EARLY riser!
So, I wouldn't exactly call this a problem (because it means that Darcy is nearly 100% potty-trained at 10 weeks!), but here's what's happening:
I feed Darcy 2 times a day (plus a little at night). At night, she "does her business" about 7pm, then plays for awhile, then is "out" for the night. Which is good. Except that sometimes she cries at 4:30AM to be taken out (like this morning), then again at 6:00 (I feed her then), then again at 8:00. Each time, it's legitimate - she really does have to go. But this schedule is becoming a bit brutal for me. I'm getting very little sleep. It's probably typical for puppies, but any suggestions for trying to curb that uber-early-morning wakeup time?
Once, I tried waking her up to take her out at midnight (and she went), but then she woke up anyway at 6AM again. I think it's just the light streaming in, she wakes up, and has to go - so there's probably no real "solution." I guess this is all just part of the process...
Of course, it doesn't help that I'm a teacher with a summer off (yay!!) and I'm a real night-owl. I love to stay up until 1 or 2. So, I hadn't planned on 4AM and 6AM wake-ups, lol. This has been a real adjustment for me. ;-)
Just wondering if anyone else's pup is an early-riser, and how you handle it...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Chelsea, no dogs are 100% potty-trained at 10 weeks, physically her organs are not matured to hold just yet. Read the FAQ.
Take her out one last time before you go to bed. Pups need solid schedule, stick with it.
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Permalink Reply by Chelsea on
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I probably should've clarified about the potty-training - Darcy hasn't had an accident inside the house for over a week (I take her outside a LOT because I know her bladder is still very small - but she does cry to signal that she needs to go out every time. I'm super-quick to respond to her). She'll likely have future accidents because of the immature organs, but I guess I think of potty-training in terms of her "getting" the connection between going outside and crying to alert me...?
In any case, taking her out before my bedtime is probably the best idea (I always hate to wake up a peacefully-sleeping pup, lol). Thanks for the reply.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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I would take her out again before you go to bed. No playing, just potty. If she's going at 7:00pm and then holding it until 4:30am that's pretty decent for her age, I wouldn't expect a young puppy to hold it much longer than that. Heck my adult dogs generally will wake me up after 8-10 hours asking to go out.
As far as curbing the early riser, I think it just depends on the dog. Henry will sleep until noon if you want, even as a puppy he was perfectly happy snoozing late. Luke on the other hand, got up at dawn every day until he was probably 6 months old. He's a year now and usually sleeps until 8:00am before demanding to be fed lol.
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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on
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I can't call Noodles an early riser, but even on weekends, he will wake me up between 5 and 6:30 in order to go potty and eat. That is because he is used to getting up at 5 Monday thru Friday, so it is his routine. Since he knows we go back to bed after potty and eating on both Saturday's and Sunday's, I have no problems with him following that routine. It is amazing how he picks up on things like that. Even if I have a day off, if I don't head straight to get my workout clothes on first thing, he knows we will be going back to bed. It is a routine we started and 6 years later we are still doing it.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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Rosie is 4 years old and still an early riser. We're talking 6AM. I thought when I retired from teaching and got this pup that maybe I'd be able to sleep a bit later. Oh well, I've always been a morning person so it's not that big of a problem for me. When the sun hits the horizon, Rosie is ready for action. We joke that Rosie never really sleeps anyway. Rocky on the other hand reminds me of a teen age boy. He'd sleep until you roll him out of bed. He is not a morning guy and if he's sleeping in the evening, he's very hard to get awake for the last potty call of the evening.
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Permalink Reply by Susan Bowles on
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I alway take Ruby outside just before I go to bed usually between 1 & 2 am. she then sleeps through the night until I get up.
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Permalink Reply by Tim Lum on
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I really don't know the last time I slept past 7:00 A.M. I don't know how RUGBY, my older Tri, knows but I swear once the clock hits 7:00 he starts pacing to go out. (Just a sidebar but it amazes me that the wife can feel when I'm petting them on the bed and freak out but when the Rugby 'pawing' on the bed because he needs to go out she's dead asleep.) In alot of ways it seems to be exactly like when my daughter was born and what I had to deal with the first year. Welcome to life as a dog owner!
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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If you think it's the light streaming in that wakes her, how about eliminating the light. Are there blinds you can close? Or how about putting a dark blanket over her crate after you put her back to bed after her midnight potty break? Maybe she's young enough that she can't really tell time yet :)
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Permalink Reply by steve smith on
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Coco will get me up about 0400 hours and wants me to go to the sofa and sleep. Then about 0500 she will crawl up on my chest and stick her nose in my face until I wake up. After that she is ready for bed again.
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