very food orientated, I think was finding it a great way to then get another treat lol but I will continue to hopefully get her to wee on command if we go on a long journey. My sleep deprivation must of been going on for over 6 months and as a 'menopausal women' I was getting desperate. My husband never heard a thing just like when our lads were babies lol. Good luck with Corona. Fortunately, I have never had problems of getting her back in from the garden. My night routine has been the same since she was small and was taught 'on her bed'. A treat to get into the garden and a treat when comes in and onto her bed. It was my mistake treating her during the night waking and going back onto her bed. I hope you can get Corona sorted. For me - I hope nights continue as they are but I do have to remember (and remind everyone else staying) not to leave shoes around, kitchen table clear, draining board clear, all other door rooms closed and anything that is valuable not to leave in reach in case she gets bored But to be fair, she is a lot better and has never been as bad at some I have read about with regard to destructive behaviour.
