[murphydog1003]

Murphy is now 5 months old. Pretty much since day 1 he was a great sleeper and slept through to 7:30 or 7:45. Then he backed up to 7:15 which I didn't mind, and stayed there for months. Well, over the past two weeks he is waking up earlier and earlier. He held steady at 6:45 for a week, and this morning he woke up at 6:20. What gives? He wakes up super early even on the days he gets TONS of exercise (e.g., going to doggie day care). He's good about being in his crate except for when he first wakes up - he wants to be out of it as soon as he wakes up in the morning so he whines and whines and whines. He can't just hang out in there in the morning like he can if I need to put him away during the day.

When he wakes up before 7:15 I ignore him. I find earplugs, or I read in bed until 7:15. I am trying to communicate to him that he doesn't choose wake up time, and that no matter what he does he is not getting up until one specific time every morning. Doesn't seem to be working though.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Amaryllis]

Considering how my bladder feels when I wake up, I feel a lot of sympathy for your pup. He's not trying to control you through wake up times, he has to pee! Plus, I wake up at 5:45 to walk my dog, so 7:15 seems pretty late to me.

Thinking about it more, it occurs to me that the sun is probably waking him up. Isn't the sun fully up by 6:45 these days?

 

[deeda9999]

I know you might think this is nuts and I don't know where you live but here the clock will change in 2 weeks. I have always noticed even with my daughter from when she was little she would all of a sudden start getting up a few hours earlier. It would take me a little while to figure it out but I know it was her body adjusting to the time change. It happened every year.

 

[murphydog1003]

Re: full bladder - I don't understand why this would be waking him up progressively earlier when his schedule otherwise has not changed? We still take up water at 8 or 8:30pm, he still potties before bed as normal. Of course he has to pee in the mornings but why would he have been fine before and not now?

As for daylight savings time, that is an interesting thought. I wonder how that will play out. If he's just anticipating it somehow then he's right on schedule and will be waking up at the proper time as soon as the clocks change! Weird. I'll have to see how that works out.

 

[dannimac]

My dog has been doing this for a week, too

 

[Amaryllis]

I'm not saying the his full bladder is causing his waking up, though it could be, just that I sympathize with his whining. I never could sleep through the night, and was waking up 2-3 times a night, not to pee, but I did while I was up. Now, with new medication, I do sleep through the night, and when I wake up, holy cow is that painful! I'm just not used to it anymore, I guess.

 

[Shell]

Have you noticed if he is drinking more water in the evenings before you take the water up?

On days that my dog gets a lot of exercise (or hot days), he drinks a lot more water in the evening which means I either have to take him out later in the night or make sure to wake up early (like, on a weekend I would have to get up at the normal workday hour). On weekends, if he wasn't super active and drinking a lot, he sleeps till 8:30 or so; but if we hiked in the afternoon and he ran around in the yard a bunch (and then drank a bunch), he'll wake me about 6 am for a trip outside. Fortunately, both him and the foster pup are champion sleepers and will immediately curl back up for a few more hours of sleep.

If you take him to pee and put him back in the crate, will he settle back down? (as in, is he wanting to pee or is he simply wanting attention/fun?)

 

[hamandeggs]

I think doggy wakeup time has something to do with the change of seasons. The sun is coming up earlier now. Maybe your pup is just a "rise with the sun" kind of guy.

 

[Sasha1/2]

I am going through this with Sasha right now. She used to wake me up at 6-6:30 every morning which is totally fine on weekdays and a bit painful on weekends, but ok. For two days in a row, though, she has woke me at 4 am. The first night I thought it she just needed to pee, but she didn't settle back to sleep after she came back in as she usually does. This morning, it was very clear she was hungry. I gave her a good rub down and her ribs don't have much fat on them as they did days ago, so I think she's had a growth spurt. Its worth considering this for your dog, too. I'll increase Sasha's food a bit and see if it helps.

 

[Niraya]

I think it's actually just age related. Bella was an early riser (I am not!) as a puppy. Her last potty break at night was about 1 in the morning and she'd sleep through the night since 3 months old. She'd wake up however anywhere between 5 and 7 in the morning to go out. When she hit 4 to 5 months she was waking me up anywhere between 4:15am and 6am and every time we went out she went pee. Even at 5 months old I was taking her out to potty basically every 2 hours, 2 and a half max though I knew technically she could hold it for awhile longer.

Basically dogs gain full control of their bladder at AROUND 6 months. Just because he's been on a schedule doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't have to pee a bit before or later than usual - just means he knows that he has to tell you that he has to pee so that's what he's doing. (do you pee on a strict schedule? )

 

[dannimac]

If it is to pee, I use a piddle pad so she can go whenever she needs to

My dog is just turning 5 months, too and as I mention above has been doing the same thing

 

[murphydog1003]

Actually the being active/drinking more during the day point is a good observation to make. I'll pay more attention to how much he drinks during the day, too - I had only been making sure he didn't drink too late at night.

If he continues getting up super early, I'll try just pottying him and putting him back in his crate - That would be a totally reasonable solution but somehow I think he wants up to play and be with his people!

I have to say though, this morning he slept until his normal 7:15am. Last night I decided to put a towel beneath the floor of his crate because as he flops around at night it makes a racket. Last night - no racket, no early riser pup. I wonder if he'd just be roused by the sound, then realize he needs to pee, then not be able to settle back down? The problem might have been that simple, but one night does not a solution make Thinking about it, this problem might have coincided with the introduction of his new bigger (loud) crate........