Sleeping later

    • Gold Top Dog

    Sleeping later

    I'm glad that Sadie is sleeping through the night most nights now. I just wish she'd sleep in just a bit more! She's crated at about 10p.m. and waking between 4:30 and 5. I know this is normal. Being that it's still dark when she's waking , there isn't much I can do to change it a this point, right? Should there be a natural progression to sleeping later? Should I let her bark a little at this point? She's 4 months old, so I guess she needs to go out. However, her main focus seems to be getting fed. She drives me crazy until she eats. I wish she wasn't eating at 5 a.m.
    • Gold Top Dog

    She is either hungry or has to wee.  :) Ava did the same thing at that age, but she had to wee.

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    • Gold Top Dog

     Well you could try to take her out an hour later - 11pm and see if that helps delay things in the morning

    Or if she's crazy hungry by 4:30-5am, set aside some of her evening meal and give it to her after her last potty trip. My dog is much more likely to bother me about eating than pooping/peeing and always has been like that. We needed to figure out he best times to feed him and once we did he was super easy.

    • Gold Top Dog

    We've been very lucky -- both are dogs have been late sleepers (which we love!). 

    I second Karen's suggestion of a snack before bedtime, like saving a small portion of her dinner for close to bedtime.  We give Ruby a couple small treats (dried liver treats or something like that) right before bed.  I don't like going to bed hungry or waking in the night feeling hungry, so I figure giving her a little snack will help her sleep more soundly and not wake up at 4am wanting breakfast.

    Having said that, your pup is still very young, so it's probably a combination of building longer bladder control and being really hungry since she's still growing.  Maybe as she matures she'll settle into a later morning schedule for you.

    • Gold Top Dog
    Tracy, I think you are right that is a combo of both things, and she has improved. Just between this and allergies meds, I'm SO tired lately. It's a tough call feeding her later because we finally got her keeping the crate dry at night. (Though she never poops in it.) I'm an early riser, so even 6 would be totally fine for me. Anyway, I guess I'm just complaining. :P
    • Gold Top Dog

    Ava gets her last meal before bedtime in her crate, always has.  She goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 6:30 when I get up or 7 if I sleep in.  She is two years old though.  At four months she got up at 4:30.

    • Gold Top Dog
    Pretty much at 5 a.m. and p.m. she is driving me nuts to eat. I have to try to make her wait, but she is so hyper when she's hungry.
    • Gold Top Dog

    Is Sadie getting enough food and does she need a third meal (so they can be more closely spaced)? I had to go to 4 smaller meals a day when Frisby got IMHA. Some dogs need that, others need/want to eat just once or twice. Sadie's still really young and growing, so she might be very hungry with 12 hour intervals between meals. I now feed breakfast, supper and bedtime snack now with a couple "cookies" at lunch.

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    • Gold Top Dog

     Yea Bugsy gets two proper meals and a small third meal - he drove us completely nuts when he got hungry - i called it bewitching or devil dog hour. At four months old he was still getting three proper meals.

    He isn't a chow hound but he clearly gets hungry at certain times so if you feed him he settles

    • Gold Top Dog
    How the heck can I stay up until 11 if I'm getting up at 4:30! Lol. Sometimes my husband is up that late and takes her out, but she is still up bright and early! Or should I say "dark and early." In due time I guess.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I thought about doing 3 meals, but when I work I wouldn't be able to do it. She is already getting over the recommended amount of food because she came to me underweight. She also gets "extra" when I do training with her. It's not every night, but it's just some of her regular food or carrots. She is still on the thin side, but steadily gaining.
    • Gold Top Dog

     Would it be possible to take her out a few times close to bed time? That may help if she is getting up to go out to make sure she is really emptied out.  Like take her at 9:00 and 10:00? That seems to work a little for Callie, but not super great. Even now, a 3, she gets up early. She just went out for her last time now, at 11. If we make it to 5:30, that would be great. Yes, she has gotten up earlier than that. Luke on the other hand gets up for food. He went out last around 9:30. I will get up around 5:30 tomorrow, and he will be fine with that. He might try to get up earlier for food, but he'll come back to bed pretty easily. He eats his dinner pretty late at night. tonight it was after he went out at 9:30, and it's usually after 8. I think though for him, he just thinks that if he wakes up during the night, it must be time to eat, where other dogs would think this means it must be time to go out. I just make Luke go back to bed, which he does easily. Callie is more persistent, and I just ignore her. However, since you've got a young pup, I'd take her out if she needs it, just wait till she's quiet.

    • Gold Top Dog

    When she wants out, put her on a leash and take her outside.  It's important to make it all about doing her business and not playing, etc. which is why I suggest keeping her on a leash.  Take her back in after she does her business and put her in her crate with a frozen kong that contains part or all of her breakfast.  Maybe that will buy you a little more sleep time. 

     Puppies are designed to deny us sleep.  This too shall pass. :)

    • Gold Top Dog
    Yeah, it will pass. It's gotten better. I was just really tired yesterday. To top it off, yesterday it was raining and apparently she doesn't like the rain. It was hard to get her out in the rain, and she ended up pooping in the house. She's never done that except in the basement. She also had a pee accident, which she's not doing on a regular basis.