Hi - Looking for some advice for a very sleepy owner! We got our black lab pup at 8 weeks old and for the first weeks or so, he slept in a covered crate in our room and slept all night - staying dry until around 7am, when he was waking and we would take him out to do his business. He is now 12 weeks old and is sleeping in his crate every night with no issues BUT, he has started waking at 5.30 every morning, I keep interaction to a minimum, let him out, (he does wee's and poo's) and then pop him back in his crate, but he doesn't settle and eventually so as not to wake everyone in the house, I will get him out of his crate (but only during a pause in the whining/crying). He is then quite happy to go into the living room with me, curl up on his mat and go back to sleep. I am not sure why he is waking earlier now than he was at 8 weeks, and not sure if this is just something I am going to have to 'suck up' until he is older or is there a way to get him to re-settle or at least keep quiet in his crate until a little later in the morning as everyone in the house has either work or school!
Hi Louise. What's the timing of his evening routine? When does he have last food/water taken up/last wee etc? It might be a later bedtime will help! There's also a nice method for resetting morning wake time using an alarm clock, here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/dog-wakes-up-too-early/ I hope it helps! Sammie
Hi Sammie We generally try to have a quiet relaxed evening time, he has his evening meal between 5 and 6, then we have a bit of training time/play/walk now he is old enough, then calm things around 8pm. He has access to water all evening but none in his crate overnight. He usually has a light nap and some time with his favourite chew toys to occupy him, then we let him out for a last wee around 9.30 to 10pm. I'll have a look at the video for ideas too, thanks for the sending me the link.
I have just watched the video, I'm not rewarding him for waking, other than maybe letting him snuffle too long while letting him out to toilet. Should I follow the steps for accidentally rewarding him anyway? He sleeps in a crate, within a pen, in our hallway, tucked under the stairs area (its an open area, not a cupboard so you don't worry I'm not treating him like Harry Potter!) with a cover over the crate and a waterproof dog bed covered with a soft blanket wrapped around the cushion, so he should be warm and comfy. Would you recommend getting up 10 mins before he does but just ignoring him, does that mean not letting him out for a wee etc? Also as he is in the hallway under the stairs, there isn't anywhere I can sit within view of the pen so do I let him out of his pen?? Sorry for all the questions, I don't want to make it any worse rather than better
Hi Louise. When the article says to set an alarm for before they wake but be boring until 'morning', it doesn't mean to leave pup crated. I would come down as soon as the alarm goes off and him out the crate, let him out for a wee if he wants one, and then just be very quiet and dull company from then on . However. If he's going down in the crate at 9.30/10pm, my personal feeling is that he's doing pretty well to wait til 5.30am for you, at this age. 7.5-8 hours is a fair length night for a bladder this age I'm afraid! So if you're not a morning person, I would consider pushing that last bedtime wee back to 10.30pm as well. (Sorry!)
Hi Sammy You are quite right and I am more than happy to get up and let him out for a toilet trip when he wakes. He like you said, has gone quite a long time in his crate, and has also let me know he needs to go to the toilet, this is all good. My question is more, is it reasonable to expect him to settle again after the toilet trip until say 7?
Hi Louise. I think its reasonable to expect him to have some quiet time in your company for an hour. But after 8 hours of night I think it's also reasonable for him to struggle with seeing you go back upstairs to bed/be put in his crate. Because it's not really night time any more to him. So I would either curl up on the sofa with him or do a later bedtime, personally. But every dog and every family is different and if you want to try re-crating him after his wee and see what happens, that's fair enough! Just bear in mind if he then starts yelling, it's really important not to go back in the room until he's stopped!
Thank you so much for the advice. I do enjoy the morning cuddles, we usually curl up together and snooze so I will continue to enjoy that time until he is older and goes longer through the night. I love to bury my nose in his fur and just inhale the puppy smell!
Coda was very similar. She would go down around 9 and get up at 5 in her crate. This started from the day I got her at 8 weeks. For a few weeks, I would let her out usually once a night when she asked (careful rattle of the crate door) and then right back in (no messing around at all). She did great at that until the time change. Then, she went to bed at 6 and got up at 4. I just can't ... anything at 4 am. I put her back in the crate after the 4 am bathroom trip and she would bang and whine (never done that before). I started setting an alarm at 350, then 4 then 415 etc. It worked pretty well and she's back to 8-5 ish which is a great schedule for me. I hear A LOT of puppy owners (for Labs in particular) that the puppies love the 5 am wake up time.
