i have had milly now for about 8 months i have been on here before about the trouble we have with her not sleeping very well she still wakes up any time from 4am onwards and howls and whines ignoring her does not help so i let her out for a wee and go back to bed as soon as i get up and sit in the living room she goes back to sleep i have now come to the conclusion that she has got to learn so i am going to let her out at 10pm and ignore her untill 6am the worry is how long she can hold on as some nights she wants to go out every 2hrs she does have a problem with her bladder it is not in quite the normal position but that aside we have got to get the sleep problems sorted we have done this for so long we are totally exhausted can not go on like this any longer wish me luck please i am very worried that nothing has worked so far
Re: waking nights Hi there, not quite sure what you mean about the bladder not being in the right position, but have you asked your vet about whether this should affect her bladder control at all?
Re: waking nights she had a kidney removed as it was diseased and the vet said that her bladder was not quite in the position of other dogs ever since the op she has been bad at night she can hold on for about 6 hours but that doen not give us a full night sleep
Re: waking nights Hmm....I guess planning to gradually stretch that 6 hours out by 15 mins or so every few night (every week?) would be the aim. I suppose starting with the time you KNOW she is okay and won't cry to get out, then lengthening it by 10-15 mins each night up to your ultimate goal, but remembering that you shouldn't open the crate and let her out if she is crying to get out, but only when she is quiet. Could be slow progress. Having a kidney removed shouldn't affect how much urine she produces, but I am a little uncertain about the bladder issue. For people with bladder control issues we would suggest a "bladder drill". I don't know if this article might help at all. Its obviously for people but might help explain all about the bladder training/bladder drill which is about half way down the page. Maybe someone else has some more helpful dog-specific suggestions.
Re: waking nights Are you sure this isn't medical? If it is, and she can only hold wee for 6 hours, well, it doesn't seem reasonable to ask her to hold it for 8 hours. If it is medical and the vet can't help with a solution, then perhaps you could seek another solution. Perhaps one of you go to bed early, and get up early. Or install a dog door, or even train her to use puppy pads inside if that's the only thing that will work. But ignoring a dog who physically can't hold wee that long doesn't seem right.
Re: waking nights I have to say I agree here with Julie - if there is a medical reason she can't hold her bladder for a certain amount of time then trying to force it isn't really a very good idea and you may just have to settle with the fact that someone will always need to let her out during the night or train her to use puppy pads or a dog-door. However if the issue is psychological; for example she has got into the routine of being let out to the toilet at those times so now she expects it, then there is a solution. If this is the case then I would do as Jacqui has suggested - if you know for certain that she wakes and starts crying to be let out at 4am then set an alarm and get up at 3:50am for a few nights. Then gradually get later by 10-15 minutes every 3-4 nights. It's the same as with a puppy - never go to her when she's making a noise; wait for silence then go to her and let her out. Don't make a fuss when you do it - just go down, let her and go straight back to bed. No speaking or attention and ignore the crying after you have put her back to bed - if she's been to the toilet and is 'empty' then the crying is just for attention.
Re: waking nights i will talk to the vet but the reason i was going to try longer before letting her out is that she does not always rush out for a wee but just stands in the garden and does not wee just comes in and thinks it is time to get up so if i go back to bed then she starts whining i do fully agree that if it is medical i would be wrong to expect her to wait longer to get let out we have been getting up all different times thruogh the night for the last 8 months
